Graduate Program in Marine Biology at Grice Marine Lab

Graduate Program in Marine Biology at Grice Marine Lab The College of Charleston's Graduate Program in Marine Biology, and their home - the Grice Marine Laboratory

The Grice Marine Laboratory at Fort Johnson is home to Biology department faculty research and teaching labs, the Graduate Program in Marine Biology, the undergraduate Marine Biology major, and the summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the College of Charleston.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Zoe Golden for defending her masters thesis entitled "Assessing the Influence of Microhabitats...
06/18/2026

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Zoe Golden for defending her masters thesis entitled "Assessing the Influence of Microhabitats on Estuarine Fish Species in the ACE Basin, SC Using Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) Technology and Machine Learning". Zoe’s research addresses the time and labor constraints of traditional estuarine habitat monitoring by developing automated classification methods using UAS imagery and deep learning. This approach enables efficient, accurate, and repeatable habitat monitoring across multiple estuarine systems to support adaptive management under changing coastal conditions.

🐟 Zoe’s passion for marine biology started from a childhood tradition with her mom where they would visit the aquarium every week together.

🐟 Outside of research, Zoe enjoys going to the beach, reading, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her friends and puppy!

🐟 After finishing the GPMB program, Zoe plans to stay in Charleston and continue working in the field of fisheries science!

🐟 Zoe, we are so proud of you! We are excited to see what your future brings! Congrats!

Charleston’s Graduate School College of Charleston

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Alec Heilman for defending his masters thesis entitled "Benthic modeling to support coral prop...
06/18/2026

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Alec Heilman for defending his masters thesis entitled "Benthic modeling to support coral propagation and restoration". Alec’s research examined the environmental drivers that favor higher densities of two mesophotic coral species that are integral to the Deepwater Horizon restoration efforts. Understanding the environmental factors that positively influence these corals’ densities helps increase the success rate of translocation initiatives that are occurring, which will in turn enhance the biodiversity of the ecosystems and return them back to pre-spill caliber.

🪸 Alec’s favorite part of his project was being able to participate in the research expeditions, where he was able to see the data collection firsthand and identify a new reef complex not yet explored.

🪸 Outside of research, Alec is training for an Ironman triathlon and also loves to read, try all the restaurants that Charleston has to offer, and watch Love Island UK.

🪸 After graduating, Alec plans on pursuing his MBA from the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, where he’ll be focusing on energy finance and cleantech.

🪸 Alec, we are so proud of you! We are looking forward to seeing what your future brings! Congrats!

Charleston’s Graduate School College of Charleston

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jessica Trayhan for defending her masters thesis entitled "Assessing seasonal trends, detectio...
06/18/2026

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jessica Trayhan for defending her masters thesis entitled "Assessing seasonal trends, detection patterns, and co-detection of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, cetacean herpesvirus, and Brucella ceti in stranded bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops erebennus) lung tissues". Jessica’s research determined whether CeHV and/or Pdd were present in this stranded dolphin population, evaluated any seasonal or host-associated patterns, and assessed their co-detection with Brucella ceti. The research on these pathogens has implications for emerging and infectious disease research, zoonotic disease risk, stock management, conservation, and One Health.

🐬 Jessica’s passion for marine biology started in undergrad where she was involved in environmental and aquatic microbiology research and realized working in a marine setting was where she wanted to be.

🐬 Outside of research, Jessica loves spending time with friends, reading, going on walks, traveling, and finding new coffee shops to try.

🐬 After finishing the GPMB program, Jessica will be working as a Research Specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina.

🐬 Jessica, we are very proud of you! We can’t wait to see what your future brings! Congrats!

Charleston’s Graduate School College of Charleston

We are continuing our summer fun series with June's event: JUST DANCE! Put on your dancing shoes, eat free pizza, and ju...
06/01/2026

We are continuing our summer fun series with June's event: JUST DANCE! Put on your dancing shoes, eat free pizza, and just DANCE!

