DSU’s Nivette Perez-Perez Awarded NOAA Scholarship

Nivette M. Pérez-Pérez, a DSU graduate student who is working toward a master’s degree in Natural Resources, has been awarded a $36,000 Graduate Research and Training Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Ms. Pérez-Pérez is a part of the DSU College of Agriculture and Related Sciences’ Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC). Her current research is focused on the survival and development of eggs and larvae of red deep sea crabs and testing the effects of diet and temperature in laboratory conditions.

Her research project is a collaboration between Dr. Matthew Poach from NOAA’s James J. Howard Laboratory, Sandy Hook, N.J.; Dr. Bradley Stevens of the LMRCSC of University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Dr. Stacy Smith, senior research scientist, her advisor Dr. Gulnihal Ozbay, professor and extension specialist of natural resources, both of DSU, as well as the Atlantic Red Crab Company of New Bedford, Mass.

This study will develop protocols to help maintain red deep-sea crab larvae in laboratory conditions. The immediate goal of this project is to collect baseline information needed to open new lines of experimentation with this species including topics of climate change, ocean acidification, advance development, and behavior. The long-term objective is to study the factors affecting the larval stages of the red deep-sea crab.

Ms. Pérez-Pérez said that the scholarship is a significant development. “It puts me in touch first-hand with NOAA researchers and broadens my network within the NOAA community,” she said. “It will also broaden my skills and mold my future steps in my academic career.”

A 2013 graduate of the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor of Science in Coastal Marine Biology, Ms. Pérez-Pérez is slated to complete her master’s degree at DSU in December 2016. Afterward she plans to pursue a Ph.D in fisheries.

In addition to the scholarship, she will also receive a maximum of $7,000 from NOAA to cover costs for travel to present her finding at conferences.

The Graduate Research and Training Scholarship Program is a pilot program designed to provide opportunities for graduate students that are supported at the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions Cooperative Science Centers, like the LMRCSC, to participate in research at a NOAA facility with guidance from a NOAA mentor.