News & Events

News stories posted in the last 60 days. For information about a story, contact Dennis Krohn (727) 803-8747 x3062.

Workshop on Geologic Records of Sea Level Rise to be held in St. Pete

On Feb. 1 and 2, staff from the USGS Climate and Land Use Change Research and Development Program will be holding a small workshop in the St. Petersburg field center. SPCMSC staff presenting include Abby Sallenger, Nathaniel Plant, and Christopher Smith. The purpose of the meeting is to identify potential data gaps in sea-level records and explore areas of potential collaboration between CMG and the Climate Program.

SPCMSC Coral Research Discussion Topic for Norwegian Ministry of Environment Meeting

USGS Director Marcia McNutt will be meeting with the Norwegian Ministry of Environment next week. One of the talking points will be microbiologist Christina Kellogg's (SPCMSC) deep-sea coral research. Kellogg traveled to Norway in June 2011 to join an international team that is conducting research on the impacts of drilling mud on cold-water corals. Coordinated by the International Research Institute of Stavanger (Stavanger, Norway) and funded by the Research Council of Norway, this project seeks to develop diagnostic tools to monitor non-lethal stress in these corals.

Use Case Methodology Presented at Workshop for Potential Future CMGP Database Development

Over 20 scientists from the USGS and academia gathered in St. Petersburg, Fla. from Jan. 18 – 20 for a workshop, led by Peter Fox of Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (http://tw.rpi.edu/wiki/ Peter_Fox) to discuss the concept of “Use Cases” as a starting point for implementing more effective data base management. “Use Cases” are a technique to take advantage of the social aspect of the controlled vocabulary needed for optimal data base queries as part of the new field of semantic web technologies (http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/ Semantic_Web_ Tutorial). The workshop was a follow-on to one held in Woods Hole in September 2010. The goal of the meeting was to develop complementary conceptual, logical, and physical data models to represent methods of data access and data analysis, based on the scenarios commonly encountered by USGS scientists in their research. One of the four examples chosen as a pilot “Use Case” was led by Rob Wertz (SPCMSC) to implement an image retrieval system using aerial photography data collected by the CMG National Assessment team with Karen Morgan (SPCMSC) and by the St. Petersburg-based Lidar acquisition and processing team with Jamie Cormier (SPCMSC).

Sound Waves Article on Coral Research Translated into Haitian Creole

Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, many groups of Haitian-Americans have been contacting authors and publishers with requests to translate their material into the Haitian Creole language in an effort to rebuild and improve the country’s education structure. Christina Kellogg (SPMSC) was contacted by a group in the Dominican Republic with a request to translate a Sound Waves article she authored about her deep-sea coral research. It will become part of a collection titled “Geek Science” that highlights interesting science. The results of this research have also recently been published in a Wiley technical journal.

Joint SPCMSC-USACE-NPS Fieldwork Utilizes Combined Lidar/Radar for Bathy/Topo Beach/Nearshore Mapping

Cheryl Hapke (SPCMSC) is participating in a joint fieldwork exercise with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at Fire Island, NY, the week of Jan. 30 – Feb. 3. The purpose is to conduct a beach/nearshore survey using the USACE CLARIS system, which is a 4WD truck equipped with ground-based lidar for measuring topography and x-band radar (7.25 – 8.4 GHz) for measuring bathymetry. The field mission will start with a public presentation on Sat. Feb. 28, at the Fire Island Lighthouse with Jesse McNich (USACE) announced by a National Park Service (NPS) press release (http://www.nps.gov/fiis/parknews/newsreleases.htm).

College Tour Highlights Applied Coastal Research for Management/Policy Decisions

On January 24, 2012, SPCMSC researchers Jim Flocks, Cheryl Hapke, Ilsa Kuffner, and Joseph Long hosted a group of Eckerd College students interested in applied coastal research at the St. Petersburg Science Center. The primary focus was to show students the methods and techniques that coastal and marine scientists currently use to collect data and conduct scientific studies that guide management/policy decisions. The interactive event included video presentations, hands-on geophysical samples, and lectures/displays describing ongoing USGS Coastal and Marine projects.

USGS scientists participate in State of the Gulf of Mexico (SGM) Summit

A four-day meeting of Federal, State, Academic, NGO, and private stakeholders (~390 participants), hosted by the Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, was held in Houston, Texas, from Dec. 4-8, to assess the status of the Gulf and how the partners can work together in the future. Objectives of the SGM meeting include: Share a vision of a healthy and resilient Gulf of Mexico; Set a criteria to evaluate the health of the Gulf; Provide a platform to initiate implementation of the President's Gulf Restoration Plan; Discuss mechanisms to promote marine and coastal protection and restoration; and Promote international cooperation for ocean management and ecosystem issues. Also discussed among many other topics was development of a Report Card on the State of the Gulf of Mexico. Keynote presentations were given by Lisa Jackson, Administrator, EPA; Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, NOAA; Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House CEQ; Suzette Kimball, Deputy Director, USGS; and former First Lady Laura Bush. The USGS had a strong participation including many of the Center Directors and their staff from around the Gulf including: Bob Joseph - TWS, Phil Turnipseed (organizing committee) - NWRC, George Arcement -LWSC, Mickey Plunkett - MWSC, also attending Martha Garcia - Ecosystems Mission Area, Alyssa Dausman (presenter) and Jack Kindinger - SEA GOM Coordination; and Gary Mahon, Branch Chief - SESC.