News & Events

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

SPCMSC Oceanographer Presents Arctic Ocean Acidification Results at Science Policy Conference

USGS research oceanographer Dr. Lisa Robbins (St. Petersburg) presented research on “Ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean: New data shows large areas of carbonate undersaturation in the Canada Basin”, at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Science Policy Conference May 1-2, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (http://sites.agu.org/spconference/). The poster was co-authored by other USGS St. Petersburg scientists; Kim Yates, John Lisle, and Paul Knorr; and additionally Brian Buczkowski (Woods Hole), Leslie Holland Bartels (Alaska), and scientists from the University of South Florida. Their data showed that 20% of the Canada Basin is already undersaturated with respect to aragonite- a situation that was modeled to occur between 2050 and 2100.

Five SPCMSC Staffers Judge Magnet Elementary School Science Fair

On May 3, 2012, five U.S. Geological Survey scientists and staff from the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center (SPCMSC) served as science judges for the annual Bay Point Magnet Elementary School Science Fair in St. Petersburg, FL (http://www.baypoint-es.pinellas.k12.fl.us/sci.htm). Judges assessed third, fourth, and fifth grade students who worked to answer scientific questions from multiple disciplines. Problems ranged from physics questions such as how high different types of balls will bounce when dropped from a particular height, to biology questions such as how different color lights affect how fast a worm moves. Each class contributed 10 or more of their best projects to be judged at the event. Of the 135 projects that were entered into the Science Fair, 32 students were awarded gold medals, 48 students were awarded silver medals, and 55 students were awarded bronze medals. USGS judges included Theresa Burress, Kara Doran, Xan Fredericks, Paul Knorr, and Kathryn Smith.

SPCMSC Oceanographer Talks about Arctic Cruise to Women Lawyers Association

USGS research oceanographer Dr. Lisa Robbins (St. Petersburg) presented research on the Arctic and Ocean Acidification to the Hillsborough Association of Women Lawyers (HAWL) and their children on Thursday, April 26, 2012. It was “Bring your Child to Work” Day and coincided with the monthly meeting of HAWL. Over 100 people were in attendance. Dr. Robbins’ talk focused on living aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy for 7 weeks and on collecting data for the USGS Ocean Acidification in the Arctic project. She also talked about how she became a scientist and the types of courses one needs to take for an advanced degree. After her talk, a number of students came up to ask about the iphone App she and her team developed and downloaded it right there!

SPCMSC Scientist to Give Invited Talk on Groundwater-Borne Nutrient Fluxes of West Florida Shelf

Christopher G. Smith (SPCMSC) has been invited to give a summary of his work on groundwater-borne nutrient fluxes to the west Florida shelf at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) meeting to be held at the SPCMSC office on May 18. His work was funded in part by the Mendenhall Program (2008-2010) with continued support from the Coastal Aquifer Project, a Coastal and Marine Geology project focusing on the role of submarine groundwater discharge on ecological and natural hazards.

The technical session of the AWRA will focus on Integrated Water Resource Management. Topics include 'Valuing Southwest Florida’s ecosystem services on public lands'; 'Resilient and adaptive urban infrastructures'; 'Public and stakeholder involvement in water management'; 'Adaptive management within an Everglades restoration project'; and 'Water quality monitoring as a means to protecting Florida’s water bodies'. Attendees will primarily be local to the state of Florida, and include water management employees, environmental consultants, economists, university researchers, and engineers.

USGS Scientists Participate in Planning for Summer East Coast Benthic Sampling Cruise

Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC) and Amanda Demopoulos (SESC) will be representing the USGS DISCOVRE project at a cruise-planning meeting at University of North Carolina-Wilmington on April 19, 2012. This meeting with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) contractors is to work out details of the three research cruise legs that will occur in August-September 2012 in terms of staffing, scientific objectives, and logistics. These cruises will visit two deepwater canyons off the east coast of the United States, deploying long-term benthic landers and using a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) to collect samples of cold-water corals, other invertebrates, and sediment cores. The goal of these research cruises is to fill information gaps about biodiversity and food-webs in these canyons, as well as to locate and investigate shipwrecks of archaeological significance. For more information, please see:

http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/DISCOVRE/index.html

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3102/

SPCMSC Scientist to participate in Mayor’s Youth Showcase in St. Petersburg

On April 19, Christopher Smith (SPCMSC) participated as a volunteer judge in the Science and Technology section of the Second Annual (St. Petersburg) Mayor's Youth Showcase of Achievement. The purpose of the event is to recognize outstanding achievements from both middle school and high school youth in nine different categories including Science and Technology. St. Petersburg's Mayor Bill Foster will present awards to these outstanding youth on May 8 at the Progress Energy Center's Mahaffey Theater (http://www.stpete.org/teenawards/).

