Ames, Cheryl

education and training

B.A. in French Literature, University of Ottawa, Canada , Faculty of Arts and Science
B.S. in Biology, Queen's University, Canada , Faculty of Arts and Science, Fine Art Minor
M.S. in Marine Biology, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan , Faculty of Science, Thesis title: Pair formation, spermatophore transfer and reproductive anatomy of Carybdea sivickisi (Cubozoa: Carybdeidae)
Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland , Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, Dissertation: Taxonomy, morphology, and RNA-seq transcriptomics of the cubozoan (Cubozoa: Carybdeida: Alatinidae), an emerging model cnidarian 2011 - 2016

research overview

NRC-RAP Postdoctoral Fellow, U. S. Naval Research Laboratory        Sept 2017-present

Center for Bio/Molecular Science & Engineering Washington D.C

Principal Investigator: Dr. Gary Vora

Projects:DARPA Biological Control Independent Verification and Validation of Hydra neurophysiology; developing portable laboratory for field-forward sequencing and environmental DNA monitoring; and cnidarian genome assembly and annotation

Research Collaborator, Smithsonian NMNH-IZ D.C. &                             2016 - present

National Aquarium, Baltimore, USA

Principal Investigators: Dr. Allen G. Collins & Jennie D. Janssen

Projects:Detecting cubozoans environmental DNA in aquarium systems (with Japanese collaborators); describing novel cellular structures in the Upside-down JellyfishCassiopea

Scientific Visitor(ORISE) NIH-NIL-NCBI                                                  2017

National Center of Biotechnology Information, Bethesda, USA

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ben Busby

Projects:Assembling and annotating non-model jellyfish genomes

Research Assistant, Deep-Sea Coral Exploration.                                               2007-2011

University of North Carolina Wilmington,

NOAA National Systematics Lab & Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Program Officer, Canadian Foundation for Climate & Atmospheric Science    2003-2004

Ottawa, Canada

has expertise in technique

French Language (Skill)
Japanese Language (Skill)

keywords

Field work: SCUBA diving (Certified Open Water Advanced), snorkeling, plankton tows from kayak and canoe, Wilderness First Aid(Remote Medical International)

Ship and manned submersible time: aboard fisheries vessels for marine mammal transacts; aboard U.S.S. research vessels for deep sea exploration expeditions, deploying and retrieving trawls – surface, midwater and bottom – landers, CTD, cores, and data collection in the manned submersible Johnson-Sea-Link.

Microscopy and imaging: Confocal Inverted, Compound, Dissecting, SEM

Molecular: NGS (Illumina, Ion S5) and Third-Generation Sequencing (MinION Nanopore): library prep, multiplexing, PCR, rtPCR, RNA and protein extraction and digestion, transcriptomics, genomics and proteomics, metabarcoding, and environmental DNA

Bioinformatics and Software: Unix, Trinity Software Suite, EdgeR, TransDecoder, Trinotate, R, Python, ArcGIS, Geneious, FigTree, Scaffold, Adobe Suite, and seqCAB BLAST+, our newly developed bioinformatics tool.

selected publications

article
- Box, stalked, and upside-down? Draft genomes from diverse jellyfish (Cnidaria, Acraspeda) lineages: Alatina alata (Cubozoa), Calvadosia cruxmelitensis (Staurozoa), and Cassiopea xamachana (Scyphozoa). GigaScience. 8. 2019
- Spermatogenesis and gonadal cycle in male Tamoya haplonema and Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Cnidaria, Cubozoa). Zoologischer Anzeiger. 279:59-67. 2019
- Gonadal histology of box jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) reveals variation between internal fertilizing species Alatina alata (Alatinidae) and Copula sivickisi (Tripedaliidae). Journal of Morphology. 279:841-856. 2018
- Medusa: A Review of an Ancient Cnidarian Body Form. Results and problems in cell differentiation. 65:105-136. 2018
- Upside-Down but Headed in the Right Direction: Review of the Highly Versatile Cassiopea xamachana System. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 6. 2018
- A new transcriptome and transcriptome profiling of adult and larval tissue in the box jellyfish Alatina alata: an emerging model for studying venom, vision and sex. BMC Genomics. 17:650. 2016
- Box Jellyfish Alatina alata Has a Circumtropical Distribution. Biological Bulletin. 231:152-169. 2016
- Erratum to: A new transcriptome and transcriptome profiling of adult and larval tissue in the box jellyfish Alatina alata: an emerging model for studying venom, vision and sex. BMC Genomics. 17:980. 2016
- Evidence for an Alternative Mechanism of Toxin Production in the Box Jellyfish Alatina alata. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 56:973-988. 2016
- First record of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Tripedaliidae) in the Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 129:164-172. 2016
- Deep-sea echinoids and holothurians (Echinodermata) near cold seeps and coral communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science. 91:167-204. 2015
- Internal fertilization and sperm storage in cnidarians: a response to Orr and Brennan. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 30:435-436. 2015
- Phylogenomic Analyses Support Traditional Relationships within Cnidaria. Plos One. 10. 2015

teaching overview

-Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Cellular Biology (BSCI105) University of Maryland, MD USA

-STEM instruction in Elementary schools (Virginia and Maryland)

-STEM outreach through Q?rius and the Sant Ocean Hall, NMNH Smithsonian Institution

-Extensive English as a Second Language instruction in classroom/tutorials - Japan, Canada and the United States

member of

NMNH - Dept of Invertebrate Zoology

Location

National Museum of Natural History Museum

Ames, Cheryl Research Collaborator, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, NMNH

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

education and training

Research And Grants

research overview

has expertise in technique

keywords

Publications

selected publications

article

Teaching

teaching overview

Affiliation

member of

Other

Location