Bio-Optical Research Group
Personnel

		Dr. Richard Zimmerman (Department Chair) (757)683.5991 (757)683.4386 (lab) rzimmerm@odu.edu Room 406A Dick's research interests focus on the ecological physiology of marine photosynthesis, the metabolic regulation of carbon and nutrient dynamics in marine ecosystems, radiative transfer in and remote sensing of coastal waters, especially optically shallow environments, ecosystem productivity and numerical modeling. Study sites include seagrass systems on the Bahamas Banks and Florida Bay, giant kelp forests along the California Coast and coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay region.
		BORG (Bio-Optical Research Group)
		Dr. Victoria Hill (Assistant Research Professor) (757)683-4911 vhill@odu.edu Room 343 Victoria 's research efforts are focused on the optical characterization of Arctic Waters, including measurement of primary productivity, phytoplankton pigments, absorption and scattering by components in the water column and the impact of CDOM in the Arctic , regional chlorophyll algorithms for use with SeaWiFS and MODIS are under development. Victoria is also involved in local investigations in collaboration with Dr Zimmerman.
		Mr. David Ruble (Research Associate) (757)683.3281 druble@odu.edu Room 347 David is responsible for the deployment and maintenance of our equipment which includes tethered and profiling radiometers and absorption, scattering and fluormeteric instrumentation. Most of the initial processing and archiving of data is carried out by David as well as general lab management. David received his Msc from ODU in 1996.
		Ms. Meredith McPherson (M.S Student) (757)683-#### Mmcph005@odu.edu Room ### Meredith is a senior at ODU and is currently working toward her double BS in Biological Oceanography and Biology. As a summer intern, she is working in the lab processing and comparing light attenuation through the water column from the Florida Bay and Port St. Joe stations. She hopes to gain a better understanding of bio-optics and its effects on the marine environment through this internship. Her current research interests lie in coastal and estuarine environments and since recently being exposed to bio-optics she has gained newfound interest in the subject.
		Stephanie Toro (M.S. Student) storo@odu.edu Stephanie is a M.S. student in her first year at ODU.  Her past experiences have focused on seagrass ecology particularly seagrass productivity from both a top down and bottom up approach.  She is excited to learn how optical properties influence the productivity of seagrass.
		Billur Celebi (PhD. Student) bcelebi@odu.edu Billur is a PhD student in Biological Oceanography. Her research interests focus on the effects of changing environmental conditions in seagrass systems by the use of remote sensing and application of bio-optical modeling. She is currently working on a project to develop bio-optical modeling of kelp productivity of giant kelp forests in near shore waters of California.
		Tanique Rush (M.S. Student) trush@odu.edu Tanique is a M.S student in her first year with past work experience including deep sea mapping. Her current interests are focused on mapping spatial distributions of kelp forests using remote sensing tools.
BORG Alumni
		Dr. Xiaoju Pan xpan@odu.edu Xiaoju was a PhD student working with us on the development of a radiative transfer model for coastal waters at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, with a view to retrieving various biological parameters (i.e Phytoplankton Biomass, sediment and CDOM). He successfully defended his thesis in March 2007, titled " The observation, modelling, and retrevial od bio-optical properties for coastal waters of the southern Chesapeake Bay". Pan is now working at NASA Goddard on algorithm development for the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic Bight.
		Ms. Mandy Stoughton (M.S. Student) (757)683-5989 mstought@odu.edu Room 427 Mandy was a MS student in Biological Oceanography. Her research interests focus on tropical seagrass habitats in the optically shallow waters of Florida Bay, with special emphasis on light distribution throughout the canopy and the effects of canopy architecture on primary productivity. Mandy is an integral part of our team for data collection in local waters, and is involved in sample processing for the Bahamas 2003 project.