The Effectiveness of Marine Reserves as Nurseries Adjacent to Areas Impacted by Human Activity
Zimmer's Pew Fellowship addressed the effectiveness of marine reserves as "nurseries" seeding planktonic larvae of bivalves to adjacent ocean floor areas that have been impacted by human activities. Such studies are challenging due to the large numbers of samples required and because the early larval stages of most bivalves cannot be identified using morphological criteria alone. Hence, Zimmer worked collaboratively to develop cost-effective DNA and antibody probes to identify larvae to species in order to assess regional-scale larval dispersal of commercially important bivalves (clams and scallops). This procedure involves the serial application of a generic, or familial, level antibody probe to locate samples in which the targeted species may be present and then a species-specific DNA probe to enumerate the individuals of that species.
Cheryl Ann Zimmer's scientific roots are in conservation biology, as inspired by a particularly dynamic environmentalist/zoology professor at San Jose State University, where she was an undergraduate. Her overall research addresses fluid-dynamics and biological processes in determining the distributions of benthic invertebrates. Zimmer is a world leader in the use of flumes (steady flow tanks) for experimental studies of physical-biological interactions in the laboratory, and in the development of moored instrumentation to do similar studies in the field.
She was on the science staff at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) from 1986 to 2000 and was a senior scientist at the institution. Zimmer is now a professor at UCLA. She has also played a leadership role in developing a national agenda on marine biological diversity. From 1993-1995 she co-chaired a U.S. National Research Council Committee on Biological Diversity in Marine Systems, which produced the book Understanding Marine Biodiversity: A Research Agenda for the Nation and she remains active in national policy issues.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., MIT/WHOI Joint Program
1984: Biological Oceanography, Massachusetts, USA
Master of Arts, San Jose State University
1980: Marine Biology, California, USA
Bachelor of Arts, San Jose State University
1976: Zoology, California, USA
KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
1997-Present: Committee on Conservation
SCOPE Committee
1996-Present: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Soils and Sediments
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
1992-Present: Editorial Advisory Board
National Science Foundation, Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC)
1989-Present: Steering Committee
National Research Council, Committee, Biological Diversity in Marine Systems
1993-1995: Co-Chair
National Science Foundation
1988-1992: Advisory Committee for Ocean Sciences
KEY AWARDS & HONORS
Marine Fellow
1997: Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation
Fellow
1996: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Mellon Independent Study Awards (WHOI)
1991
Young Investigator Award
1986: Office of Naval Research
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