Students will conduct independent research projects on aquatic chemical ecology. Chemical cues mediate a variety of critical ecological processes, including inter- and intraspecific competition, predator-prey, host-parasite, and mutualistic interactions. These cues are used by organisms to locate food, evade predators, select mates, form aggregations, launch cooperative behaviors, construct social hierarchies, and choose suitable environments. Chemical signaling appears to be especially important in aquatic environments, where visual and auditory transmission of signals is often impeded. Chemically-mediated interactions have ecological and evolutionary consequences at the individual, population, community, and ecosystem levels.