• 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.

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 Unpublished manuscript SEA Education Association.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.