Brian R.
Maricle Research (Curriculum Vitae)
Interests
Ecophysiological
responses of plants to flooding
o
Environmental
factors influencing species zonation in estuaries and wetlands
o
Physiological,
biochemical, and anatomical factors influencing flooding tolerance in plants
o
Effects of low
oxygen levels on respiration and nitrogen assimilation in plants
o
Novel
capabilities of plants beneficial to agriculture and phytoremediation
Ecophysiological
responses of plants to drought and salinity
o
Effects of
drought and salinity on stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, and transpiration
o
Roles of latent,
sensible, and radiative heat losses under changing environmental conditions
o
Physiological,
biochemical, and anatomical factors influencing drought and salinity tolerance
in plants
o
Carbon isotope
physiology in photosynthesis
My research involves investigating physiological,
biochemical, anatomical, and biophysical adaptations that enable plants to live
under conditions of environmental stress. Much of my work has focused on
responses of wetland and estuarine plants to conditions of flooding and
salinity. During my graduate research, I studied how estuarine Spartina grasses (Poaceae) tolerate
coastal mudflat conditions. I identified several physiological and biochemical
features that contribute to flooding tolerance and estuarine zonation,
including internal oxygen transport, anaerobic respiration capacity, aerobic
demand, and oxygen affinity. Since then I have expanded my work to investigate
processes in other systems. I am now working on projects to characterize
species zonation in freshwater wetlands, mechanisms of flooding tolerance in
freshwater plants, effects of drought on prairie grasses, effects of creek
drying on riparian plants, effects of oil well brine on plant productivity, and
nitrate assimilation in wetland plants. My past and current work is helping to
characterize general mechanisms of drought or waterlogging tolerance across
plants, including other economically important crop species or ecologically
relevant systems like wetlands.
Current Projects in the Lab
1.
Structure-function
relationships in Spartina leaves in
relation to ecological species distributions
2.
Nitrate
reductase activities in wetland plants
3.
Mechanisms
of flooding tolerance in freshwater marsh species
4.
Explaining
the success of aquatic invasive species by physiological mechanisms
5.
Halophyte
water relations, photosynthesis, and energy balances
6.
Effects
of oil well brine on plant productivity
7.
Effects
of creek drying on photosynthesis and transpiration in riparian trees
9.
Effects of
diet and activity on food usage and storage in humans
10. Effects of drought on native
prairie grasses
11. Nitrogen fixation in barrel
medic (Medicago truncatula)
Current and Recent Lab Members
Kristen A. Polacik, M.S. student
B.S., Marshall University
Hometown: New Martinsville, WV
Lab member since: August 2008
Thesis project: Effects of drought and flooding on
invasive Tamarix (salt cedar)
Elizabeth (Lizz) F. Waring, M.S. student
B.S., University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Lab member since: August 2008
Thesis project:
Aaron M. Pfeifer, B.S. student
Major: Pre-Med
Hometown: Hays, KS
Lab member since: May 2007
Project: Effects of diet and activity on food usage
and storage in FHSU students by stable isotope analyses
Project: Survey of ascorbic acid concentration and
osmolality in orange juice and apple juice from a local grocer
Jordan J. Brungardt,
B.S. student
Major: Biology
Hometown: Hays, KS
Lab member since: June 2007
Project: Effects of oil well brine on soil salinity
and plant performance
Project: Nitrogen fixation in barrel medic (Medicago truncatula)
Shi He
B.S.,
Hometown:
Lab member: 2007-2008
Project: Nitrate reductase activity and expression
in Spartina (Poaceae)
S. Rich Zwenger, Lab technician
M.S. and B.S.,
Hometown: Hays, KS
Lab member: Summer 2007
Project: Effect of creek drying on photosynthesis
and transpiration of riparian trees
Student Involvement
My work is well-suited for
student involvement, and I have always involved students in my work. Students
can gain valuable lab/field experience and ″hands-on″ learning, and
I am happy for the help in the lab or field. If you are a current FHSU student
and are interested in work similar to what is described here, feel free to contact me to discuss the possibility of
work in my lab. Realize the lab is full for the 2008-2009 academic year, so
competition for spots will be tough. Nonetheless, feel free to get in touch to
discuss possibilities.
