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Marine Technology Society Journal : Editorial Board

Marine Science & Coastal Engineering Camp : Director

Florida Academy of Sciences: Past President

Indian River Lagoon Symposium : Steering Committee Member

Assessing the Biological Performance of Living Docks—A Citizen Science Initiative to Improve Coastal Water Quality through Benthic Recruitment within the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

The Application of UVC Used in Synergy with Surface Material to Prevent Marine Biofouling

The Use of a UVC Lamp Incorporated With an ROV to Prevent Biofouling: A Proof-of-Concept Study

A novel design to investigate the impacts of UV exposure on marine biofouling

Using hydrodynamic testing to assess the performance of fouling control coatings

Using ultraviolet light for improved antifouling performance on ship hull coatings

The Living Dock: A Study of Benthic Recruitment to Oyster Substrates Affixed to a Dock in the Indian River Lagoon

Does the benthic invertebrate community reflect disturbances in the central Indian River Lagoon?

Dr. Kelli Hunsucker’s research focuses on biofouling organisms, both micro and macro plants and animals, and their settlement on surfaces such as ship hulls and oceanographic instrumentation. She works with government, industry, and academia to research, test, and design novel systems to determine their efficacy in preventing biofouling. Currently her team is investigating the application of UVC on biofouling and its efficacy in the marine environment. She has authored over 250 technical reports, publications and book chapters on biofouling ecology and prevention. Dr. Hunsucker’s other projects involve eco-engineering solutions for improved water quality and ecosystem enhancement in estuarine waters. In addition to teaching and research, she is heavily involved in community based outreach projects and marine science summer programs for children.

Marine Education

Oceanography

Biofilms

Biofouling

Benthic Ecology

Ecological Engineering

Environmental Science

Faculty Profile

Google Scholar Citations

ResearchGate Citations

Florida Inventors Hall of Fame Profile

NASA Alumni League Florida Chapter Profile

Florida Tech Professor Kelli Hunsucker Awarded Marine Science Educator of the Year Honor

UVC Showing Positive Signs for Biofouling Solution

Q&A: Kelli Hunsucker Stands For … Collaboration

Wanted Weeds: Early Signs Positive for Living Docks Program

Florida Tech’s Dr. Kelli Hunsucker Keeping Water Healthy For Its Marine Occupants

florida-tech-welcomes-visiting-australian-scholar-to-aid-in-antifouling-research

Tamar Jamieson will Spend Semester Collaborating with Kelli Hunsucker

Assistant Professor | Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences

  Florida Tech’s Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control is welcoming a new teammate for the semester. Tamar Jamieson, a postdoctoral researcher hailing from Australia’s Flinders University, is in Melbourne, Fla. to collaborate on biofouling research with assistant professor of marine sciences Kelli Hunsucker and professor of oceanography and ocean engineering Geoffrey Swain. Biofouling is the growth of a bacterial film or larger marine life, such as barnacles, after an object’s surface is submerged in water. It can inhibit a ship’s functionality by creating drag and slowing it down, which forces the vessel to use more fuel and emit more greenhouse gases.

Over the course of the semester, Jamieson will help Hunsucker’s team develop a collaborative experiment to test antifouling techniques, combining Jamieson’s expertise with that of the lab.

“I’m excited to have someone here who has this kind of wealth of knowledge in her field,” Hunsucker said. “She’ll be able to use her knowledge to help move our research forward and then kind of in return, use our knowledge to help move hers forward.”  The Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control aims to understand and improve corrosion and biofouling control systems. Part of Hunsucker’s research involves evaluating materials that can protect surfaces, such as a ship’s hull, from unwanted growth. She is currently working with the U.S. Navy to see how antifouling techniques perform under different conditions.

Jamieson’s research through Flinders’s ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research & Innovation focuses on the small-scale microorganisms that make up biofilm. She also studies the genetic makeup of microbial communities, which Hunsucker wants to add to her own research.

Jamieson is especially interested in learning how antifouling materials interact with local waters. Florida’s seascape is warmer than Australia’s, so fouling grows quicker here than it does there. She also wants to see how American antifouling materials vary from those used in Australia and collaborate on a versatile solution that can withstand a variety of conditions.

“Materials that work well here will probably not work in other environments,” Jamieson said. “Seeing how to develop materials for all three environments will be an interesting pathway forward.”  Hunsucker hopes this exchange will lead to even more collaboration with Flinders University.

“The program that she’s involved with opens the door for collaborative efforts for us to maybe go to Australia in the future,” Hunsucker said. “Her colleagues can also similarly come back and work with us.”  Jamieson’s scholarship is funded by the American Australian Association, a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to deepening and strengthening ties between the United States and Australia. The South Australia Defense, Space and Cyber Scholarship funds scholars from the U.S. and South Australia undertaking Ph.D. or post-doctoral research in those fields.

Kelli Hunsucker and Geoffrey Swain are available to speak with media. Contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.


Florida Tech Welcomes Visiting Australian Scholar to Aid in Antifouling Research

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