SPCMSC Scientists Discuss Coastal Groundwater Issues with Local High School Students

On April 25, Christopher Smith and Christopher Reich (SPCMSC) will provide an overview of their research and background science on Coastal Groundwater (http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2009/07/, http://aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_57/issue_2/0471.html) to students at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Florida.

SPCMSC Scientist Releases Report on Hurricane-Induced Coastal Erosion Hazards at Science Policy Conference

The USGS Coastal Change Hazards group in St. Petersburg, Florida will release a report in early May that quantifies hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards for sandy coastlines in the Gulf of Mexico. Modeled storm conditions and measured beach elevations were used to calculate the likelihoods of dune erosion, overwash, and beach inundation during landfall of category 1-5 hurricanes. Results indicate that approximately 70% of the beaches on the US Gulf of Mexico shoreline are vulnerable to extreme erosion associated with overwash during a category-1 hurricane landfall. USGS Oceanographer Hilary Stockdon will present the results of the study, “'National Assessment of Hurricane-induced Coastal Erosion Hazards: Gulf of Mexico,” at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Science Policy Conference in Washington, DC, May 1-2, 2012.

SPCMSC Scientist Teaches High School Environmental Science Class

For the 26th time, Dave Zawada (SPCMSC) provided field instruction on Big Pine Key, Florida, to students in the Environmental Science Project from his former high school in Munster, Indiana. Begun in 1974, the class immerses students in field activities and lectures designed to elucidate the floral and faunal similarities between the Indiana Dunes and the Florida Keys, which are geologically linked by the Wisconsin glacial period. In March, Zawada lectured the students on the geology and ecology of Big Pine Key and surrounding marine habitats, and also led dive trips to nearby Looe Key.

SPCMSC Scientists host Latin American Visitors for State Department International Leadership Program

On Friday, March 30, the SPCMSC center hosted a trio of Latin American visitors under the auspices of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/). The purpose of the visit was for the visitors to understand how different federal agencies are involved in environmental protection and how the agencies cooperate and integrate their efforts. The three visitors were Captain Luiz De Havila, Jr., Captain, Military Police of Panama; Mr. Rodrigo Victor, Director General, Sao Paulo State Forest Institute; and Mr. Paulo Filho, Head, Federal Environmental Monitoring, The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA). SPCMSC staff Mark Hansen organized the tour; Kim Yates and Kara Doran gave talks on ocean acidification and extreme storms, respectively.

SPCMSC Scientists Examine Impact of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Corals in US Virgin Islands

Ilsa Kuffner, Don Hickey, Chris Reich, and Jennifer Morrison (SPCMSC) are going to St. Thomas and St. John of the U.S. Virgin Islands in March 2012, to collect coral cores from three reef-building species. The trip is part of an on-going study using the corals as recorders of sea-surface temperature and possibly ocean acidification. This new effort will expand their analysis from Biscayne Bay and the Dry Tortugas to the larger Caribbean region. Results from these measurements will provide a long-term record (50-150 years) on the variability of ocean temperature and coral growth as corals respond to climate change. Funding for this project is from the DOI Southeast Climate Science Center and USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program.

SPCMSC Scientist to Give International Talk on First Deep-Sea Coral Metagenome

Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC) will be giving a talk at the 5th International Deep-Sea Coral Symposium in Amsterdam (April 1-7, 2012) (www.deepseacoral.nl) about the first metagenome to be sequenced from a deep-sea coral. A metagenome contains the collective genomes of all the microorganisms associated with a particular host; in this case, the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. These data are the first to reveal archaea (single-celled prokaryotes that are genetically and metabolically very different from bacteria) and viruses associated with this coral, in addition to bacterial and microeukaryote diversity. These data include both taxonomic and functional genes providing insight not only into the WHO of the coral-associated microbial community, but also WHAT they are doing. Coral microbial ecology is an important topic since it is fundamental to our understanding of coral health, disease, and resilience in the face of climate change.