Gail Schwieterman
Ph.D. Candidate

Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Gloucester Point, VA 23072
gschwieterman@vims.edu
+1 (804) 684-7802

Education

2020            Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Science
.                     Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary
.                     Advisor: Dr. Richard Brill
2012              Bachelor of Arts, Major: Biology       Minor: Chemistry
.                     Oberlin College

Research Experience

2014-2015      Independent Contractor, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida
2013                Fisheries Observer, Pretoma, Costa Rica
2013                Intern, Behavioral Ecology and Physiology Program, Mote Marine        .                                               Laboratory, Florida
2012                NSF REU Intern, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon
2012                Winter Fellow, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Massachusetts

Research Funding

2018                 NSF Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide ($5,000)
2017-2018       International Women’s Fishing Association Scholarship                            .                                              ($1,750 over two years)
2017-2018       VIMS Travel Grant ($1,000 over two years)
2017                 Graduate Student Association Research Grant ($1,000)
2016-2017       VIMS Academic Studies Research Grant ($3,900 over two years)
2016-2017       Seaside Foundation Scholarship ($1,200 over two years)
2016                 VIMS Equipment Trust Fund Grant ($3000)
2015-2020      NSF Graduate Research Fellowship ($138,000 over three years)
2013-2014       Thomas J. Watson Fellowship ($28,000)
2013                 NSF-BIO REU Travel Scholarship ($1,000)
2013                 Mote Intern Scholarship ($2,000)
2011-2012        Battelle Scholarship ($2,000 for tuition)
2009-2012      John F. Oberlin Scholarship ($91,000 tuition over four years)

Awards and Honors

2019                Dean’s Fellowship ($6,000)                                                                                              2019                Third Place Best Student Oral Presentation, American Fisheries Society                                              Tidewater Chapter Annual Meeting                                                              2017                Norfolk Southern Fellowship ($3,800)
2017                Best Poster, American Fisheries Society Tidewater Chapter Annual Meeting
2016                VIMS Foundation Hargis Fellowship ($2,200)
2015-2016      American Elasmobranch Society, Young Professionals Recruitment Award
2015-2017      VIMS Foundation Fellowship ($4,000 over two years)
2012                Outstanding Poster Presentation in Marine Science, Society for the .                                                  Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science

Teaching and Mentorship

2019-2020    Teaching Fellow, “Caught! The Implications of Capture Stress”                .        Designed and taught an upper level marine science course to count towards the Marine Science minor program. Incorporated proposal writing, primary literature discussions. Transitioned the course to be taught remotely halfway through the semester due to Covid-19.

2019-2020    Teaching Assistant, “Introduction to Marine Science”                                        Created and presented lectures on fisheries science, transitioned course material to an online-learning format, graded homeworks and exams, built exams in blackboard, hosted office hours, created review materials

2019               Student, “College Science Teaching”                                                                            In this course, we learned different active learning techniques; created sample syllabuses, assignments, and grading rubrics; and discussed how to create learning environments that promoted diversity and critical thought.

2018, 2019    Teaching Assistant, “Field Studies in Coastal Marine Environments”
Responsible for giving guest lectures on fisheries management, grading, field and labwork preparation, as well as logistics for 17 students and 5 faculty instructors

2018                Co-Mentor, NOAA EPP Program
Partnered with undergraduate Danielle Olive for 10 weeks on a project examining blood-oxygen affinity in clearnose skates; advised on proposal writing, laboratory techniques, animal husbandry, and presentation skills.

2017                Co-Mentor, NOAA Hollings Program
Mentored undergraduate, Danielle Lavoie, for 10 weeks on a project looking at clearnose skate metabolism. Lavoie presented this work at the ASLO annual meeting as first author.

Service to the University and Community

2017-2020         Student Representative, VIMS Academic Council
2017-2020         Virginia At-Large Representative, AFS Tidewater Chapter
2017-2020         Student Representative, VIMS Diversity and Inclusion Committee
2016-2017         Secretary, VIMS Graduate Student Association
2015-2017         Scientist, Virginia Scientists and Educators Alliance (VA SEA)
2016-Present    Scientist, Gills Club
2015-Present    Member, VIMS Green Team
2015-2016         Student Representative, VIMS Research Seminar Series
2013                   Education and Outreach Specialist, Shark Savers, Hong Kong

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Schwieterman GD, Winchester MM, Sheils HA, Bushnell PG, Bernal D, Marshall HM, Brill. Submitted. Impacts of simulated capture stress and adrenergic stimulation on elasmobranch cardiac function measured using isolated myocardial strips. Comparative Biology and Physiology: Part A.

