Congrats to Christine Newton-Ramsay!

Christine Newton-Ramsay, who began her Ph.D. work in the Marine Biodiversity Lab in the Fall of 2011, has completed her Ph.D. in record time! Chris came to our lab with a M.S. from the University of Rhode Island and a solid research plan to conduct work on the invasive seaweed Heterosiphonia (now Dasysiphonia) japonica. She wrote and defended a solid dissertation a couple of weeks ago and was officially hooded today, making her the first Ph.D. student to graduate from the lab. Her work described the range of the invader, detailed aspects of its physiology and interactions with other seaweed species, and evaluated its consumption by herbivores. Importantly, her research included experiments north and south of Cape Cod, so she described differences in the role of an introduced species across a major biogeographic boundary. Way to go, Dr. Chris!