Biography

Fish species inhabiting the Indian River Lagoon system (Florida) have been subjected to a chronic exposure of various trace metals related to urban, industrial, and agricultural sources. As the effects of metals on fish species have not been fully studied in this area, my Ph.D. research aims to determine the subcellular partitioning of various metals (Hg, As, Se, Pb, Cd, La, Ce) in liver cells of various fish species. In addition, approaches related to environmental metallomics, specifically hyphenated techniques, will be applied to reveal information about the molecular mechanisms by which biomolecules are harmfully targeted by these contaminants, which may result in biochemical and physiological impairments for these fish species.