COSAM News Articles 2021 August Kyle Heine receives two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation

Kyle Heine receives two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation

Published: 08/31/2021

By: Maria Gebhardt

After completing his degree at Auburn University, Kyle Heine has an opportunity to spend more time on the Plains with a prestigious two-year postdoctoral fellowship.

Heine, who was selected for the Graduate Award in the 2021 Dean’s Research Awards in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, will continue his studies focusing on ocean sciences. This award, "Effects of increasing temperature and ultraviolet radiation on copepod mitochondria along a latitudinal gradient," from the National Science Foundation begins on Dec. 1.

“The goal of the postdoctoral work is to determine how increasing temperatures and UV radiation brought forth by climate change may impact mitochondria within copepods along the west coast in CA, OR, and WA,” Heine said. “We will use a combination of fieldwork and laboratory experiments to determine if temperature influences mitochondrial behavior and structure, as well as the extent to which mitochondria are plastic across natural populations of copepods.”

Heine will graduate with his doctoral degree this fall and then remain working with Wendy Hood’s lab at Auburn in collaboration with Felipe Barreto from Oregon State University.

“Reciprocal transplant experiments in the lab will determine if variation in mitochondrial structure is mostly due to environmental variation and/or genetic components that differ across populations.”

Heine will also be able to participate in Auburn’s Summer Science Institute that helps to spark a passion for science in high school students during an immersive week-long program on campus.