Stanford Report, January 25, 2006

In Print and On the Air

A new PBS Nature production, Oceans in Glass: Behind of the Scenes of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, features researchers affiliated with the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, a joint Stanford-Aquarium project. In the film, BARBARA BLOCK, the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professor in Marine Sciences, and graduate student ANDRE BOUSTANY are seen catching a 20-pound bluefin tuna. Doctoral student JASON BLANK and research associate JEFFERY MORRISSETTE then carry it in a stretcher filled with water to a swim tunnel where they measure the fish's metabolic rate. Catch the film on KQED at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27.

GEORGE SOMERO, director of the Hopkins Marine Station, and lecturer emeritus CHUCK BAXTER discussed the consequences of warming oceans in the San Francisco Chronicle Jan. 16. In the last six decades, as sea water temperatures along the Monterey coast increased about 3 degrees Fahrenheit, scientists have measured a 70 percent decline in zooplankton, the tiny animals at the base of the food chain. Somero said it's hard to predict the consequences of such changes: "If you remove one species from the ecosystem, there could very well be severe perturbations in the system. In many cases, we can't predict what that means." Somero said many animals can't mutate fast enough to adapt to higher temperatures. "A 1 degree or 2 degree change has a very pervasive effect," he said. "These animals for hundreds of thousands of years didn't have to adjust to temperature. So now the climatic change is asking them to do things that they're not prepared to do. When species evolve, they don't build in extra protection for survival."

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Jan. 20 that the Chemistry Department has unveiled what may be the country's most generous maternity policy for graduate students. The policy, instituted last fall by department Chair RICHARD ZARE, allows pregnant women or new mothers to scale back their course work or research for up to 12 weeks and still get paid. How much women end up working depends on deals they reach with their supervisors. Most colleges do not have any paid maternity leave for graduate students. Zare said that pregnancy—and asking for special accommodations to deal with it—puts a lot of stress on students. Now the department recognizes that "this is something that is expected to happen for those who want it, and we will take care of it," he said.