Research

This experiment tests the viability of reproduction of Salton Sea tilapia at increasing salinities in an effort to help future decisions concerning the restoration efforts in the Salton Sea.

Assist graduate students with thesis experiments. Feed fish with flake, pellets, and sticks. Hatch brine shrimp. Data collection. Clean and maintain 14 fish aquariums: 8 stock tanks, 6 experiment tanks. Make water at salinities ranging from freshwater to 60 ppt. Weigh and measure live fish. Count eggs and fry for data. Take water quality measurements with both a YSI meter and a refractometer. Fin clip males and females to effectively differentiate between fish used in the experiment and others. Recognize symptoms of and treat for parasites and ulcers. Strip mouthbrooding females of eggs.

This experiment leverages Waters’ experiment by testing the survivability of Salton Sea tilapia eggs and fry in increasing salinities.

Conception and development of original experiment. Make important decisions. Problem solving. Use of fish egg bubblers. Feed fish with flake, pellets, and sticks. Feed fry with brine shrimp. Data collection. Clean and maintain 13 fish aquariums: 8 stock tanks, 5 experiment tanks. Make and maintain water at salinities ranging from freshwater to 80 ppt. Weigh and measure live fish. Count eggs and fry for data. Take water quality measurements with a refractometer. Fin clip females to effectively differentiate between fish used in the experiment and others. Recognize symptoms of and treat for parasites and ulcers. Strip mouthbrooding females of eggs.

This experiment tested the genetic structuring of three populations of Convict Cichlids using microsatellite markers.

Develop a viable experiment in consideration of time restrictions. Budget materials for the experiment. Fin clip fish of varying sizes for genetic testing. Employ appropriate safety techniques when handling and using Phenol-Chloroform-Isoamyl Alcohol for DNA extraction procedures. Practice sterile procedures to protect the integrity of the genetic data. Quantification of DNA with PicoGreen® dsDNA quantitation assay. Run PCR with PCR Ready Reaction Master Mix and appropriate primers. Utilize computers such as STRand, Microsoft Excel, and GenePop for data analysis.