20 June 2003, From left:  Sean Norman, Hugo Tapia, Chris Johnston, Ashley Smithwick, Pam Morris, Amanda Graham, Standing (from left):  Liz Hambleton, Joy Van Nostrand

The Morris Lab

Amateur haikuists, antique rosarians, 

environmental microbiologists, wanna-be-surfers,  

& sailing enthusiasts! 

(In no specific order)

Haikus

www.follysurfcam.com

Morris Island Lighthouse (www.savethelight.org) Photograph by S. Norman 

July 2001:  Jeff Retzke, Dan Bost, Jessica Jung, Amanda Graham, Sean Norman, Joy Van Nostrand, and Ashley Smithwick (Right:  Spirit and The Stanimal)

Tango

Mahogany

and Mahogany plywood

Glen-L Marine Designs

20'4" length including bowsprit 

We are located at the Ft Johnson Marine Resources Facility at Ft Johnson, on James Island, Charleston, South Carolina.  This is a collaborative facility involving researchers from the NOAA/NOS, NIST, the College of Charleston, and the SC Department of Natural Resources.  My laboratory resides at Ft. Johnson due to our participation in the Medical University of South Carolina's Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Sciences (MBES) Research program.  My office is located in the administrative headquarters for the MBES program, affectionately referred to as the White House (below left), located on the point at the Ft. Johnson campus (below right).  My graduate students have offices on the first floor of the house.  

(Yes - it is a great location, and we don't take it for granted!)

Our research focuses  on five different topics:

bullet biodegradation of crude oil (more info)
bullet the impact of Ni and U on microbial communities and contaminant degradation (more info)
bullet the toxicity of anaerobically and aerobically degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (more info)
bullet the microbial ecology influencing coral health and disease
bullet the influence of microorganisms on underwater archaeological sites (more info)

Current Members of the Laboratory

 

Pamela J. Morris, Ph.D.

Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Sciences

221 Ft. Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC  29412

843-762-5533

843-762-5535 fax

morrisp@musc.edu

CV

 

Sean Norman, Ph.D. candidate, Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Science program, MUSC (Undergraduate degree:  Augusta State University).  Impact of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on crude oil degradation and microbial community structure.

1st Place in his Division at the 2002 MUSC Student Research Day

Norman, R.S., R. Frontera-Suau, and P.J. Morris.  2002.  Variability in Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide expression during crude oil degradation.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68:5096-5103.

Joy Van Nostrand - Ph.D. candidate, U.S. EPA STAR Fellow,  Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Science program, MUSC, CV., Influence of pH on microbial uranium and nickel toxicity.

U.S. EPA STAR Fellow ( 2001-2004) 

Van Nostrand, J., T. Khijniak, A. Sowder, P. Bertsch and P.J. Morris.  The effect of pH on the toxicity of nickel and other divalent metals to Burkholderia cepacia PR1301.  (In review).

Amanda Graham, M.S. student, Molecular & Cellular Biology and Pathobiology, MUSC (Undergraduate degree:  East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma).  Characterization and fate of crude oil leaking from the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor.

Interviewed at the 2003 ASM Annual Meeting in Washington, DC by MicrobeWorld

Chris Johnston, Ph.D. student, Marine Biomedicine & Environmental Science program, MUSC.  (Undergraduate degree, Clemson University).  Microbial ecology of coral health and disease.

www.coral.noaa.gov/coral_disease/

Andrew Sowder, Ph.D., Visiting Scientist, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC (Ph.D., Clemson University).  Biogeochemistry / bioavailabilityof uranium and nickel.

Sowder, A., P. Bertsch, and P.J. Morris.  2003.  Uranium and nickel speciation and bioavailability in riparian sediments:  Impact of aging, source term, and geochemical controls.  Journal of Environmental Quality  32:885-393..

Previous Students'/Postdoctoral Fellows (since Dec 2000)

Lab Fish - photo (No undergraduate degree)

Hollings Marine Laboratory

In late Fall of 2003, the Morris laboratory is slated to move into the Hollings Marine Laboratory, located on the Ft. Johnson Campus.  (Yes, the lab will have a marsh view!).  We have recently completed the design of our new lab, and implementation of the design has begun!