People

Education

B.S. 2008 Bryn Mawr

Research Interests

Having studied and been passionate about marine invertebrate zoology as an undergraduate, I am now pursuing a course of graduate studies at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, part of Rutgers University.  My current research concerns the Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica and its protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus, the agent responsible for Dermo disease.  While it does not infect humans, the parasite has had an enormous impact on oyster populations of the United States.  It is so wide-ranging and virulent, it has already significantly reduced oyster catches since the 1950s, ultimately harming the commercial yield and the ecology of the estuarine communities.  P. marinus has no specific intermediate host, but can be passed to new hosts directly through water currents.  Because the parasite is so easily waterborne, it is unknown if the larger community of organisms, such as oyster scavengers feeding on infected hosts, have any effects on disease transmission dynamics.  My ongoing research as a student investigates the possibility of scavengers affecting the transmission of P. marinus in both laboratory and field settings, and how these results may influence oyster aquaculture designs in the future.

Selected Publications

E. A. Diamond, de Forges, B.R. and Kornicker, L.S. 2008 . Azygocypridina brynmawria, a new myodocopid ostracod off the southwest coast of New Caledonia (Crustacea: Ostracoda: Myodocopa: Cypridinidae).  Biological Society of Washington , 121 (3):354-364.