Mackenzie Gerringer (SUNY Geneseo photo/Matt Burkhartt)
Assistant professor of biology Mackenzie Gerringer has been awarded a three-year, $892K grant from the National Science Foundation, titled, "Collaborative Research: Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI): Pressure Adaptation, Stress, and Convergent Evolution in Fishes across Habitat Depth."
Deep-sea ecosystems make up Earth’s largest habitat and present challenging environmental conditions, including high pressures, cold temperatures, limited nutrient availability, and the absence of sunlight. Gerringer and co-principal investigator Jacob Daane, assistant professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston, will study the mechanisms by which species have adapted to the extreme pressures of the deep ocean. Daane has received a separate linked grant for his contributions to the project.
In addition to providing summer support for Gerringer, the grant will fund four SUNY Geneseo undergraduate researchers, including a potential opportunity to accompany Gerringer and other researchers on a deep-sea expedition in the Mediterranean.
The funding will also be used for a full-time postdoctoral researcher, who will join Gerringer in mentoring the student researchers and teach one section of a biology course each year at SUNY Geneseo.
Gerringer received her PhD from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and has been a faculty member at SUNY Geneseo since 2019. A prolific researcher, Gerringer has coauthored numerous articles, including research focused on bringing deep-sea exploration to undergraduate classrooms, and exploration of the Atacama Trench. Gerringer and collaborators team discovered a new species of snailfish unique to the trench that lives at 20,000 feet below the surface. Learn more about her research on her Geneseo lab website.