Narragansett, R.I. -- September 9, 2002 -- The public is invited to attend a free Breakfast Lecture, sponsored by Friends of Oceanog raphy, to be held on Thursday, September 19, at 9 a.m. in the Coastal Institute Building on the URI Bay Campus. The lecture is part of a series featuring the research of URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) students.
The September 19 lecture, "Who’s Out There? Assessing Bacterial Diversity in Narragansett Bay" will be presented by biological oceanography graduate student Andrew Staroscik of Portsmouth.

Very little is known about the total diversity of Narragansett Bay’s bacterial community. Staroscik will describe the DNA-based methods he is using to visualize the bacterial community in the bay and will present his preliminary findings on the diversity in the structure of the bay’s bacterial community.

A native of Abington, Pennsylvania, Staroscik received a B.S. in biology and an M.S. in energy and environmental studies from Boston University. Under the guidance of his major professor, Dr. David C. Smith, he studies the microbial ecology of Narragansett Bay.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Coffee and muffins will be served. For more information, call Friends of Oceanography at (401) 874-6642.

Friends of Oceanography is a community-based membership organization established in 1986 to support the educational and public programs of the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. Friends provides financial support of fellowships for GSO students, and other research, education, and outreach activities. The organization also helps sponsor a variety of special events such as oceanography lecture series, open houses at the Bay Campus, The JASON Project, and the National Ocean Sciences Bowl.

Media contact: Lisa Cugini, (401) 874-6642, lcugini@gso.uri.edu