Save your calendar for the last Thursday of each month! Stay tuned for July's event! 👀

04/24/2026

We love our plants! (Especially orchids) 🌸🪴

New moms near Grice! 🪺2 Great Blue Herons have made their nests in a tree outside GML and SCDNR. No babies have been spo...
04/21/2026

New moms near Grice! 🪺

2 Great Blue Herons have made their nests in a tree outside GML and SCDNR. No babies have been spotted yet (4/21/26)!

Maternity photos taken by

🚨Colloquium 2026 Announcement🚨Write it on your calendar: Colloquium 2026 is scheduled for Friday, October 9th! This even...
04/20/2026

🚨Colloquium 2026 Announcement🚨

Write it on your calendar: Colloquium 2026 is scheduled for Friday, October 9th! This event is open to all CofC students, faculty, staff, and interested public who want to see what our current GPMB students are researching!

For more information regarding RSVPs for the BBQ and details regarding the event, please see the link to the website on our linktree in our bio!

Congratulations to our GPMB students who presented their thesis research in the College of Charleston's EXPO poster sess...
04/20/2026

Congratulations to our GPMB students who presented their thesis research in the College of Charleston's EXPO poster session today!

Special shout out to Jesi Gibbs and Livvie Cohn for winning awards from the Graduate School and Phi Kappa Phi!!! 🥳🥳🥳

Student Presentations:

🐚 Livvie Cohn - Co-Contamination Interactions Between Microplastics and Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil on Oxidative Stress in Juvenile Hard Clams (Mercenaria mercenaria)

🪱 Kaitlynn Stewart - From Clam to Fish: Life Cycle Ecology of Digenean Parasites Lasiotocus trachinoti and L. choannura in Coquinas Donax spp.

🦐 Jesi Gibbs - Do Shrimp Feel Pain?: Behavioral and Neurochemical Evidence for Nociceptive Integration

🐢 Heidi Hellenbrand - Genetic Diversity and Seasonal Reproduction Patterns of the Epibiotic Barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria on Two Subspecies of Sea Turtles in Costa Rica

Stay tuned for our next big GPMB presentation event... Colloquium 2026! 👀

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Peter Gibson for defending his masters thesis entitled "Salt marsh relicts serve as key altern...
04/20/2026

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Peter Gibson for defending his masters thesis entitled "Salt marsh relicts serve as key alternate foraging sites for federally threatened red knots during spring breeding migration stopover in South Carolina, USA". Peter's research is important the Rufa red knot is a federally threatened shorebird that depends heavily on high-quality food resources during spring migration to fuel its journey to Arctic breeding grounds, making the identification of reliable foraging habitats critically important for its conservation.

🐚 Peter's favorite part of his project was observing flocks of red knots and other shorebirds feeding on the relicts. Starting this project with positive confirmation of red knot foraging reinforced the need for understanding why.

🐚 Peter first became interested in marine biology during his undergrad as he enjoyed the freshwater field work of his courses and wanted to extend these skills to the coastline.

🐚 After finishing the GPMB program, Peter hopes to continue working with shorebirds and coastal marshes. 

🐚 Peter, we are so proud of you! We are excited to see what your future brings! Congrats!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Bobnar for defending her masters thesis entitled "Extreme thermal events in South Carol...
04/20/2026

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Bobnar for defending her masters thesis entitled "Extreme thermal events in South Carolina estuaries: Patterns and exposure of key recreational fishes". Ashley's research is important because as these climate-driven events become more frequent and intense, it will have major impacts on coastal ecosystems. By understanding how these events occur locally and if they affect fisheries, we can better equip resource managers to anticipate future extremes and support both healthy ecosystems and coastal economies.

🐟 Ashley's favorite part of her project was realizing how many new research questions that have come (and will come) from this project.

🐟 Ashley has always wanted to be a marine biologist since she was little. Her father and grandfather are both fishermen and growing up on the water with them sparked Ashley's interest and curiosity about the ocean and the life within it.

🐟 Outside of research, Ashley likes to spend time with her puppy, Maple, being in the water (fishing, snorkeling, or diving), hanging at the beach (reading, running, or shark tooth hunting), or trying a new coffee shop!

🐟 Ashley, we are so proud of you! We can't wait see what your future holds! Congrats!


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Address

205 Fort Johnson Road
Charleston, SC
29412

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+18439539200

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