LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. -- Michelle K. Nannen of Haddon Township, a junior marine science major at Rider University, is the co-author of paper stemming from research conducted on the Chesapeake Bay last summer.

The paper describes the findings of a research team that examined a species of algae known as dinoflagellate and how this organism "eats" and photosynthesizes. The team added different nutrients to determine absorption rate and what makes them eat.

Heading the team were research scientists, Drs. Diane K. Stoecker of the Horn Point Environmental Laboratory (Cambridge, MD) and D. Wayne Coats of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (Edgewater, MD).

Nannen, who served a four-month summer internship at the Horn Point laboratory run by the University of Maryland, Aishao Li, a graduate assistant; and Daniel Gustafson, a technician, were the other team members.

Together with Stoecker and Coats they wrote the paper, "Mixotrophy in the Dinoflagellate," which was submitted for publication in the Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Nannen, who is also an Andrew J. Rider Scholar for being among top 50 students at rider, was one of 12 students selected among 150 applicants across the nation vying for the very competitive internship.

The internship ran from May to August. For a two-week period, they cruised the Chesapeake collecting samples.

"This summer experience has confirmed that I want to pursue my goal of obtaining a doctorate and going into research in the marine environment," said Nannen, a 1994 graduate of Haddon Township High School. She said the Rider professors, especially in the marine science department, "care about their students and are willing to help in any way possible."

In addition to being an Andrew J. Rider Scholar, she is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, the Orienting Women Leaders (OWL) program, the Marine Science and Scuba Club, a student ambassador, a peer tutor, and a student writing associate in the Learning Center.

In addition to marine science, Rider offers science programs in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, geology, physics, psychology, and mathematics. Biopsychology becomes a new major this fall. The biology program also offers a very successful pre-medical program.

Rider University is located on a 353-acre campus in Lawrenceville, NJ. The campus is 35 miles north of Philadelphia and 60 miles south of New York City. The campus is one-half mile south of exit 7A of Interstate 95.