Toxins from the Sea

Mary Silver, professor emeritus of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, is an internationally recognized leader in biological oceanography. Her current research focuses on harmful algal blooms caused by toxin-producing marine phytoplankton (microscopic algae). She is particularly interested harmful algal blooms (HABs) that plague coastal waters, tracing how HAB toxins cascade through marine food webs to poison fish, birds, marine mammals, and eventually humans.