Science AMA Series: I’m Lee Smee, Associate Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. I’m an ecologist and my research topics include predator-prey interactions on oyster reefs and effects of pesticides on blue crab behavior. AMA!

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Hi Reddit!

I grew up in North Georgia and spent a lot of time hiking and camping with my family and my boy Scout troop, eventually earning Eagle Scout. I was fascinated by my scoutmaster who was so knowledgeable about all the plants and animals we encountered, and after graduating high school, I wanted to study environmental science or biology in some way. I attended Piedmont College in North Georgia and majored in Biology. There I met Dr. Carlos Camp, who inspired me to become a professor. Basically when I realized you could get paid to teach and study nature, I knew instantly that academia was right for me.

I never intended to become a marine biologist, but, when I interviewed at Georgia Tech for my Ph.D., I met Dr. Marc Weissburg and became very interested in his research studying how blue crabs use chemical cues to find prey. Building upon this work, I completed my dissertation studying the chemical cues prey use to detect and avoid blue crabs and other predators. After completing my Ph.D. in 2006, I accepted my current position, and I have been studying chemical signaling between predators and prey for the past decade. Most of my research has focused on oyster reefs, specifically how the communities on reefs are affected by predators and how oysters change their shell growth to reduce risk of predation. This is a team effort though, and, I have worked with colleagues and students to pursue other research interests including toxicological effects on blue crabs and habitat selection by oyster larvae among others.

Some recent findings in my lab include: 1) fish predators benefit oyster reefs by consuming crabs that in turn would consume young oysters, 2) when the water becomes turbid (cloudy), fish cannot see well and crabs become more abundant. This causes oysters to decline and overall biodiversity to decrease, 3) oysters react to crab predators by growing heavier, stronger shells. This reduces their vulnerability to crabs but also lowers their reproduction, 4) oyster larvae can ‘smell’ healthy reefs and will select appropriate places to grow, and 5) pesticides used for mosquito abatement enter estuaries via runoff and both increase blue crab mortality and alter the crabs’ behavior so that they are less able to forage and avoid predators. If you would like to learn more about our lab and findings, you can check out our website!

I’ll be back at 2 pm EST (11 am PST, 7 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask me anything!

">Science AMA Series: I’m Lee Smee, Associate Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. I’m an ecologist and my research topics include predator-prey interactions on oyster reefs and effects of pesticides on blue crab behavior. AMA!