PhD Student, commenced 2003 – completion April 05
Fulbright Fellow 1998-1999
BSc (Hons) California State University Northridge 1997. Magna cum Laude
E-mail address: lisa.gershwin@jcu.ecu.au
Room Number: 158 (Old BioSciences Bldg)
Title of project : Taxonomy and phylogeny of Australian Cubozoa
Brief description of project:
Jellyfishes the world over are poorly known taxonomically, and Australia is no exception. However, perhaps no taxon is more in need of taxonomic revision than is the Cubozoa, which comprises some of the world's deadliest creatures. The deadly box jellyfish has long been feared for its rapidly lethal sting, but recently a new name has become associated with agony and death: Irukandji. The name actually refers to a suite of symptoms ranging from muscle spasms, vomiting, hypertension, and incessant coughing, to heart failure and brain hemorrhage. Irukandji jellyfishes have been a hot topic among northern Australian physicians for many decades, but have only recently made their way into the public jargon, following two confirmed fatalities in early 2002. Efforts are underway to document the ecology and toxinology of the Irukandji, but are stalled due to lack of taxonomic clarity. There exist at least 10 different species in the Irukandji clade, which are likely capable of causing Irukandji envenomation, only one of which is currently named and formally known to science.
Specifically, my project is formally describing the various Irukandji species in Australia, and elucidating their evolutionary relationships to each other and to other cubozoans through analysis of their DNA. These results will form the essential foundation on which other studies, such as ecological predictions, toxinological comparisons, and hopefully antivenom production, will build upon.
Memberships
Member of Fulbright Association, Sigma Xi, Australian Marine Science Association, and Bay Area Biosystematists, Lifetime member of Golden Key National Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa; past member of American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Western Society of Naturalists, Biological Society of Washington, and Ecological Society of America; Best Student Paper Southern California Academy of Sciences 1993
Research and Professional Experience:
Consultant, Darwin City Council, 11/03
Recipient, Robert W. King Memorial Scholarship, USA, 4/03
Research Associate, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, 9/01-1/03
Golub Microscope Collection Curator, U.C. Berkeley, 8/01-12/01
Collection Improvement Grant, Smithsonian Institution, 7/01-8/01
A.B.R.S. Grant: Biodiversity of Australian jellyfishes and ctenophores, 1/00- 1/02
Irukandji Antivenom Project, Cairns, 11/99 – 3/00
Fulbright Fellowship, Australia, 7/98 - 6/99
Polynesian Jellyfish Study, Gump Research Station, Moorea, French Polynesia, 6/98
Research Associate, U.C. Museum of Paleontology, 8/97- 1/03
Graduate Student Instructor, Biology 1B, UC Berkeley 8/97-12/97
Research Grant, Student Projects Committee, CSU Northridge, 1996-1997
Research Coordinator, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium/PADI Foundation, Summer 1996
Guest Lecturer, Occidental College, Summers 1995-2001
Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1995 and 1996
Midwater Lecturer, Research Vessel Vantuna , 10/94-8/97
Guest Lecturer, Los Angeles Pierce College, 10/94-6/97
Volunteer Research Intern, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 1/93-8/97
Scholarly & Invited Presentations:
I have given about 100 posters and oral presentations on various aspects of my work, to such groups as the Western Society of Naturalists, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, American Zoos and Aquariums, Southern California Academy of Sciences, Australian Marine Sciences Assoc., South Australian Research and Development Institute, Royal Society of South Australia, University of Tasmania Seminar Series, University of Otago Seminar Series, California Paleontological Association, North American Paleontological Congress, and Sigma Xi, as well as Shire Councils, City Councils, and invited speaking engagements at various community organizations.
Selected Publications
Martin, J. W., Gershwin, L., Burnett, J. W., Cargo, D. G. & Bloom, D. A. (1997) Chrysaora achlyos , a remarkable new species of scyphozoan from the eastern Pacific. Biol. Bull. (Woods Hole) 193 (1): 8-13.
Gershwin, L. (1999) Clonal and population variation in jellyfish symmetry. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 79 (6): 993-1000.
Gershwin, L., 1999 (unpublished). A preliminary assessment of medusae and other gelatinous zooplankton which may pose a threat to fisheries in Tasmanian waters: A report for Huon Aquaculture and the Tasmanian Salmon Cooperative. University of California, Berkeley, pp. 1-4.
Kouchinsky, A., Bengtson, S. & Gershwin, L. (1999) Cnidarian-like embryos associated with the first shelly fossils in Siberia. Geology 27 (7): 609-612.
Gershwin, L. & Lipps, J. H. (2000) Taphonomy of jellyfish; examples from the Vendian of the White Sea and the Cambrian of Wisconsin. pp 4 In "PaleoBios". (University of California, Museum of Paleontology).
Radwan, F. F. Y., Gershwin, L. & Burnett, J. W. (2000) Toxinological studies on the nematocyst venom of Chrysaora achlyos . Toxicon 38 (11): 1581-1591.
Rees, J. T. & Gershwin, L. (2000) Non-indigenous hydromedusae in California's upper San Francisco Estuary: Life cycles, distribution, and potential environmental impacts. Sci. Mar. 64 (Supplement 1): 73-86.
Gershwin, L. (2001) Systematics and biogeography of the jellyfish Aurelia labiata (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa). Biol. Bull. (Woods Hole) 201 (1): 104-119.
Gershwin, L. & Lipps, J. H. (2001) Some new thoughts on some old animals. Am. Zool. 41 (6): 1452-1453.
Schaadt, M., Yasukochi, L., Gershwin, L. & Wrobel, D. (2001) Husbandry of the black jelly ( Chrysaora achlyos ), a newly discovered scyphozoan in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Bulletin de l'Institut Oceanographique, Monaco Special 20 (fasc. 1): 289-296.
Gershwin, L. & Collins, A. G. (2002) A preliminary phylogeny of Pelagiidae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa), with new observations of Chrysaora colorata comb. nov. Journal of Natural History 36 (2): 127-148. Supplemental data archived at: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/archdata/Gershwin_Collins/ .
Gershwin, L.-a., 2003. Scyphozoa and Cubozoa of Guam. Micronesica 35: 156-158.
Gershwin, L. & W. Zeidler, 2003. Encounter 2002 expedition to the Isles of St Francis, South Australia: Medusae, siphonophores and ctenophores of the Nuyts Archipelago. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 127: 205-241.
Kingsford, M. J. & L. Gershwin, 2003 (unpublished). Control of Cassiopea population in Lake Alexander: A report for the Darwin City Council. James Cook University, Townsville, pp. 1-16.
Silberman, J. D., A. G. Collins, L.-a. Gershwin, P. J. Johnson & A. J. Roger, 2004. Elliobiopsids of the genus Thalassomyces are Alveolates. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 51: 246-252.
Winkel, K. D., G. M. Hawden, P. J. Fenner, L.-a. Gershwin, A. G. Collins & J. Tibballs, 2003. Jellyfish Antivenoms: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Toxicology: TOXIN REVIEWS 22: 115–127.
Zeidler, W. & L. Gershwin, 2004. A new species of Australomedusa (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthomedusae) from a saline lake in south-western Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 109-113.