Education

1997-Present  Master’s Candidate, Dr. Lee Fuiman, Advisor, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Marine Science.

1994  B.A. in Aquatic Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara.



Research Interests

     DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, acts as an endocrine disruptor and is part of a class of chemicals (xenoestrogens) that are recognized to be a serious threat to long-term health of an ecosystem. Previous studies have found that maternal exposure to low levels of DDT affected behavior of Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) larvae. I am examining the survival skills of Micropogonias undulatus maternally exposed to p,p DDE. There are indications that larvae with environmentally realistic levels of DDE loading have increased energy consumption, increased conspicuousness to predators, and decreased effectiveness of escape response. All of these would lead to an increased risk of mortality in the field.



Publications and Conferences

Sabath, D.  (2001).  Survival skills of Micropogonias undulatus parentally exposed to p,p DDE.  Oral presentation at the 25^th Larval Fish Conference, Gulf Shores, Alabama.

B. Matsumoto, D. Sabath, and I.L. Hale.  (1995).  Application of preembedding procedures for three-dimensional imaging: Measures of photoreceptor morphology and physiology. Scanning. 17 (Suppl. V):151-152.