Maya Munstermann
Hometown: Hamden, Connecticut, USA
Fall 2021 – present
PhD in Biological Science (Ecology and Evolution)
Leslie N. Wilson - Delores Auzenne Assistantship for Minorities
Educational/Professional Background
As a Master’s student at the Univ. of Hawaiʻi, I conducted a global assessment to determine a species’ extinction vulnerability based on their ecological traits. Immersing myself in Hawaiian culture, learning to spearfish, and practicing conservation strategies are among the few invaluable experiences I gained while living in Hawaiʻi. However, my path towards marine ecology began as an undergraduate sophomore at Univ. of Connecticut when I studied at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in St. George’s, Bermuda. At BIOS, I conducted a behavioral comparative study on two species of parrotfish between heavily degraded and relatively pristine reefs. I observed parrotfish rapidly changed feeding preferences in reefs under environmental stress.
Upon completion, the course instructor and museum curator (Dr. Luiz Rocha), offered me an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates internship at the California Academy of Sciences (CalAcademy) in San Francisco. During my internship at CalAcademy, I used DNA barcodes to determine gut contents of invasive lionfish found in deep coral reefs to gain useful insight into lionfish predation impacts during invasion of a novel ecosystem. Here, it became clear how effective genetic techniques can be to solve ecological questions. Following BIOS and CalAcademy, I had a pivotal moment of realization that has since shaped my career path: humans are rapidly impacting the world’s ecosystems almost to the point of no return and more research is needed to fully understand the consequences of change.
Collectively, my past research has focused on understanding the impact of altered ecosystems on organisms. I am strongly committed to engage in research that ultimately facilitates action to prevent or mitigate associated consequences of rapidly changing ecosystems. For my Master’s thesis at Univ. of Hawaiʻi at Hilo in Dr. Matt Knope’s lab, I led a team of six undergraduates and one high school student to assemble a massive ecological trait dataset (habitat, feeding, and locomotion) for over 25,000 terrestrial vertebrate species. Then, leveraging phylogenetic comparative methods, I tested whether extinction risk status is related to ecological traits at the species level. Diverse vulnerabilities were revealed for each taxonomic class and evolutionarily conserved ecological traits predicted extinction threat. I also found that agriculture, logging, invasive species, and disease expose a greater number of species to extinction threat. Through this work, I was awarded funding to present my results at both national and international meetings and the manuscript has recently been accepted for publication.
In my PhD research, I to plan build upon this conceptual line of inquiry, but switch to conservation marine ecology which has always been my first interest. Experimental laboratory aquariums provide a powerful method to explore the effects of stressors under tightly-controlled experimental conditions. During my position at the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park with USGS as an Invasive Species Technician, I gained applied experience conducting aquarium experiments and devising management plans. We identified pH thresholds required to eradicate invasive fish species that occur in coastal anchialine ponds found on Hawaiʻi Island, that are home to a number of endangered taxa. Elevated CO2 concentrations were diffused into the aquarium water to lower pH and the behavior and mortality of both invasive and native species were measured. My experiences in generating and analyzing large-scale ecological trait datasets and conducting aquarium experiments have prepared me to be an independent and successful PhD student.
Research and Teaching Interests, or Professional Field
To investigate the ecological impact of environmental change and predict future biodiversity trends, it is critical to study the functional trait distributions paired with phenotypic and genetic responses of species when rapidly exposed to negative environmental stressors. Recent research has investigated the response of sea urchins when exposed to increased temperature and CO2 levels; however, there is a critical knowledge gap in establishing a connection between the functional traits of marine organisms and the capacity for thermal response (acclimation, phenotypic plasticity, local adaptation).
For my PhD research, I am interested in the functional traits of marine invertebrates with a specific focus on the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and the impact of extreme warming events on thermal performance across spatial gradients. I hope to 1) determine functional traits of kelp forest invertebrates (i.e. life histories, seasonality, range size, presence of calcareous skeletons, feeding mode, habitat association, fecundity, and body size) and how these traits vary across thermal gradients; 2) collect purple sea urchins from different thermal backgrounds and quantitatively measure the behavioral response (avoidance, stress, acclimation, mortality) when subject one vs. multiple stressors (i.e. temperature, acidification, hypoxia); and 3) determine if there is an association between functional diversity and thermal response, which can be investigated through genomic analyses.
In addition to my PhD research, I am motivated to engage with the community by developing youth outreach programs to promote general ocean literacy. In an established partnership between myself and FSU’s Saturday-at-the-Sea Program (FSU Marine Laboratory/Barbara Shoplock), actionable science experiences can be conducted, such as citizen science monitoring.