Zooplankton Ecology Lab - College of Marine Science

Zooplankton Ecology Lab, College of Marine Science, USF St. Petersburg, Florida

Welcome to the Zooplankton Ecology Lab.

Kendra Daly Kendra L. Daly
Associate Professor

College of Marine Science
University of South Florida
140 Seventh Ave. South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Office: MSL Rm 220C
Phone: 727-553-1041
Lab: MSL 224B-C
Phone: 727-553-1207
Fax: 727-553-1189
E-mail: kdaly@mail.usf.edu

My research interests focus on zooplankton ecology with the aim of understanding the physical and biological factors that control the abundance and distribution of zooplankton and the role of zooplankton in marine food webs and biogeochemical cycles. I have worked in a number of marine environments, including the Arctic and Antarctic, the Bering Sea, SE Alaska coastal waters, Puget Sound, the tropical Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and coastal Atlantic regions.

My lab currently has two research projects in the Gulf of Mexico, one investigating the effects of the BP oil spill on the zooplankton community and a second one assessing the impact of viruses on the most abundant zooplankton group – the copepods.

hear: COSEE Ocean Gazing Podcast Oil Slick

We are completing a project in the eastern tropical north Pacific studying the effects of the oxygen minimum zone on food webs and biogeochemical cycles. I also have two projects in the Southern Ocean. We are supported for the GLOBEC Pan-Regional Synthesis and Modeling Phase to develop end-to-end food web models and a project in McMurdo Bay in the relatively pristine Ross Sea to detemine the influence of top-down forcing (predation) on pelagic zooplankton and fish. This project will focus on food web interactions of three abundant predators, Adélie penguins, minke whales, and the fish-eating “Ross Sea” killer whales, all of which exert foraging pressure on their main prey, crystal krill (Euphausia cyrstallorophias) and silver fish (Pleuragramma antarcticum). Additional information on these projects are provided under the Research Section.

In addition, I have been involved in the planning and development of the NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) for a number of years. I Currently, I am a Project Scientist with the Regional Cabled Component Implementing Organization http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/. The OOI is a ~$400M initiative that will provide transformative new technology to support sensors, allowing the ocean science community to obtain continuous measurements of ocean processes for decades. For more information see http://www.oceanleadership.org/programs-and-partnerships/ocean-observing/ooi/.