Bouyoucos IA, Watson S, Planes S, Simpendorfer CA, Schwieterman GD, Whitney NM, Rummer JL. In Review. End-of-century warming and acidification levels exhibit interactive effects on whole-organism performance in a large predatory fish. Scientific Reports.

Schwieterman GD, Bouyoucos IA, Rummer J, Brill RW. 2019. Analyzing elasmobranch blood samples in the field: Blood stability during storage and validation of the Hemocue® hemoglobin analyzer. Conservation Physiology 7(1), coz081 https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz081

Schwieterman, G. D., Crear, D. P., Anderson, B. N., Lavoie, D. R., Sulikowski, J. A., Bushnell, P. G., & Brill, R. W. (2019). Combined Effects of Acute Temperature Change and Elevated pCO2 on the Metabolic Rates and Hypoxia Tolerances of Clearnose Skate (Rostaraja eglanteria), Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata). Biology, 8(3), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology8030056

Crear, D. P., Brill, R. W., Bushnell, P. G., Latour, R. J., Schwieterman, G. D., Steffen, R. M., & Weng, K. C. (2019). The impacts of warming and hypoxia on the performance of an obligate ram ventilator. Conservation Physiology, 7(1) coz026. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz026

Whitney NM, White CF, Gleiss AC, Schwieterman GD, Anderson P, Hueter RE, and GB Skomal. 2016. A novel method for determining post-release mortality, behavior, and recovery period using acceleration data loggers. Fisheries Research. 183: 210-221.

Whitney NM, Taquet M, Brill R, Girard C, Schwieterman GD, Dagorn L, and KN Holland. 2016. Swimming depth of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) associated and unassociated with fish aggregating devices. U.S. Fishery Bulletin. 114 (4): 426-434.

Other publications

Schwieterman, G. D. (2019). Is droning on making life unbearable?. Conservation Physiology, 7(1), coz034. https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coz034

Schwieterman, G. Can’t Catch My Breath! A Study of Metabolism in Fish Subjects: Environmental Science, Marine/Ocean Science, Life Science/Biology Grades: 6-8. Virginia Scientists & Educators Alliance (VA SEA), a collaboration of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia (NERR Science Collaborative, NOAA) and the Marine Advisory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, April 21, 2017. https://tinyurl.com/VASEA-LessonPlans.

Presentations

Talks

 

Posters

Lavoie, D.R., G. Schwieterman, R. Brill. Aerobic Scope and Hypoxia Tolerance of the Clearnose Skate (Raja eglanteria) Under Different Temperature and pH Conditions. Biennial Mtg. Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, Feb 2018

Schwieterman, G., R. Brill. The influence of acute temperature changes on metabolic scope and hypoxia tolerance of clearnose skates (Raja elganteria) under rising temperatures. American Fisheries Society, Tidewater Chapter Annual Meeting, Virginia Beach, VA, Mar 2017

Schwieterman, G., K. Lear, H. Marshall, J. Morris, C. White, R. Hueter, G. Skomal, N. Whitney. Post-Release Mortality of Coastal Sharks in a Commercial Longline Fishery. American Elasmobranch Society, New Orleans, LA, Jul 2016

Schwieterman, G., L. Copeman, C. Ryer. The effect of dietary lipids and fatty acids on growth rates of juvenile tanner crabs (Chionoecetes bairdi). Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, New Orleans, LA, Feb 2013
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science , Seattle, WA, Oct 2012

Societies

The American Elasmobranch Society
The American Fisheries Society
– Tidewater Chapter
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

Skills

Experience with Technical Equipment and Procedures
Respirometry, Isolated cardiac strip experimentation, Radiometer blood gas analysis, Electronic tagging, Lipid extraction, Iatroscan (TLC-FID), Electron Scanning Microscopy

Computer Skills
Microsoft Excel, Word, Powerpoint; Statistical programs R, SAS; Modeling software with graphical interfaces (STELLA, NOVA); Imaging software (ImageJ, SPOT); IgorPro

Trainings and Certifications
PADI Advanced Open Water SCUBA Certified (August 2011), Fluent in Conversational Spanish, Capable of Driving Manual Transmission