Mote Marine Laboratory has hired two new Mote Postdoctoral Research Fellows, whose research is now ramping up, following a selection process that concluded in late 2016. These next-generation researchers helped Mote attain a key 2016 goal in its 2020 Vision & Strategic Plan: to have at least five Mote Postdoctoral Research Fellows. Dr. Philip Gravinese is located at Mote’s Sarasota campus and is working with Mote's Fisheries Ecology & Enhancement Program to research the effects of ocean acidification (OA), climate change and low oxygen levels on stone crabs. Gravinese’s potential future projects include determining the impacts of Florida red tide on stone crabs and assessing how increased freshwater flow into parts of Florida Bay may impact post larvae and juvenile stone crab survival, growth and physiology. Dr. Rob Nowicki, a marine ecologist based at Mote’s Summerland Key campus, studies the complex relationships among ocean animals, plants and their non-living environment. At Mote’s Summerland Key campus, researchers are studying possible strategies to restore coral reefs.
 

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