Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Kevin S. Dillon, Ph.D.

Position

Assistant Professor, Chemical Oceanography/Biogeochemistry
GCRL Radiation Safety Officer
Co-Director, USM Katrina Research Center, Environmental Impacts

Research Interest

My main research interest is in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients in coastal ecosystems. Currently, I am evaluating the nitrogen dynamics in surface waters of the Mississippi Sound to examine the sources, sinks and bioavailability of the largest nitrogen pool in these waters, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Currently, my my research group is conducting bacterial growth and respiration experiments to determine whether nitrogen or phosphorus limits heterotrophic bacterial production in Mississippi Sound. Other research interests include the delivery of nutrients, organic matter, and comtaminants by groundwater seepage into coastal waters. I am also interested in the nitrogen and carbon cycling in closed marine aquaculture systems.

Education

May 1999 – May 2003. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. PhD in Chemical Oceanography.
August 1995 – May 1998. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. Master of Science in Oceanography.
August 1989 – December 1991. University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL. B.S. in Marine Biology.
August 1988 – August 1989. East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. 60 credit hours. Biology major.

Professional Experience

September 2005 – Present. University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Lab. Ocean Springs, MS. Assistant Professor.
August 2004 – August 2005 Florida A&M University, Environmental Science Institute. 1520 S. Bronough St. Tallahassee, FL 32307. Assistant Scientist.
October 2002 – July 2004. Florida A&M University, Environmental Science Institute. Post Doctoral Research Associate.
May 1999 – May 2003. Florida State University. Department of Oceanography. PhD Candidate / Reseach Assistant.
May 1998 – May 1999. Florida State University. Department of Oceanography. Research Assistant.
1995 – 1998. Florida State University. Department of Oceanography. Graduate Research Assistant.
1993 – 1995. Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Oklahoma State University. Research Coordinator at the USEPA ERL.
1992 – 1993. Avanti Corporation, Gulf Breeze, FL. Biological Technician.
1991 – 1992. Technical Resources Incorporated, Gulf Breeze, FL. Biological Technician.
1990 – 1991. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Gulf Breeze, FL. Biological Aid.

Cruise Experience

1989 – 1991. 3 UWF class cruises aboard R/V Bellows. 1 UWF class cruise aboard R/V Suncoaster.
1991 – 1995. 12 cruises aboard the OSV Peter W. Anderson (USEPA) and 1 aboard R/V Gyre (Texas A&M Univ.)

2 cruises off the coast of Key West, FL investigating ecological impacts of sewage outfall
8 cruises in the Gulf of Mexico to study carbon and nitrogen cycling in the water column
1 cruise off Miami, FL investigating ecological impacts of Virginia Key sewage outfall
1 cruise on the Delaware River examining bacterial oxygen demand with John Sharp (UDel).

Awards

2001 Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Award, Dept. of Oceanography, FSU.
2003 Dissertations Symposium on Chemical Oceanography Invited Participant (DISCO XIX)

Select Publications

Hoch, M.P., K.S. Dillon, R.B. Coffin, and L.A. Cifuentes. Sensitivity of bacterioplankton nitrogen metabolism to eutrophication in sub-tropical coastal waters of Key West, Florida. Accepted to Bulletin of Marine Pollution on January 22, 2008.
Dillon, K. S. and J. P. Chanton. 2008. Nitrogen Stable Isotopes Of Macrophytes Assess Stormwater Nitrogen Inputs To An Urbanized Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 31:360-370.
Walters, C. and K.S. Dillon. 2007. Water Quality. Pages XXX-XXX in Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve: An Ecological Characterization (Peterson, M.S., G.L. Waggy and M.S. Woodrey, editors). Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Point, Mississippi. NOAA publication.
Dillon, K.D., J.P. Chanton, and L.K. Smith. 2007. Nitrogen Sources and Sinks In A Wastewater Impacted Saline Aquifer Beneath The Florida Keys, USA. Estuarine,Coastal and Shelf Science 73: 148-164.
Hoch, M. P., R.A. Snyder, W.H. Jeffrey, K.S. Dillon, and R.B. Coffin 2006. Expression of glutamine synthetase and glutamate dehydrogenase by marine bacterioplankton: assay optimizations and efficacy for assessing N to carbon metabolic balance in situ. Limnology and Oceanography Method, 4: 308-328.
Dillon, K.D. and J.P. Chanton. 2005. Nutrient transformations between rainfall and stormwater runoff in an urbanized coastal environment: Sarasota Bay, Florida. Limnology and Oceanography 50, 62-69.
Dillon, K.S., Burnett, W.C., Kim, G., Chanton, J.P., Corbett, D.R., Elliott, K., and Kump, L. (2003) Groundwater flow and phosphate dynamics surrounding a high discharge disposal well in the Florida Keys. Journal of Hydrology. 284: 193-210
Corbett, D.R., K.Dillon, W.C. Burnett, and G. Schaefer. 2002. The spatial variability of sewage treatment and disposal systems: a case study on St. George Island, Florida. Environmental Pollution. 117: 337-345.
Kim, G., W.C. Burnett, and K.S. Dillon. 2001. A pre-concentration technique for determination of 32P in natural waters. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 249(2) 381-384.
Corbett, D.R., K. Dillon, W.C. Burnett, J. Chanton. 2000. Estimating the Groundwater contribution into Florida Bay via Natural Tracers, 222Rn and CH4. Limnology and Oceanography 45(7) 1546-1557.
Corbett, D.R., K. Dillon, and W.C. Burnett. 2000. Tracing Groundwater Flow on a Barrier Island in the Northeast Gulf Of Mexico. Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science 51(2), 227-242.
Dillon, K.S., D.R. Corbett, J.P. Chanton, W.C. Burnett, and L. Kump. 2000. Bimodal transport of a waste water plume injected into saline ground water of the Florida Keys. Ground Water 38(4), 624-634.
Corbett, D.R., L. Kump, K.S. Dillon, W.C. Burnett, J.P. Chanton. 2000. Fate of Wastewater-borne Nutrients under Low Discharge Conditions in the Subsurface of the Florida Keys, USA, Marine Chemistry 69, 99-115.
Hoch, M.P, W.H. Jeffrey, R.A. Snyder, K.S. Dillon, R.B. Coffin. Expression of glutamine synthetase and glutamate dehydrogenase by marine bacterioplankton: assay optimizations and efficacy for assessing nitrogen to carbon metabolic balance. Limnology and Oceanography Methods. In Press.

