Abstract

The global transport and discharge of ships' ballast water represents a significant dispersal of species that threaten the structural and functional integrity of coastal ecosystems. We know much more about plants and animals in this regard than we do about microorganisms, yet there are numerous good reasons to investigate the presence, dynamics, and survival of microbes in ships' ballast tanks. Not the least of these reasons concerns the documented and potential dispersal via ballasting operations of pathogenic and other harmful microbes, some of which are resistant to antibiotics. In the course of research programs in Chesapeake Bay and on the Great Lakes, we have collected water, sediment, and biofilms from more than 200 ballast tanks. Most of these have been "end-of-voyage" samples, but some have been collected while riding commercial vessels across the ocean. F rom the viewpoints of microbial ecology and invasion biology, I will highlight some of our research results. I will discuss the cornucopia of technological solutions proposed to reduce or eliminate organisms in discharged ballast water. Finally, I will consider the ongoing formulation of national and international regulations intended to decrease the risk associated with movement and release of ballast water.

Biographical Sketch

Dobbs received his A.B. (Biology, Departmental Honors, 1976) from Franklin and Marshall College, his M.S. (Zoology, 1981) from The University of Connecticut, and his Ph.D. (Oceanography, 1987) from The Florida State University. Subsequently, he held institutional post-doctoral positions at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he was a Coastal Marine Scholar, and at the University of Hawaii, where he was a Fellow at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. Dobbs became a faculty member in ODU's Department of Oceanography in 1993 and in 1999 was promoted to Associate Professor in the then-newly christened Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

His present research, funded by NOAA (and NOAA Sea Grant), ONR, DOE, EPA, and the US Coast Guard, addresses several areas in aquatic microbial ecology, with particular focus on shallow-water marine benthos, groundwater, and ships' ballast waters. Of relevance to the last, Dobbs has collaborated for several years with engineers in efforts to develop innovative techniques to kill and inactivate microorganisms in water and liquid foods. Since 2001, he has been a member of the EPA/ETV Ballast Water Technology Panel.

Light refreshments are served in the Interaction Area (4th floor of the Oceanography/Physics Building) at 4:00 p.m.

All seminars begin at 3:00 p.m. and are held in room 200 of the Oceanography/Physics building.