2020 Annual Report
Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
Thank you from IMET!
It should be no surprise that 2020 was like no other year at IMET. We moved much of our collaboration online, established new protocols for work in labs, and modified our outreach activities. Nevertheless, our commitment to our mission remains unchanged. Throughout all of the challenges of adapting to a pandemic, our faculty, staff, and students have shown remarkable flexibility and creativity, ensuring that we continue to advance research, education, and economic development at IMET.
In the middle of March, we closed our building to all but the essential functions and donated gloves and masks from our labs to healthcare workers. I thank our essential employees, who worked tirelessly to ensure the health of fish in our Aquaculture Research Center and the maintenance of our building. In May, we adapted our annual Open House to be virtual, sharing activities to spark kids’ interest in science. In June, we welcomed interns to our virtual Summer Internship Program, which aims to increase diversity in marine and environmental science and which is supported by Mary Catherine Bunting.
In June, some research activities restarted in our labs, with enhanced cleaning procedures and mask and social distancing requirements. Classes and our Ratcliffe Environmental Entrepreneur Fellowship program, which teaches entrepreneurship skills to scientists, started up this fall in a virtual format. We welcomed a new class of students, including two students supported by the James Albrecht Fellowship.
IMET was named a Top Workplace by The Baltimore Sun
Ten years ago, IMET was established as a partnership between UMBC , UMB , and UMCES , building on the foundation established by our predecessor, the Center of Marine Biotechnology. We celebrate IMET’s first ten years of important contributions to environmental research and education. In responding to the challenges of this year, the IMET community has shown immense resiliency and I am confident that the next decade will see further advancements toward our mission.
Russell Hill, PhD | IMET Executive Director and Professor
IMET's Ten Year Anniversary
Research Highlights
Sustainable Aquaculture Production
Human viruses and disease weren't far from any of our minds in 2020, but did you know that aquatic viruses have had globally devastating impacts on aquaculture for decades, affecting salmon, shrimp, and oysters? An oyster virus known as OsHV-1 is causing economic stress on Pacific oyster culture, in particular the deadly OsHV-1 microvariants. The 'Aquatic Animal Health Lab' led by Dr. Colleen Burge at IMET focuses on finding proactive tools and solutions to aquatic disease, including OsHV-1. In Maryland, the primary species for oyster culture is the eastern oyster; eastern oyster aquaculture is rapidly expanding in the US with a staggering 222% increase since 2005. A recent study funded by the National Aquaculture Initiative, NOAA Sea Grant (in collaboration with University of Washington, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Ifremer (France), the University of Arizona, and Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (Australia)) showed that three major US oyster species: Pacific, eastern, and kumamoto can be infected by OsHV-1 microvariants. The next step, the focus of MS student Mariah Kachmar's Maryland Sea Grant fellowship is to determine whether natural infection and spread can occur in important Maryland species such as eastern oysters, hard clams, and crabs. This knowledge will help us better manage wild and farmed shellfish populations.
Environmental, Animal, and Human Health
Helen Dooley’s research is focused upon finding new ways to diagnose and treat disease in humans and other animals. To do this Dr. Dooley and her team study the immune system of sharks and their cousins the skates, rays, and chimera (all cartilaginous fishes), examining the molecules these amazing animals use for immune protection. Her team have shown that sharks, like humans, produce robust antibody responses following immunization and that this provides them with protection from reinfection for many years. Her team is also studying these antibodies, as well as other novel molecules generated by sharks following immunization with different targets, to determine if they may be used to diagnose or treat diseases caused by bacterial or viral infection (e.g., COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus), autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, or specific types of cancer.
Energy, Climate Change, and Global Health
Greenhouse gas emissions have far-reaching environmental and health impacts, contributing to global warming and respiratory diseases. Dr. Yantao Li’s research aims to understand the basic science of microalgal biology and to leverage that knowledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while producing valuable products such as biofuels and carotenoids. Recently, Drs. Yantao Li, Feng Chen, and Russell Hill received a major award from the Department of Energy to develop a microalgal bioreactor system to capture carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, from power plant flue gases. The outcome will be a scalable and deployable carbon-negative bioreactor system for carbon dioxide capture from flue gases. In this modular and scalable bioreactor design, costs would be offset by the high-value algal biomass produced that contains products such as pigments and antioxidants. The project is a continuation of long-term collaborative research between IMET and HY-TEK Bio LLC, as well as Argonne National Laboratory.
