Students from the School of Marine Programs present their research at biology conference in Texas

Professor of Marine Sciences Markus Frederich with students Ariella Danzinger and Aubrey Jane in Austin, Texas
Professor of Marine Sciences Markus Frederich with students Ariella Danzinger and Aubrey Jane in Austin, Texas

Aubrey Jane (Marine Sciences, ’21) and graduate student Ariella Danziger (M.S. Marine Sciences, ’19) recently presented their research at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), a national conference held in Austin, Texas.

SICB is one of the largest and most prestigious professional associations of its kind, with a mission to further research, education and public awareness in the areas of organismal, functional, and evolutionary biology.

Jane presented her research with a poster titled “Detection of the invasive parasite Proctoeces maculatus at blue mussel aquaculture sites.” Her work investigates the health of farmed blue mussels in Casco Bay, and how climate change affects the mussels through changing temperature, food availability and parasites.

Danziger presented her research on a poster titled “Design and use of species-specific Carcinus maenas eDNA primers to analyze shedding and degradation rates of eDNA.” Her research focuses on green crabs that shed environmental DNA (eDNA) when they move through the environment. She is studying whether she can assess the biomass of the respective species by measuring the eDNA.

Jane and Danziger work in the laboratory of Markus Frederich, Ph.D., professor of marine sciences in UNE’s School of Marine Programs.

Students Danzinger and Jane at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Students Danzinger and Jane at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.