DUML Lab 5, Rm. 3
135 Duke Marine Lab Road
Beaufort, NC 28516
252-504-7573
Fax: 252-504-7648
www.duke.edu/~mzd2/

Research Interests:

• Blue crab spawning biology and behavior during the spawning migration
• Reproductive physiology and ecology
• Migratory behavior of marine animals
  
• Biological Rhythms

Education:

• B.S., Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, 2005

Bio:
My dissertation research is focused on blue crab reproduction, spawning behavior, and migratory movements in North Carolina. Much of my research is examining behavior during the spawning migration in two contrasting estuarine systems: a small, tidally-driven estuary (Beaufort Inlet drainage) and a large, wind-driven estuary (Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System). Despite the blue crab's economic and ecological importance, there remain many unanswered questions concerning blue crab spawning biology and the spawning migration. To address these questions, I am conducting laboratory and field experiments on reproductive timing, clutch production, spawning behavior, and migratory behavior.

Publications:

• Rittschof, D., M.Z. Darnell, K.M. Darnell, M. Goldman, M.B. Ogburn, R. McDowell. 2009. Informing managers: blue crab spawning biology and stock assessment. Submitted.
• Ramach, S.M., M.Z. Darnell, N.G. Avissar, D. Rittschof. 2009. Habitat use and population dynamics of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, in a high-salinity embayment. Submitted.
• Forward Jr., R.B., M.H. Bourla, M.Z. Darnell, J.H. Cohen. 2009. Entrainment of the circadian rhythm in activity of the supratidal amphipod Talorchestia longicornis with light and temperature cycles. Submitted.
• Darnell, M.Z., M.B. Ogburn, H. Diaz. 2008. A novel running wheel apparatus to monitor locomotor rhythms in land crabs. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology. 41:205-210.
• Welch, M.E., M.Z. Darnell, D.E. McCauley. 2006. Variable populations within variable populations: quantifying mitochondrial heteroplasmy in natural populations of the gynodioecious plant Silene vulgaris. Genetics. 174: 829-837.
• Forward Jr., R.B., J.H. Cohen, M.Z. Darnell, A. Saal. 2005. The circatidal rhythm in vertical swimming of female blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, during their spawning migration: A reconsideration. Journal of Shellfish Research. 24:587-590.
• McCauley, D.E., M.F. Bailey, N.A. Sherman, M.Z. Darnell. 2005. Evidence for paternal transmission and heteroplasmy in the mitochondrial genome of Silene vulgaris, a gynodioecious plant. Heredity. 95:50-58.