COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Second Species of Pfiesteria Identified 



JoAnn Burkholder, 

 North Carolina State 

 University professor of 

 aquatic botany and Sea 

 Grant researcher, has 

 identified a second species 

 of Pfiesteria, P. shumwayae 

 (shum-way-eye), from a 

 group of closely related 

 dinoflagellates. The toxic 

 marine organisms are linked to mid- 

 Atlantic fish kills. 



Burkholder co-discovered Pfiesteria 

 piscicida in 1989 while conducting Sea 

 Grant-supported research. She presented 

 her latest findings earlier this year at the 

 Southeastern Estuarine Research Society 

 conference in Wilmington. 



Her studies indicate that P. 

 shumwayae appears to thrive best in 

 coastal waters with high nitrogen levels, 

 while P. piscicida prefers higher phospho 

 rus levels, although both nitrogen and 



phosphorus can stimulate its 

 growth. In addition, P. 

 shumwayae is genetically 

 and structurally different. 

 However, both have a 

 complex series of life stages, 

 most of which are nontoxic. 

 Both emit toxins that stun 

 fish during several stages 

 and may cause open sores on 

 their skin; both then feed on fish tissue and 

 blood. When fish are not available, both can 

 masquerade as microscopic plants. 



P. shumwayae was first detected during 

 a 1995 fish kill in North Carolina's New 

 River estuary following a major hog waste 

 lagoon spill. Subsequent testing by 

 Burkholder, her colleagues and independent 

 scientists confirmed the discovery. 



Burkholder named the new species in 

 honor of Sandra E. Shumway, professor of 

 biology and marine science at New York's 

 Southampton College. 



Barbara Doll I 



Barbara A. Doll, coastal water quality 

 specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 has dual honors from North Carolina State 

 University. She was elected to the Academy 

 of Outstanding Faculty Engaged in 

 Extension, and selected by her peers in the 

 Office of Research, Outreach and Extension 

 for the University Award for Excellence. 



She is one of eight who will be inducted 

 next fall into the academy, which the 

 university established this year to recognize 

 individuals who advance NC State's 

 outreach and service missions across the 

 state. The Award for Excellence carries with 

 it a $250 cash prize and a plaque, and is 

 part of the Governor's Award for Excellence 

 program. 



For both honors, Doll was cited for her 

 research and extension activities in stream 

 repair, water quality and coastal resource 

 protection, and aquatic nuisance species 



)ubly Honored 



awareness. Her outreach programs reach 

 audiences through publications, profes- 

 sional conferences, community workshops 

 and demonstration projects. 



Her collaborative project to reduce 

 bacteria and restore shellfish waters in 

 Jumping Run, a creek adjacent to Bogue 

 Sound, was featured in the Holiday 1999 

 Coastwatch. 



This spring, Doli worked with 

 university and Sea Grant extension 

 specialists to deliver a series of Coastal 

 Development Workshops to demonstrate 

 best management practices to minimize the 

 impact of development on water quality 

 and shellfish habitat. 



Doll earned her bachelor's and 

 master's degrees in civil engineering from 

 NC State in 1 989 and 1 992 respectively. 

 She joined N.C. Sea Grant in 1 992. - P.S. 



Book Form 



rom Rachel Carson's 

 lessons at Bird Shoal to an 

 account of a stranded sea 

 traveler, historian David 

 Cecelski has taken readers on a 

 variety of adventures in his 

 Coastwatch column. Now 

 readers can enjoy the essays in 

 book form. 



In A Historian's Coast: 

 Adventures into the Tidewater 

 Past, Cecelski takes readers 

 beyond the typical coastal 

 tourist spots or even our famed 

 historic sites. 



He shares recollections 

 from Knotts Island and Davis 

 Ridge. He takes readers to the 

 Great Alligator Swamp and to 

 the community of Goshen. 



He even discovers natural 

 history — the miracles of 

 bottlenose dolphins and the 

 treasures of paleoecological 

 clues in fossilized Foraminifera. 



Cecelski, who grew up in 

 the coastal region, is the 

 Whichard Distinguished Visiting 

 Professor in Humanities at East 

 Carolina University. He will 

 tour coastal bookstores this 

 summer. For more information 

 on his schedule, contact John F. 

 Blair Publisher at 800/222- 

 9796. 



In the meantime, in this 

 and coming issues, we will have 

 several more installments of 

 Cecelski's column. Turn to 

 page 26. 



COASTWATCH 



