College
FWC
Mentor Information
Sara Kaminski
Description
The Steidinger Scholar Internship at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute provides a unique and valuable research experience for undergraduate students through experiential learning. Over the summer of 2026, we’re integral team members of the Harmful Algal Blooms Biotoxins Team, helping to monitor the presence of Pyrodinium bahamense, a saxitoxin producing dinoflagellate, and its associated toxins in scallop tissues throughout the Pasco County Recreational Scalloping Zone. This monitoring is crucial to protecting human health, preserving Florida's resources, and informing management decisions. To further our understanding of P. bahamense, we explored the impact of salinity on growth, pH, stress, and toxicity, using three ecologically relevant salinities (25, 30, 35 PSU) that are observed in regions with P. bahamense blooms. Salinity influences biological processes such as growth and toxin production, highlighting the importance for ecological monitoring. Using an established 25 PSU culture of P. bahamense isolated from the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a known high biomass bloom region, we slowly acclimated subsets of culture to higher salinities of 30 and 35 over several weeks. Once the growth cycle was regulated, we began subsampling for cell enumeration, pH, and toxicity three times a week. Frequent sampling allowed for high resolution tracking of the growth and toxin profiles. Based on our preliminary observations, we predict growth and toxins will be highest at 35 PSU. Growth rates from this study can contribute to predictive models for bloom formation under varying salinities and help understand bloom dynamics in different Florida estuaries that reflect diverse salinities.
Pyrodinium bahamense environmental growth: A study of how local salinities affect P. bahamense growth and toxicity
The Steidinger Scholar Internship at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute provides a unique and valuable research experience for undergraduate students through experiential learning. Over the summer of 2026, we’re integral team members of the Harmful Algal Blooms Biotoxins Team, helping to monitor the presence of Pyrodinium bahamense, a saxitoxin producing dinoflagellate, and its associated toxins in scallop tissues throughout the Pasco County Recreational Scalloping Zone. This monitoring is crucial to protecting human health, preserving Florida's resources, and informing management decisions. To further our understanding of P. bahamense, we explored the impact of salinity on growth, pH, stress, and toxicity, using three ecologically relevant salinities (25, 30, 35 PSU) that are observed in regions with P. bahamense blooms. Salinity influences biological processes such as growth and toxin production, highlighting the importance for ecological monitoring. Using an established 25 PSU culture of P. bahamense isolated from the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a known high biomass bloom region, we slowly acclimated subsets of culture to higher salinities of 30 and 35 over several weeks. Once the growth cycle was regulated, we began subsampling for cell enumeration, pH, and toxicity three times a week. Frequent sampling allowed for high resolution tracking of the growth and toxin profiles. Based on our preliminary observations, we predict growth and toxins will be highest at 35 PSU. Growth rates from this study can contribute to predictive models for bloom formation under varying salinities and help understand bloom dynamics in different Florida estuaries that reflect diverse salinities.
