Detbra Rosales, a doctoral student in the Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, successfully defended her dissertation September 25 during a virtual presentation. The title was, “Assessing the Microbial, Phytoplankton Community and Associated Water Quality in the Delaware and Maryland Coastal Bays.” Rosales’ research focus is on ecology.
“My dissertation added new knowledge on the interaction between harmful algal species and pathogenic Vibrios,” Rosales said. “These two microbes are found in the same environment and can impact one another.”
Areas in the Rehoboth Bay with elevated nutrient levels had a higher abundance of these pathogenic Vibrios and harmful algal species in comparison to areas that had lower nutrient levels, she said. Abundance of these harmful algal species and pathogenic Vibrios can be a concern for human and ecological health.
“Although Vibrio spp. have been studied extensively worldwide, Detbra’s work is one of only two publications that have suggested a link of specifically pathogenic strains to the abundance of phytoplankton. This hints that virulence factors involved in human disease probably originate from a use in environmental settings as competition factors against co-occurring microbes and protists,” said Dr. Joseph Pitula, a professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and Rosales’ academic advisor.
Rosales holds a master’s in biology from CUNY Brooklyn College and a bachelor’s in environmental science from SUNY Binghamton University.
