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Partnerships at Hollings Marine Laboratory
Team research is the theme of the Hollings Marine Laboratory. No longer can one scientist working in one discipline, or at one institution, independently provide solutions to the coastal environmental and public health problems of this nation. The cumulative and combined expertise and skills of the Partners provide the resources that allow the research teams to assess marine environmental quality and link it to human health.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Originally founded in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department’s Technology Administration. NIST’s mission is to develop and promote measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life. NIST maintains laboratories and staff at the HML that are associated with its Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory (CSTL) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. NIST activities at the HML involve work related to marine research conducted by three CSTL Divisions: Analytical Chemistry, Physical and Chemical Properties, and Biotechnology. This work is devoted to improving measurements in the marine environment through development and application of improved methods, design and institution of quality assurance procedures and associated materials, and marine environmental specimen banking.
HML Principal Scientists representing the National Institute of Standards and Technology include:
Paul Becker
Email: paul.becker@nist.gov
Research interests: transport, fate, and effect of anthropogenic contaminants in the Arctic marine environment.
Selected current projects:
- Evaluation of the role of Environmental Specimen Banking in monitoring and research.
- Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (Arctic species).
Steven Christopher
Email: steven.christopher@nist.gov
Research interests: development and application of state-of-art methods for trace element analysis and speciation, particularly as related to marine environmental research.
Selected current projects:
- Quality assurance for trace element analysis in marine matrices (development of SRMs and control materials for analytical chemists; coordination of interlaboratory comparison exercises).
- A multidisciplinary approach for the qualitative and quantitative determination of metalloproteins used as health and disease markers.
John Kucklick
Email: john.kucklick@nist.gov
Research interests: Development and application of state-of-art methods for organic contaminants analysis as related to marine environmental research, marine animal health, and newly emerging contaminants of interest.
Selected current projects:
- Quality assurance for analysis of organic compounds in marine matrices (development of SRMs and control materials for analytical chemists; coordination of interlaboratory comparison exercises).
- Bottlenose dolphin health assessment.
Rebecca Pugh
Email: rebecca.pugh@nist.gov
Research interests: Cryogenic environmental specimen banking and marine mammal health.
Selected current projects:
- Development and application of the Marine Environmental Specimen Bank.
- Development of protocols for marine mammal health research.