Becoming a Graduate Student
If
you are a prospective graduate student looking for a project in a similar area
of work, feel free to email me or
contact me at the address on my homepage.
Selecting a graduate advisor is an important decision; one should carefully
consider his/her options. You will find graduate school offers a whole new set
of challenges and opportunities. Graduate school is where many professionals
define and establish their career paths, so it is important to get a good start
and continue along this path during your graduate and professional careers.
A
good goal for your master's program is to develop the lab/field skills,
leadership abilities, and cognitive skills to transition into a professional
position, or to develop the independent scholarship abilities needed to pursue
a doctoral degree. These skill sets are not achieved overnight, and they can
only be gained through a great deal of personal determination and effort. This
is the nature of a graduate program. No one should lead you through it
step-by-step. This is where you will develop the ability to work independently.
You will develop the ability to ask good questions, and you will develop the
abilities to answer those questions through literature searches and original
research. In my mentorship, I try to provide plenty of freedom for the student
to develop independently. Do not mistake this as a sign of laziness or
indifference from me as your advisor. I want you to succeed. (My success
directly relates to your success!) But more importantly, I want you to develop
as a scientist. I will not assign thesis projects. I will provide advice and
direction, but a developing scientist will benefit more from developing his/her
own hypotheses compared to one who is supplied a rigid set of instructions.
Therefore individual students will be able to attribute success to their
individual effort and work ethic. My goal is to help produce an independent
scientist. Can you ask the appropriate questions? Can you come up with ways to
test your hypotheses? Can you design appropriate experiments? In science, as in
life, nothing is perfect. You will undoubtedly try something that will not
work. This happens to all scientists. But troubleshooting is an important skill
as a scientist. Today's setbacks fuel the initiative for tomorrow's
breakthroughs. Ideally a thesis project will involve a novel question, a novel
test, and a novel way to measure it. Your advisor should be able to guide you
along the way, but a thesis project is the chance for you to become an expert
in a previously unexplored area.
Graduate school is the
transition from being a student to being a professional. While you are still
expected to play the role of a student, you will now also be asked to take on
the role of a scientist. You will become knowledgeable in your subdiscipline.
You will conduct original research, and therefore contribute to the knowledge
base of your discipline. Thus, you should be prepared to make this transition.
Graduate students who think or act like undergraduate students will not
succeed. You are no longer here just to take classes. While you still need
classes, you will now also contribute to the gathering of knowledge and
communicating this knowledge to others. Thus, your responsibilities are
threefold: taking courses, teaching (or other assistantship duties), and
conducting thesis research. Each of these obligations will probably take at
least 20 hours per week if you want to do them well. You will be busy. Time
management skills become very important in graduate school. Someone once told
me, ″You know you have become a graduate student when you look forward to
weekends and holidays for a chance to do your
own work.″
While aptitude is important,
much of the success in graduate school is attributable to work ethic and
attitude. You should expect to be at work all day, every day. Interaction with
faculty and other graduate students is crucial. If you come and go only for
classes, you will not succeed. If you do not spend time reading on evenings and
weekends, you will not succeed. If you take extensive time for leisure, you
will not succeed. Remember you are not an undergraduate anymore. The transition
from college into graduate school is probably bigger than the transition from
high school into college. Some changes may be needed. Graduate school is a big
commitment, and you will get out of it exactly what you put into it. Remember,
I will be committing a great deal of time to you as well. As your advisor, I am
making an investment too. Make the most of your time here. You will never have
as much time for research and personal development as you have in graduate
school. The sky is the limit!
You should be proud to be in
this position. Science is prestigious work. Few careers allow someone the
intellectual freedom and individual creativity that characterize science. You
will be developing hypotheses and designing experiments to test them. Your
results will be published for all posterity. If you think you might fit into my
lab, please get in touch. The deadline for graduate applications for the
2009-2010 academic year is 15 March 2009. Details on the application process
can be found at http://www.fhsu.edu/biology/graduatestudies.shtml.
Text and photos by Brian R. Maricle, 2008, Fort Hays State University Department of Biological Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
last updated 13 August 2008