January Monthly Virtual Meeting
Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Technical Forum – 6:00 pm
Business Meeting – 6:45 pm
Technical Program – 7:15 pm (Immediately following business meeting)

SSP Technology Forum
Jeanette Schnars, PhD, Regional Science Consortium

“Acute Decompression Sickness in Yellow Perch”

Abstract
Economic impact of fishing is $28-36 million annually to Erie County, with over 38,300 Yellow Perch anglers. As waters increase in temperature during the summer, Yellow Perch migrate to deeper waters and are vulnerable to acute decompression sicknesses (barotrauma), resulting in mortality when released. Release rates are >97,000 fish annually. Catch-release mortality is a management concern to PA Fish and Boat Commission since fishery models assume no mortality of released fish, resulting in models overestimating the population size. This study identified various means of catch/release mortalities, thereby providing insight on survivorship and mortality, as well as unexpected information on the impacts and recovery of barotrauma.

Biography
Dr. Jeanette Schnars has been the Executive Director of the Regional Science Consortium at Presque Isle located in the Research Wing of the Tom Ridge Centers since 2007. She received her B.S. degree in Biology from The Pennsylvania State University with a Minor in Marine Science. After working for the U.S. Geological Survey on researching sea turtle populations at Padre Island National Seashore, TX, she continued her education at the State University of New York – College at Buffalo earning a M.S. degree in Biology researching the migrations of sea turtles in Costa Rica. While working as an Instructor in the Biology Department of Penn State – Erie, in 2008 she earned her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in Wildlife and Fisheries Science researching the effects of contaminants on the common snapping turtle. Dr. Schnars continues to conduct research on fisheries, contaminants, and water quality in Lake Erie, in addition to being an active board member and chairing many committees.

SACP Technical Program
Paul Cremer, PhD, Penn State University

“The Behavior of Supported Lipid Membranes”

Abstract
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, PI(4,5)P2 is one of the most negatively charged lipids in the plasma membrane of living cells with a net charge ranging from -3 to -5 near physiological pH. The phosphate moieties on this lipid bind tightly to divalent metal cations including Ca2+ and Mg2+. Herein, we use sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and a novel bilayer unzipping assay to investigate the behavior of PI(4,5)P2. For example, it can be shown by SFG that Ca2+ has a far larger influence on the orientation of the inositol ring compared to Mg2+. This is the case because Ca2+ can shed its inner hydration shell to bind directly to the negatively charged phosphate moieties and link them together. Moreover, PI(4,5)P2 has a strong influence on interfacial water structure. Several biological mechanisms involving this lipid will be discussed. These will include its role as a second messenger1 as well as its ability to aid cytoskeletal.

Biography
Paul S. Cremer is the J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Natural Sciences at Penn State University, where he holds appointments in both the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Prof. Cremer received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison (1990) and his Ph.D. from the University of California – Berkeley (1996) working with Prof. Gabor A. Somorjai as his thesis advisor. He spent two years as the Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University in the laboratory of Steven G. Boxer before starting his independent research career at Texas A&M University in 1998. He stayed at A&M for over 14 years, where he was named Distinguished Professor in 2012. The following year his laboratory moved to Penn State. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science as well as of the American Chemical Society. In 2017, he was named a Langmuir Lecturer by the ACS. His group works at the cross-roads of analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, biological chemistry and materials science.