Sharing Our Science
IMET Summer Internship Program
The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop the 19th year of the IMET summer internship program; thanks to our adaptable IMET faculty and staff, we conducted a remote internship focused on analyzing “big data” on Baltimore’s Harbor. Ten students from four states learned how to interpret large scale environmental and molecular genetic datasets and practiced basic programming. They also completed workshops on science communication and networked with researchers in academia, government, and private organizations. The summer concluded with final presentations about the environmental health and biodiversity of Baltimore Harbor. This program was directed by Dr. Rosemary Jagus and co-directed by Dr. Eric Schott and Dr. Tsetso Bachvaroff. The program was made possible by Mary Catherine Bunting and the Bunting Family Foundations.
Virtual Open House
We quickly adapted our Open House to be an online event. Each lab created a worksheet that highlighted the research they do and included a fun activity for kids. For the month of May, we offered prizes to those who completed activities. Activities are still accessible on our Open House webpage . We hope you’ll try them out!
Artist-in-Residence: Lynn Cazabon
Lynn Cazabon , UMBC Professor of Art, was our second artist-in-residence, as part of a partnership between IMET and UMBC’s Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts. Using video, she captured the labor of the science happening at IMET in the Aquaculture Research Center, focusing on the researchers and support staff at work, the animals that live there, and the facility itself. While her work was cut short in March, she created an activity for the virtual open house and hopes to exhibit a four-channel video installation of ARC in the future.
Public Events
While we wish we could have welcomed visitors in person for our annual public lecture series, we went forward with virtual events. We held a screening of the film The Story of Plastic, followed by a panel discussion with a Baltimore City youth activist and our own Ana Sosa, Ph.D. candidate in the Chen Lab. Dr. Shiladitya DasSarma, Victoria Laye, and Priya DasSarma presented on salt-loving organisms and the secrets they hold for understanding possible extraterrestrial life . Dr. Allen Place and Taylor Armstrong shared how harmful algal blooms occur and what we can do to prevent them in an Avengers-themed presentation . We will host more public lectures in 2021!
Sequencing the Blue Crab Genome
In 2020, a team of scientists led by Dr. Sook Chung, Dr. Tsvetan Bachvaroff, and Dr. Louis Plough completed the sequence of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), which is an important part of the Chesapeake Bay’s ecology, economy, and culture. By knowing the genetic code, we will be better able to study and protect the blue crab. The genome will be made publicly available so that scientists anywhere can use it to answer their research questions. At IMET, Dr. Chung already has plans for research using the genome. In her years studying blue crabs, she has seen that there is great variation in how many offspring each female crab produces. She said, “So, as a scientist, I wanted to know, what’s the genetic make-up of those crabs? What makes them succeed or fail in juvenile production?” With the genome completed, she’s closer to answering that question, which could inform the management of wild fisheries and the development of blue crab aquaculture.
The Blue Crab Genome initiative was made possible by private donors. We would like to thank all those who contributed to this effort, especially Mike and Trish Davis.
Thanks to our Supporters!
Several programs at IMET would not be possible without the support of generous foundations and private donors. In 2020, the Blue Crab Genome Initiative was completed thanks to the support of several donors committed to promoting scientific research to improve environmental health and management. The Vetlesen Foundation, for the third year in a row, supported each of our labs with small innovation grants designed to help try out new ideas and lay the foundation for larger projects. The Vetlesen Foundation also provided valuable support for the Aquaculture Research Center and research equipment. We have now had three graduate student fellows supported by our friend and long-time IMET supporter Dr. James Albrecht . In 2020, Chelsea Bergman joined the Burge Lab with this support and started her studies remotely . The REEF program, which is funded by the Ratcliffe Foundation, graduated its sixth class and began a seventh year of educating scientists in business skills. The summer internship program this year was supported by the Bunting Family Foundation. We are so grateful for these generous donors, who have invested in science that can solve environmental problems and in the education of the next generation of scientific leaders.
Entrepreneurship
Harbor Launch Incubator
As a home for early stage life science companies, Harbor Launch was busy in 2020. A small team headed by IMET Assistant Director Dr. Nina Lamba onboarded three new tenants renting laboratory and office space, and continued to support the seventeen companies housed in IMET’s building. This year especially, companies needed assistance to adapt to changing conditions and markets, as well as respond to new opportunities. Dr. Lamba, aided by Business Development Manager Betsy O’Neill Collie and Entrepreneur-in-Residence Steve Davey , conducted regular virtual mentoring sessions with companies as they adapted to new challenges. Programming was extended to ensure that the incubator companies knew of key innovation and business resources around the state. Far from slowing down, Harbor Launch companies showed tremendous resilience in 2020, with a number of them adapting and contributing to COVID-19 response.
