Maureen Hayden
  • Graduate Student, Wicksten Lab
  • Diversity Committee, BioGSA

Research Interests

  • Invertebrate Physiology
  • Animal Beahvior
  • Marine Ecology
  • Microplastics

 

It’s only one __________ (water bottle, plastic utensil, straw, etc.) said 60,000 Aggies.” Do you ever think about what happens to these plastic convenience items once you throw them away? Even though you may only use them for five minutes to a day, they hang around for much longer, and sometimes don’t make their way into landfills. Plastic waste can find its way into our environment such as beaches in the form of both large plastic debris and smaller plastic debris called micro plastics. Micro plastics are so small that they are about the size of a frozen pea and can be made from larger pieces of plastic that are broken down by whether or they can be manufactured to be that size (think of the scrubbing beads that you find in hand soap). My research aims to determine how much micro plastic is on Texas beaches and how it is impacting marine life.

Educational Background

  • B.S. Marine Biology, University of Rhode Island. 2015
  • M.S. Biology, Walla Walla University, WA.  2017
  • Ph.D. Marine Biology, In Progress, Texas A&M University.

Awards & Honors

  • Paul and Ellen Ruckers Scholarship. July 2020. American Council of the Blind
  • Grants-In-Aid of Graduate Research Program. May 2020. Texas Sea Grant.
  • Paul and Ellen Ruckers Scholarship. July 2019. American Foundation for the Blind
  • National Federation of the Blind National Scholarship Program Finalist. Kurzweil Foundation Scholarship. July 2019. Kurzweil Foundation and National Federation of the Blind.
  • National Federation of the Blind National Scholarship Program Finalist. Google Scholarship. July 2019. Google and National Federation of the Blind.
  • National Federation of the Blind National Scholarship Program Finalist. July 2019. National Federation of the Blind.
  • National Federation of the Blind National Scholarship Program Finalist. Charles and Melba T Owen Scholarship. July, 2019. National Federation of the Blind.
  • Gary Gray Memorial Student Award. Accountability, Climate and Equity (ACE) Awards. April 2019 Texas A&M University
  • Valerie de la Valdene Memorial Disabled Diver Training Grant. March 2019. Women Divers Hall of Fame.
  • National Federation of the Blind of Texas State Scholarship. November 2018. National Federation of the Blind of Texas.
  • Fred Scheigert Graduate Scholarship. June 2018. Council for Citizens With Low Vision International.
  • Grants-In-Aid of Graduate Research Program. May 2018. Texas Sea Grant.

Selected Publications

  • Publications:

    • Hayden, M.J. 2014. Zoogeography of Myctophids in the Southern Sargasso Sea and the Caribbean. Unpublished manuscript SEA Education Association. Cruise C-251
    • Lydia G. Kore, Bobbi M. Johnson, Maureen Hayden, Misa Winters, Christopher K. Lindsey, Kirt L. Onthank. (May 2018). In situ observations and identification of a burrowing octopus in shallow water from Burrows Bay, WashingtonMarine Biology Research. Submitted

     

    Presentations:

    • Hayden, M.J. Exploring and Understanding the Changes Affecting our Oceans. Oral Presentation. July 16, 2020. Science and Engineering Meeting. National Federation of the Blind National Convention. Virtual Convention.
    • Hayden, M.J. and Wicksten, M.K. Initial Assessment and Quantitative Analysis of the Extent of Microplastic Pollution on Three Texas State Park Beaches. Oral Presentation. April 4, 2019. Ecological Integration Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
    • Hayden, M.J., Miller, C, and Wicksten, M.K. Methods Development and Initial Assessment of the Extent of Microplastic Pollution on Three Texas State Park Beaches. Poster Presentation. January 10, 2019. . Marine Biology IDP Retreat and Science Symposium, Texas A&M University Galveston, Galveston, TX.
    • Hayden, M.J., Miller, C, and Wicksten, M.K. Methods Development and Initial Assessment of the Extent of Microplastic Pollution on Three Texas State Park Beaches. Oral Presentation. October 29, 2019. Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium, Galveston, TX.
    • Hayden, M.J., Onthank, K. If You Can’t Take The Heat Get Out of Shallow Water: Thermal Preference in the Smoothskin Octopus (Muusoctopus leioderma). Unpublished Poster Presentation. October 5, 2019. Student Postdoc Research Conference, College Station, TX.
    • Hayden, M.J., Onthank, K. Thermal Preference in the Smoothskin Octopus (Muusoctopus leioderma). Oral Presentation. April 4, 2019. Ecological Integration Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
    • Hayden, M.J., Onthank, K. (January 2017). Thermal Preference in the Smoothskin Octopus (Muusoctopus leioderma). Oral Presentation. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
    • Hayden, M.J., Onthank, K. (January 2018). Thermal Preference in the Smoothskin Octopus (Muusoctopus leioderma). Oral Presentation. Marine Biology IDP Retreat and Science Symposium, College Station, TX
    • Hayden, M.J., Wetherbee, B.M., and Markos C. 2012. Movement of Tiger Sharks in a Patchy Environment in The Western North Atlantic. Unpublished Poster Presentation. University of Rhode Island Coastal and Environmental Fellows Program.