Welcome to the Galvez Lab

Ben Dubansky, Christine Savolainen, Matthew Truax, Brian Whitaker, Ying Guan, Shujun Zhang
Yanling Meng, Charlotte Bodinier, Arianna Rivera, Fernando Galvez

Welcome to the Galvez Comparative Physiology Laboratory!

Research activities in the Galvez laboratory are centered around studies on comparative physiology and aquatic toxicology of fish. My early research investigating the influence of environmental chemistry on metal transport in fish has led to more recent work on assessing the plasticity of fish epithelia to salinity stress, ectoparasitic infection, and exposure to toxicants such as metals and hydrocarbons. My research group utilizes an integrative and comparative approach to study the transport of ions, metabolic wastes, and acid-base equivalents across fish epithelia during environmental and physiological perturbations.

The current research projects in the lab are associated with the:

I.    Comparative physiology of osmotic stress tolerance
II.    Remodeling of transporting epithelial to environmental and physiological stress
III.   Fish gill remodeling during ectoparasitic infection
IV.  Physiological responses of fish to environmental toxicants

NEWS:

Mr. Charles Brown has recently joined the Galvez laboratory and will start in the Ph.D. program on January 2011.

Fernando Galvez, Benjamin Dubansky, and Charlotte Bodinier publish a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences providing the first report of biological effects in resident fish www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1109545108


Galvez lab research featured by National Science Foundation: Press Release 11-206
Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon Spill Effects on Fish Revealed
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121786


Fernando Galvez testifies before the House Committee on Natural Resources in Washington, D.C.
Oral Testimony: http://naturalresources.house.gov/UploadedFiles/GalvezDisclosure10.12.11.pdf
Written Testimony: http://naturalresources.house.gov/UploadedFiles/GalvezDisclosure10.12.11.pdf


Galvez research presented on the U.S. Senate floor by Senator Bill Nelson of Florida:
See at 1h:44m for presentation: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SenateSession4938

Fernando Galvez publishes manuscript in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences on NSF-funded titled “Genomic mechanisms of evolved physiological plasticity in killifish distributed along an environmental salinity gradient”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108: 6193-6198.

Benjamin Dubansky, Brian Whitaker, and Fernando Galvez publish a manuscript featured on the cover of the Biological Bulletin. See Biological Bulletin. 220: 97-10.
 

March 2011: Ying Guan and Christine Savolainen were awarded a McDaniel’s Travel Award through the Department of Biological Sciences, LSU to present their poster at the 2011 World Aquaculture Society meeting in New Orleans, LA.

 March 2011: Congratulations to Brian Whitaker who recently received a fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Program to study the physiological interaction of larval, unionid freshwater mussels and fish hosts.  

 February 2011: Michael Truax received a one year research grant through the LA Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on fish energetics.

 February 2011: A manuscript by Dubansky, Whitaker, and Galvez entitled, “The influence of cortisol on the attachment and metamorphosis of larval Utterbackia imbecillis on bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus)” was accepted for publication in The Biological Bulletin.

Look for it in on the web or in print, soon!  Check the pictures page.  Contact Ben for any details. bduban1@lsu.edu.

 November 2010: Fernando Galvez and graduate student Benjamin Dubansky received a new grant to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on the health of coastal fish populations in Barataria Bay, Louisiana.  New data is emerging as we speak.  Sneak peeks will be available soon!  Keep checking the pictures section.  

 July 2010: Ben Dubansky was recently interviewed by Mark Strassmann from CBS evening news regarding the effects of oil contamination along Louisiana’s coastal marshes.  See the video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6585982n&tag=related;photovideo

Research Funding Provided By...

Much appreciation for additional technical assistance to Renee Christner, ITS Assistance, Dept. of Biological Sciences