Research Symposium

BIO

Ian Nguyen is a 1st year pursuing a Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry at Florida State University. His honors include being on the Florida State University Fall 2025 Dean's List and being a 2024-25 National Merit Scholar. Ian is also a member of the Florida State University Honors Program. Ian's research experiences include participating in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program during his freshman year at Florida State, where he studied deep-sea substrate and marine invertebrate protection inside of a national sanctuary. The purpose of this research was to better understand the impact of commercial fishing on marine biodiversity in the Pacific Ocean. His faculty mentor was Dr. Amy Baco-Taylor in the Florida State University Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Department who provided guidance to him during his UROP project. Ian spends his free time at FSU playing volleyball at the Rec Center and going for runs around Doak Cambell Stadium. Ian wants to work in Bioinformatics and Drug Discovery and is looking to get involved in further research in the computational sciences at FSU.

Substrate Analysis of Seamounts in the Hawaiian Emperor Seamount Chain

Abstract

The deep sea remains largely understudied, yet it harbors incredibly unique lifeforms. The animals found in an area are often determined in part by available substrate. This study seeks to investigate if there is a difference between the substrate characteristics of two seamounts inside the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Sanctuary (PMNS), East Northampton and Pioneer Bank, compared to two seamounts outside, Kammu and Yuryaku, which are heavily fished. Our goal was to test for habitat damage, in the form of substrate differences, from disruptive fishing practices within and outside the protected areas. Seafloor images were collected on twelve ten-minute horizontal transects using the Pisces IV submersible in 2016 and 2017. Three transects were analyzed from each of the four seamounts. Bio-Image Indexing and Graphical Labelling Environment (BIIGLE), an image analysis software, was used to annotate substrate characteristics, including composition and size. Preliminary results show substrate composition was primarily carbonate and size was primarily hardpan across all four seamounts. Additionally, Kammu, East Northampton, and Pioneer Bank had a larger percentage of sand compared to Yuryaku and Yuryaku had a larger percentage of coral rubble compared to the other seamounts. Ultimately, we could not conclude that seamounts within the PMNS have more habitable substrate than seamounts outside of the national monument. Further analyses could compare substrate characteristics over a greater number of seamounts or with varying factors such as depth or amount of trawling. This research can contribute to a better understanding of human impacts on deep-sea ecosystems.

Keywords: Coral, Benthic, Seamounts