Lee Smee

You Won't Believe How South Researchers Are Toughening Up Oysters University of South Alabama researchers are finding a new way to protect oysters against predators: with their urine.

The University of South Alabama PR team just published a feature on my lab's research. It's on the homepage now, of you can view it here. I'm very proud of our research group.

www.southalabama.edu/departments/...

Structured habitats provide thermal refuges and mitigate effects of heatwaves

www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...

🧪🦑🌎

My graduate student is lead author on this study. We found that oyster restoration could be improved by exposing oysters to predator scent, which causes them to grow a stronger shell.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

🧪#science

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Really proud of this article that follows a long-term study on estuarine communities through 2 different disturbances. #science

Life on the edge: Two dissimilar extreme events alter food webs through modification of top‐down control Climate change is causing rapid, unexpected changes to ecosystems through alteration to environmental regimes, modification of species interactions, and increased frequency and magnitude of disturban...

Life on the edge: Two dissimilar extreme events alter food webs through modification of top‐down control - Smee - 2025 - Ecology - Wiley Online Library esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Glad to see the restored oyster reef we build in 2023 is getting some use. #science #marinelife

A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.

HAPPY 75th, NSF!

We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond.

Read on 🧵(1/11):

These Hummingbirds Live In Colonies In Ecuador’s Andes, Surprising Scientists The first hummingbird species to nest and roost in colonies has been discovered in the high Andes of Ecuador.

"I was telling a colleague that yours was the best cover of the research (among the several recent articles that others have written)" -- Juan Bouzat, email

These #Hummingbirds Live In Colonies In Ecuador’s Andes, Surprising Scientists

#birding #Ecuador🇪🇨 #SciComm🧪 www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...

The 2025 Benthic Ecology Meeting was epic. Enjoy my favorite photo of the meeting. See ya'll next year!

I’m so glad you all were able to attend. See you all soon.

Benthic Ecology Meeting starts today! I am so excited to see so many friends and colleagues again. #science #BEM

Breathtaking!

The Surveyor missions, precursors to the Apollo manned moon landing, gave us this perspective, a visceral and profound testimony to our place in the cosmic vastness; a gift of awareness that intertwines science, philosophy, and a sense of restless wonder.

🔭 🧪 #planetsci

Thank you for sharing these great pics. I set my alarm to watch it and it was cloudy :(

Mass stranding of common (weedy) seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) in Sydney: impacts and implications In April 2022, mass stranding of weedy (common) seadragons occurred, with a total of over 200 individuals washed ashore on beaches in the Sydney, Australia region, recorded by citizens. Causes of the...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧪🌎🦑🐠

That is just way cool.

<i>Gibellula agroflorestalis</i> Imagine an infectious disease that turns you into an immobile white statue - while that sounds like something out of a dystopian science fic...

White Chlorination Syndrome?
No - it's MOULDY SPIDERS 🍄🕷️

I've written a post about Gibellula agroflorestalis, a species of spider-killing fungus which has been described from the agroforestry systems of Brazil.
#Invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/03/gibe...

A cool photo I made in Crystal River Florida on a manatee snorkel trip. #addocean

World-first analysis of seabirds who’ve eaten plastic reveals slow, insidious health impacts A bird might look and act outwardly healthy – but on the inside, ingested plastics are slowly wreaking havoc.

"Birds with plastic also had less of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This protein plays a crucial role in the growth and survival of neurons (nerve cells), including those involved in the development of the birds’ ability to recognise each others’ song." 🌏🧪

Rally with Georgia's CDC and Federal Workers · AFL-CIO Public Health Workers have been silent defenders of our state, our country, and the world. CDC workers have fought back against pandemics, warded off diseases, and kept people safe from things we coul...

www.mobilize.us/aflcio/event...

🧪 #standupforscience

Organisms of the MBL: Axolotls YouTube video by Marine Biological Laboratory

At the MBL, scientists study axolotls to help decipher the secrets of regeneration at the cellular and molecular levels. Learn more below!

Let us know in the comments if you, like us, are disappointed in the lack of an axolotl emoji 😠

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMlf...

Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff (Gift Article) The layoffs mean that the department will now have a work force of about half the size it did when President Trump took office.

As so now Trump sacrifices the next generation. No shame. No sense.

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#scicomm
#climate
#science 🌎 🔬 ⚒️

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/u...

Cutting federal grants for scientific research could threaten local economy Federal grants are vital to some specific research projects, education programs and jobs at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Local news interviewed today about the cuts in science funding. www.fox10tv.com/2025/03/11/c...
#science #standupforscience #discovery
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Thank you!

Delbert 'Lee' Smee ‪Dauphin Island Sea Lab‬ - ‪‪Cited by 2,570‬‬ - ‪Ecology‬ - ‪Marine Ecology‬

I would like to be added to the science feed. I am a marine scientists at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and a professor at the University of South Alabama. My Google scholar profile link is
scholar.google.com/citations?us...

My university webpage is www.disl.edu/who-we-are/l...

thanks

Climate change and variability drive increasing exposure of marine heatwaves across US estuaries - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Climate change and variability drive increasing exposure of marine heatwaves across US estuaries

Climate change and variability drive increasing exposure of marine heatwaves across US estuaries | Scientific Reports

Thank you for a great workshop.

Research from Alabama's Mobile Bay help oyster reef restoration elsewhere Researchers in Alabama are trying to toughen up baby oysters so they can better withstand predators. It's all part of an effort to restore oyster reefs around the world.

Oysters are important. Our ongoing research seeks to protect and restore them by growing stronger oysters that survive better in nature. #addOcean www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1...

Drastic cuts to scientific research funding will impact coastal Alabama economies and culture: op-ed These funds not only support science but provide jobs for many people who support research efforts that in turn go back into our economy.

I'm new to BlueSky. I wish I was posting about something more positive.
www.al.com/news/mobile/...