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February 28, 2003
Highlights
- The Coastal Ocean Observational Lab (COOL) received an assembly
resolution # 209 (http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/AR/209_R1.HTM)
commending them on their research projects to better understand
New Jersey's coastal waters, and encouraging them to employ new
technologies to enhance oceanographic research and maritime safety.
This assembly resolution was primarily sponsored by Assemblyman
Robert J. Smith II (D - Legislative District 4) and Assemblyman
Jeff Van Drew (D - Legislative District 1), and co-sponsored by
Assemblyman Peter C. Eagler (D - Legislative District 34).
- Oscar Schofield (IMCS) and Gary Kirkpatrick from Mote Marine
Laboratory had great success with the Slocum Gliders this past
January. With the help of John Kerfoot, Liz Creed, Chhaya Mudgal,
and Emmeline Romana from the Rutgers group, and Dr. Kirkpatrick's
research team, two gliders were deployed out in the Gulf of Mexico
during the week of January 13- 17, 2003. These gliders were developed
to assist scientists and the community in detecting red-tide in
the ocean water. Rutgers is the first group to successfully deploy
a fleet of gliders and have them perform +500km mission runs.
Due to the success of "Operation Gulfcast," many online
articles and news were written. These various articles can be
read and viewed from the COOL News archive, which can be seen
at http://marine.rutgers.edu/cool/news/news.html.
For specific data, movies, and still images from Operation Gulfcast,
a special web page was created, and can be seen at http://marine.rutgers.edu/cool/glider/florida/DailyFieldWork.html.
Furthermore, the success of the glider work in Florida resulted
in an invitation from the Navy for the gliders to participate
in a naval fleet exercise off Cape Pendelton in October 2003.
- RU COOL Visible Satellite Imagery picked up an intense nor'easter
as it moved up along the East Coast this past Monday (February
17) . The satellite image shows the development of an 'eye-like'
feature, common in hurricanes, off the coast of Virginia. Only
a few of the most intense winter storms develop an "eye,"
as it is caused by a strong pressure gradient, and a large temperature
difference between the ocean and atmosphere. To see these images,
go to http://marine.rutgers.edu/cool/news/030220_2003blizzard.htm.
- Jim Ammerman was recently named Chair of the Public Policy Committee
of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) by
ASLO President Peter Jumars. Jim met with the ASLO Board in Salt
Lake City to discuss the future role of ASLO in this area, anyone
with an interest in this area should talk to Jim.
- The entire staff of the Marine Field Station would like to thank
Michael "Deuce" Greaney for his heroic actions during
the Blizzard of 2003. Deuce was stranded by himself at the Field
Station for seven full days and nights, awaiting someone (anyone)
to plow through the seven foot drifts on Great Bay Blvd. His good-humored
presence ensured there were no major problems at the Station.
Thanks Deuce.
- 2003 Shore Bowl - The fourth annual Shore Bowl academic competition,
hosted by IMCS, was held on Saturday, February 22 at the Busch
Campus Center. Eleven teams of high school students from New Jersey
and eastern Pennsylvania tested their knowledge of the ocean sciences
by competing against one another in a series of timed question-and-answer
matches throughout the day. Topics included physics, biology,
chemistry, geology, geography, social science, technology, and
others. After twelve challenging rounds, the team from the Marine
Academy of Science and Technology (Sandy Hook, NJ) twice defeated
the team from the Wyoming Area Secondary Center (Wyoming, PA)
to emerge victorious. In doing so, the M.A.S.T. team has earned
an all expenses paid trip to, and the right to compete in, the
National Ocean Science Bowl in La Jolla, CA in late April.
A special thanks to all the IMCS volunteers who graciously
gave their time and energy to make the event a resounding success.
We look forward to you and others joining us again next year!
-
New Jersey Press Association Awards First Place to C.O.O.L.
Classroom Newspaper Advertisement Series - Initiated by Janice
McDonnell, the education staff at IMCS has produced a series
of three full-page, color newspaper advertisements that have
brought oceanographic concepts and IMCS research to the public
in fun and informative ways since August of 2002. As part of
their annual awards, the New Jersey Press Association has recognized
these pages with a first place award as Best Ad Campaign or
Series - Color (all sizes). Although the award falls in the
"distribution under 60,000" category for a single
publication (Courier News), the pages have run in several papers
simultaneously, reaching up to 450,000 readers at a time.
