Butler Lab 2023 Accomplishments and Updates!
As 2023 comes to a close, we wanted to update everyone on the awesome things our lab has done this past year!
Academic Milestones achieved:
• Masters Student Nick Evans successfully presented his Thesis Proposal
• Ph.D. Candidate Casey Butler advanced to candidacy and successfully defended her dissertation proposal
• Ph.D. student Brandon Sosa passed his qualifying exams
Funding acquired/awarded:
Casey Butler
NOAA NMFS Saltonstall-Kennedy Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program. ($284,079). Ross, E.P., Butler, C.B., Matthews, T.R., Improving the sustainability and value of the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery with the help of the industry.
Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida Conserve Wildlife Tag Grants CWT ($16,576). Butler, C.B., Ross, E.P., Matthews, T.R. Evaluating the ecological role of solution holes in changing Florida Keys hardbottom habitats.
Leah Cifers
The Don l. Brumbaugh Memorial Equipment Scholarship. ($1,000).
The Sonotronics Equipment Scholarship, established in 2005, commemorates Donald L. Brumbaugh’s pioneering work in the development of fisheries and wildlife biotelemetry technologies. The scholarship is designed to aid students in fisheries research projects.
FIU Institute of Environment Oceans and Coastlines Research Award ($1,000)
Awarded to FIU graduate students for research funds support and/or presentations at scientific conferences
Morgan Jarrett
International Women’s Fishing Association Scholarship Trust ($2,000).
The mission of the International Women’s Fishing Association Scholarship Trust is to grant research scholarships to graduate students who are committed to studies of the chemical, physical and biological processes of marine science with emphasis on conservation, preservation, and protection of the marine environment.
Brandon Sosa
AMLC’s Student Grant-in-Aid of Caribbean Marine Research ($2,000).
These awards support student research and increase collaboration and diffusion of knowledge among the member institutions of the AMLC.
Presentations at scientific conferences:
Dr. Mark Butler IV (students in italics)
Butler, Mark & Daniel Pauly. “The Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT): A unifying theory for the growth, reproduction, and behavior of water breathing ectotherms?” 51st Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting, Miami, FL April 2023. Oral Presentation.
Mark Butler (INVITED). “The behavioral ecology of lobsters: a lasting ode to William Herrnkind”, 12th International Lobster Conference and Workshop, Freemantle, Western Australia. Oral Presentation.
Mark Butler, Morgan Jarrett, and Daniel Pauly. “The Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT): A unifying theory for the ecology of lobsters?” 12th International Lobster Conference and Workshop, Freemantle, Western Australia. Oral Presentation.
Emily Hutchinson, Samantha Hagedorn, Erica Ross, Gaya Gnanalingam, Mark Butler, and Thomas R. Matthews. “Methods to age the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) using gastric mill ossicles” 12th International Lobster Conference and Workshop, Freemantle, Western Australia. Oral Presentation.
Casey Butler
Butler, C.B., Butler, J., and T.R. Matthews. “Seeing is Believing? TrapCam for identifying spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) escapement and mortality with respect to lobster nutritional condition.” International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management, Fremantle, Western Australia, October 2023. Oral Presentation.
Butler, C.B., Butler, M.J. IV, and T.R. Matthews. “You are what you eat, lobster-style: Trophodynamics of Panulirus argus and P. guttatus varies with coral reef habitat degradation.” International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management, Fremantle, Western Australia, October 2023. Oral Presentation.
Butler, C.B., Matthews, T.R., Butler, M.J. IV. A lobster’s buffet in a changing sea: Trophodynamics of spiny lobsters varies with coral reef habitat degradation. Benthic Ecology Meeting, April 2023. Oral Presentation.
Nick Evans
Williams, Mary, Nicholas Evans, and Mark Butler. “Comparing Hard-Bottom Community Structure in the Everglades National Park portion of the Florida Bay from 2002 to 2022”, 51st Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting, Miami, FL April 2023. Poster Presentation.
Morgan Jarrett
Jarrett, M.L., Smith, A.L., Langford, G.J., and Gravinese, P.M. Acidification reduces the foraging activity of the Florida Stone Crab (Menippe mercenaria). Benthic Ecology Meeting. Miami, FL. April 2023. Poster Presentation.
Brandon Sosa
Sosa, B., Bhat, M. and, Butler, M. (2023). Valuing the Use of Marine Grazers in Coral Reef Restoration in the FL, Keys. International Society of Ecological Economics (ISEE). Santa Marta, Colombia. Oral Presentation.
Publications in the Works:
• Renchen, G.F., Butler, C.B., Hutchinson, E., Matthews, T.R. Use of escape gaps in wire lobster traps to reduce reef fish bycatch. Fisheries Res. (In press)
• Evans, N., Butler, J., and Butler, M.J. IV, The restoration of marine habitats: a review. Bulletin of Marine Science. (In review)
• Butler, M.J. IV and Valentine, M.M. Sponge diversity drives ecological function in a degraded marine ecosystem. Ecology Letters (In Review)
• Butler, M.J. IV, Alain Duran, Colette J. Feehan, Alastair R. Harborne, Alwin Hykema, Joshua T. Patterson, William C. Sharp, Angelo J. Spadaro, Tom Wijers, and Stacey M. Williams. Restoration of Herbivory on Caribbean Coral Reefs: A Comparison of the Promise. Frontiers in Marine Science. (In Review)
• Butler, M.J. IV, M. M. Valentine, S.E. McMurray, and J.R. Pawlik. Exploitative Competition for Waterborne Resources Among Tropical Shallow-Water Sponges. Ecology. (In Review)
• Butler, M.J. IV 2023. A Summary of the Behavior Session at the 2023 ICWL. The Lobster Newsletter. (In Review)
• Jarrett, M.L., Smith, A.L., Langford, G.J., and Gravinese, P.M. Acidification reduces the foraging activity of the Florida Stone Crab (Menippe mercenaria). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (In Review).