Select Technical Reports And Meeting Proceedings

Dillon, K.S., J.P. Chanton, D.R. Corbett, and W.C. Burnett. 2001. Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions of Seagrass and Algae: Implications for Tracing Nutrient Sources in Two Florida Estuaries. Tampa Bay Seagrass Symposium 2000 Proceedings.
Dillon, K.S., D.R. Corbett, W.C. Burnett, J.P. Chanton. 2001. The use of artificial tracers to determine groundwater flow and the fate of nutrients in the karst system underlying the Florida Keys. U.S.Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings. WRI Report #01-4011.

Select Presentations (Author Underlined Is Presenter)

Dillon, K.S. The Use of Biogeochemical Tracers to Elucidate Nutrient Sources and Sinks in Coastal Environments. Dauphin Island Sea Lab Summer Seminar Series. Dauphin Island Sea Lab, July 18, 2006. Invited, local, oral presentation.
Dillon, K.S. The Use of Biogeochemical Tracers to Assess Nutrient Sources and Sinks in Urbanized Coastal Environments. University of Southern Mississippi Marine Science Department, Fall Seminar Series. Stennis Space Center, Nov. 10, 2006. Invited, local, oral presentation.
Dillon, K.S., C. Walters and M. Woodrey. Preliminary Assessment of Water Quality and Nutrient Data for the Grand Bay NERR. Alabama – Mississippi Bays and Bayous Symposium. Mobile Arthur R Outlaw Convention Center, Mobile, Alabama. November 28, 2006. Contributed, local, poster.
Dillon, K.S. and J. Chanton. The Use of Stable Isotopes and Seagrasses to delineate nitrogen sources in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Communication and Collaboration: Coastal Systems of the Gulf of Mexico and the Southeastern United States. Pensacola Beach, Florida, 30 March to 2 April 2005. Contributed presentation. Regional. Oral Presentation.
Dillon, K.S. and Chanton, J.P. The Use of Nitrogen Stable Isotopes To Investigate Nitrogen Sources And Sinks In An Urbanized Watershed: Sarasota Bay, Florida. 2004 ASLO Summer Meeting, Savannah, Georgia, June 14-17, 2004
Dillon, K.S. The Use Of Stable And Radioactive Isotopes In Tracing Nutrient Sources And Sinks In two Urbanized Coastal Environments Of Florida: The Florida Keys And Sarasota Bay. Dissertation Symposium on Chemical Oceanography, Honolulu, Hi., May 4-8, 2003. (Invited Contribution)
Dillon, K.S. and J.P. Chanton Stable Nitrogen Isotopes: tracers of nitrogen sources and effects in the waters of Sarasota Bay. University of West Florida, Biology Department, April 5, 2002. (Invited)
Dillon, K.S. Nutrients and Stable Isotopes in Florida Bay. Florida A&M University, Environmental Science Institute, September 28, 2001. (Invited Contribution)
Dillon, K.S., Chanton, J.P., Burnett, W.C, and D.R. Corbett. The Use of Sulfur Hexafluoride as a Groundwater Tracer in the Florida Keys. AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, California, February 9-13, 1998.
Corbett, D.R., J. Chanton, W.C. Burnett, K. Dillon, and P. Carlson. Groundwater Discharge in Florida Bay. Workshop on Florida Bay Nutrients, Key Largo, Florida, July 1-2, 1996

Professional Societies

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)