A Year of Growth for Novel Microdevices
Novel Microdevices is developing a rapid and portable molecular diagnostics platform for the detection of infectious diseases in humans. This technology will enable clinicians to quickly test patients at the points-of-care and begin treatments without delay. In 2020, Novel Microdevices received a $2 million SBIR Phase 2 grant from the NIH/NIAID for the development of a rapid molecular test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. In 2021, Novel will continue research and development of diagnostic assays while beginning manufacturing of their instrument, NovelDx along with the first test cartridge, an assay for SARS COV2. Novel Microdevices has been a Harbor Launch since 2016 and has received mentorship and introductions to help move their company forward.
REEF Program
The Ratcliffe Environmental Entrepreneur Fellowship (REEF) program continues to introduce business skills to scientists, as they build plans to scale environmental solutions beyond the laboratory. In the spring of 2020, the sixth REEF cohort shared their business ideas in a final pitch competition (held virtually for the first time) and the program received an additional three years of funding from the Ratcliffe Foundation . The 2020-2021 REEF program has been entirely virtual and for the first time has postdocs among the cohort. The fall semester covered topics including customer discovery, protection of intellectual property, and market research. Over the spring semester, students will continue to develop their business ideas, creating a business plan, financial model, and pitch deck.
IMET and REEF Alum Pivots to Produce Face Shields
In March of 2020, we were proud to see Dr. Ryan Powell, a REEF alum and Co-founder of Manta Biofuel , retool his biofuel facility to manufacture face shields that helped Maryland cope with the coronavirus. This shift demonstrates both adaptability to changing business conditions and a desire to have a positive social impact, qualities that we instill in all of our REEF students.
Graduates
We had two students graduate in 2020. Congratulations, Amanda and Dan!
Publications
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common bacterial pathogens found in humans. Increasingly, this bacterium has developed resistance to β-Lactam, a part of many antibiotics. This limits treatment options for patients with an infection. The Chatterjee Lab investigates the specific pathways for S. aureus to develop β-Lactam antibiotic resistance. In this paper, they find that when Stp1, an enzyme in S. aureus, does not function, the bacteria develop β-Lactam resistance. A better understanding of how antibiotic resistance develops will help us manage bacterial pathogens and protect human health.
In this review paper, Dr. Yonathan Zohar reflects on five decades of basic and applied research on fish reproductive biology, including the many significant contributions of his lab. Over this time period, basic understanding of the brain-pituitary-gonadal axis drove the development of technologies to induce farmed fish to predictably spawn in captivity, thereby establishing year-round production of eggs, closing the fish life cycle, and enabling their aquaculture production. Dissecting the molecular and hormonal mechanisms associated with sex determination and differentiation led to technologies for producing better performing mono-sex and reproductively-sterile fish. The growing contingent of passionate fish biologists, together with the availability of innovative platforms such as transgenesis and gene editing, as well as new models such as the zebrafish and medaka, have generated many discoveries, also leading to new insights of reproductive biology in higher vertebrates including humans.
The blue crab is Maryland's state crustacean, but its range extends well beyond the state, from tropical to temperate climates. Dr. Eric Schott, PhD student Mingli Zhao, and collaborators studied the prevalence of a virus in blue crabs across their range. They found that the virus, which is common in crabs in temperate areas of both north and south America, is almost absent from blue crabs in the tropics. PhD student Olivia Pares is investigating this further by studying blue crab disease ecology in Puerto Rico. This information will help us to better understand what drives marine virus dynamics under changing environmental conditions.
We have highlighted just three of the sixty articles published by IMET scientists. At the link, you can see a list of one publication from each of our faculty members.
IMET Around the World
In 2020, we suspended travel for our faculty, staff, and students. Nevertheless, we have continued many domestic and international collaborations remotely.
Understanding antibacterial resistance
New funding from the Port of San Diego
Studying Mars from New Mexico
Making crops more resilient
Creating a carbon-neutral fuel
Blue Crabs in the tropics
Making sense of microbes
Studying a wood-eating catfish
New ways to treat cancers
Improving aquaculture around the world
New rabies vaccine candidate
Understanding disease in invertebrates
Improving Pacific oyster aquaculture
