The dynamics of cyanobacteria and their role on the optical properties of Mayaguez Bay was the focus of the research performed by Yvette Ludeña Hinojosa, a Peruvian graduate student from the Biology Department and working with Dr. Fernando Gilbes Santaella. Yvette participated in several cruises to the Bay sponsored by NOAA CREST, where she collected samples to better understand these important organisms by using both traditional laboratory procedures and state-of-the-art genetic techniques. Her work is an important legacy to the research of Mayaguez Bay and we expect to publish it in a upcoming book of the bay. She successfully defended her thesis during May 8 of 2007.
