Posted by Abby Madeiros

Leslie Schwierzke-Wade, Chief Scientist

Leslie Schwierzke-Wade, chief scientist.

Leslie has had a passion for Marine Science as long as she can remember and grew up near the Gulf in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her father was a chemistry teacher, and she spent hours creating science experiments in his lab during her childhood. She says it’s truly a dream come true to participate in research cruises and explore our ocean for a living.

She is Senior Biological Scientist in Dr. Kendra Daly’s Zooplankton Ecology Lab at USF. Her current research focus is on the lower end of the marine food web in the Gulf of Mexico. Leslie working to increase our knowledge of the abundance and distribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton and the potential effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on their populations.

At sea, Leslie’s research tasks include: performing bongo net tows for zooplankton collection, assessing water quality parameters using data from CTD sensors, water filtration and collection for chlorophyll a, accessory phytoplankton pigments, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (to better understand ocean nutrient cycles and possible limitations), and dissolved inorganic nutrients.

 

Leslie gets ready to collect water samples.