People

Education

B.S. 1980 University of Michigan

Research Interests

My present research focuses on oyster stock assessment and evaluation of oyster restoration efforts in Delaware Bay, and on deep sea and estuarine taphonomy.    I am also interested in oyster disease research, and have developed and validated methods for the use of flow cytometry to investigate the morphology and function of bivalve hemocytes.

Current Research Projects

• Oyster Stock Assessment Program in Delaware Bay (NJ)- State of New Jersey

• Oyster Restoration in Delaware Bay- Army Corps of Engineers

• SSETI (Shelf and Slope Experimental Taphonomy Initiative)- National Science Foundation

Selected Publications

Powell, E.N., K.A. Ashton-Alcox and J.N. Kraeuter. 2007. Re-evaluation of oyster dredge efficiency in survey mode: application in stock assessment. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 27:2, 492-511.

Cai, W.J., F.Z. Chen, E. N. Powell, S.E. Walker, K.M. Parsons-Hubbard, G.M. Staff, Y.C. Wang, K.A. Ashton-Alcox, W.R. Callender and C.E. Brett. 2006. Preferential dissolution of carbonate shells driven by petroleum seep activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 248, 227-243.

Powell, E.N., J.N. Kraeuter and K.A. Ashton-Alcox. 2006. How long does oyster shell last on an oyster reef? Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 69, 531-542.

Powell, E.N. and K.A. Ashton-Alcox. 2004. A comparison between a suction dredge and a traditional oyster dredge in the transplantation of oysters in Delaware Bay. J. Shellfish Research, 23:3, 803-823.

Allam, B., K.A. Ashton-Alcox and S.E. Ford. 2001. Haemocyte parameters associated with resistance to brown ring disease in Ruditapes spp. clams. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, 25: 365-375.

Powell, E.N., K.A. Ashton-Alcox, S.E. Banta and A.J. Bonner. 2001. Impact of repeated dredging on a Delaware Bay oyster reef. J. Shellfish Research, 20:3, 961-975.

Ashton-Alcox, K.A., B. Allam and S.E. Ford. 2000.  Application of flow cytometry to bivalve pathology IN Recent Advances in Marine Biotechnology: Volume 5, Immunobiology and Pathology. M. Fingerman, R. Nagabhushanam, and M-F. Thompson, Eds.  Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi.

Ashton-Alcox, K.A. and S.E. Ford. 1998. Variability in molluscan hemocytes: a flow cytometric study. Tissue and Cell, 30(2):195-204.

Ford, S.E. and K.A. Ashton-Alcox 1998. Altered response of oyster hemocytes to Haplosporidium nelsoni  (MSX).plasmodia treated with enzymes or metabolic inhibitors. J. Invertebrate Pathology, 72:160-166.

Bushek, D., S.K. Allen, K.A. Ashton-Alcox, R. Gustafson, S.E. Ford, 1994. Dose response of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica  to cultured cells of Perkinsus marinus, the agent of Dermo disease. J. Shellfish Research, 13(1):313.

Ford, S.E. and K.A. Ashton-Alcox, 1993.  A comparison of methods for identifying molluscan hemocytes. J. Shellfish Research 12:154.

Roman, M.R., K. A. Ashton and A. L. Gauzens. 1988.  Day/night differences in the grazing impact of marine copepods. Hydrobiologia, 167/168: 21-30.