URI Graduate School of Oceanography
Student Honored for Research

Narragansett, R.I. -- March 10, 2000 -- At the winter meeting of the Southern New England Chapter of the American Fisheries Society in Narragansett, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) doctoral candidate Catalina Martinez won the Saul B. Saila Best Student Paper Award. Her paper, "Taking a Gander at Goosefish Reproduction," describes the stages of reproductive growth of the goosefish (or monkfish) to assist fisheries managers in the development of an updated minimum catch size. The paper was co-authored by Jennifer Specker and R.R. Merson. Her research, conducted under the guidance of Specker, was funded by the URI/NOAA Cooperative Marine Education and Research Program.

The Saila Award for Best Student Paper was established in honor of GSO faculty emeritus Saul Saila, a world-renown fisheries biologist who came to URI in 1956 and retired in 1988. Criteria for this award includes quality of scientific content and clarity and professionalism of presentation.

Raised in Providence and currently living in Kingston, Martinez was admitted to the Ph.D. program at GSO after receiving her B.S. in zoology from URI in 1996. She received the URI Alpha Award in 1996 and 1997 in recognition of her outstanding research accomplishment in zoology and the URI President's Award in 1997 for student excellence in zoology. Martinez was awarded a National Science Foundation Marine and Environmental Graduate Teaching Fellowship for next year and will be working in an alternative middle school in Providence.

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