Signals in the Sea: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Training Program

The Aquatic Chemical Ecology group at the Georgia Institute of Technology (ACE at GT), in collaboration with Skidaway and Scripps Institutions of Oceanography announces a new interdisciplinary graduate program in aquatic chemical signaling. A National Science Foundation IGERT grant and Institute funds has established a cross-disciplinary program allowing students to perform novel studies on the impact and significance of chemical signals in the marine and freshwater environments. Educational and research objectives are to blend biology, chemistry, and engineering into integrated studies on aquatic chemical signaling. Substantial support is provided for student stipends, travel, and research at Georgia Tech as well as other national and international laboratories.

 
 
  Our goal is to produce scientists and engineers that have a breadth of interdisciplinary experience in chemistry, ecology, fluid dynamics, and sensory biology so that they may meld these fields into a comprehensive understanding of these processes and their effects in aquatic communities. Students will receive traning by interdisciplinary teams of biologists, chemists, and engineers, and will design a dissertation within areas such as: Signals affecting the fate of materials and energy; Chemical signals regulating biotic interactions; Microbial chemical ecology. Students will have the opportunity for internships in industry, government, or non-governmental organizations.
 
 
  Students may be admitted to the IGERT program through the Schools of Biology. Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Civil or Environmental Engineering. Students accepted into the IGERT program receive generous fellowships and tuition waivers for multiple years, and substantial travel and research funds to foster creative, independent projects. IGERT fellows will participate in multi-disciplinary course work including substantial hands-on experience with state-of-the-art techniques, as well as receiving training in scientific communication, ethics, and other necessary tools of the trade. This is expected to lead to an interdisciplinary dissertation incorporating a mix of biology, chemistry, and engineering.

 
 
  IGERT students will be expected to complete the following course of study in addition to fullfilling the requirements of their home department. Thus, IGERT students will be awarded their degree in one of three tradiational disciplines, but will be well-versed in other areas relevant to their chosen field.

The IGERT sequence consists of the following course of study:		  
 


Semester 1

• Aquatic Chemical Ecology

• Discovery of Signaling Molecules

• Aquatic Chemical Ecology Laboratory A joint lab course for the above two classes

• Tools of science seminar series Student and invited presentations on scientific ethics, communication, science education, grant and proposal writing, and other essential skills for the practicing scientist

Semester 2

• Introduction to Fluid Mechanics for Engineers and Scientists

• Sensory Ecology

• Biological Applications of Environmental Fluid Mechanics A joint lab course for the above two classes that examines ways to integrate physiological and behavioral methods and hydrodynamics into studies of chemical communication.

• Signals in the Sea Seminar Series Student presentations and invited speakers from academia, government, and industry

Summer

• Experiments in Aquatic Chemical Signaling The capstone course for incoming students. Student teams will design and carry out multidisciplinary research topics emphasizing skills and approaches they have developed in the preceeding year.

 
 
 

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