The educational pages were created in conjunction with Bill
Haduch, a science writer with the Rutgers University Office
of Communications, and have been distributed throughout New
Jersey via a special agreement with several Gannett newspaper
publications. Topics of the segments have included the value
and functions of estuaries, coastal upwelling, and oceanographic
technologies. The unifying theme of the segments has been the
C.O.O.L. Classroom web site (www.coolclassroom.org), developed
by the IMCS education staff to bring IMCS research and real-time
oceanographic data into the middle and high school classroom.
Meetings Attended
- Michael Gochfeld participated in a workshop on West Nile Virus
in Wildlife sponsored by the Smithsonian Environmental Research
Station and the National Audubon Society at Edgewater, MD, Feb.
4-5, 2003.
- Felisa Wolfe attended the recent ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting
Feb. 9-14, 2003, Salt Lake City, UT. At her talk she presented
a soon to be submitted paper from her doctoral thesis entitled
The Metallic Shield of Trichodesmium: Fighting Oxidative Damage.
F. Wolfe, I. Berman-Frank, L. Haramaty, and P. Falkowski.
- Jason Sylvan presented a paper entitled "Extensive evidence
of summer phosphorus limitation in the Mississippi River Plume"
at the recent ASLO meeting in Salt Lake City (Feb. 9-14). Co-authors
were A. Quigg, S. Tozzi, F. Natale, Z. Kolber, and J.W. Ammerman.
- Michael Gochfeld and Joanna Burger participated in a Department
of Energy workshop (Las Vegas Feb. 19-20) reviewing the Science
Plan they had assembled for radionuclides in the marine environment
of Amchitka Island as part of their Consortium for Risk Evaluation
with Stakeholder Participation grant.
- In December, these abstracts were presented at AGU:
Hover, V.C. and G.M. Ashley. 2002. Geochemical fingerprints
of waters in the Lake Baringo-Bogoria region, Kenya: Implications
for hydrogeochemical processes and water quality: EOS, Transactions
of the American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting Supplement,
v. 83(47), Session H-40 (Water Quality of Natural Systems),
Abstract H61C-0803.
Ashley, G.M., S.G. Driese, J. Maitima Mworia, V.C. Hover, R.B.
Owen, and M.F. Goman. 2002. The Evolution of a Freshwater Wetland
in a Semi-arid Environment, Loboi Swamp, Kenya: EOS, Transactions
of the American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting Supplement,
v. 83(47), Session PP-01 (Past Changes of the Hydrologic Cycle
in the Tropics and Subtropics), Abstract PP62A-0320.
New Grants
- National Science Foundation Coastal Ocean Processes Program
2003-2008.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Lagrangian studies of the transport, transformation,
and biological impact of nutrients and contaminant metals in a
buoyant plume. Robert Chant, Scott Glenn, Oscar Schofield, John
Reinfelder, John Wilkins, Mark Moline, Robert Chen, Thomas Frazer,
Mung Zuo, Paul Bissett ($4,200,000)
- Department of Defense-Office of Naval Research 2003-2004. Developing
the Ability to Map In Situ Optical Properties in Coastal Waters
Using Slocum Coastal Gliders. Oscar Schofield, Scott Glenn, Clayton
Jones ($223,658)
- Rich Dunk, a newly appointed member of the graduate program
in oceanography, has received start-up funds to develop with IMCS
a seabreeze monitoring and prediction program for New Jersey.
Applications include load forecasting for power utilities, siting
of renewable energy infrastructure, and the effect of seabreezes
on pollen distributions throughout the state.
Publications
- Kohut, J. T. and S. M. Glenn. 2003. Improving HF radar surface
current measurements with measured antenna beam patterns. J. Atmos.
Ocean. Tech., In Press.
- Millie, D. F., O. Schofield, G.J. Kirkpatrick, G. Johnsen, and
T.J. Evens. 2002. Using absorbance and fluorescence spectra to
discriminate microalgae. European Journal of Phycology. 37:313-322.
- Chang G. C., T.D. Dickey, O. Schofield, A.D. Weidemann, E. Boss,
M.A. Moline, and S.M. Glenn. 2002. Nearshore physical forcing
of bio-optical parameters in the New York Bight. Journal of Geophysical
Research 10. 1029/2001JC001018.
- K. Fennel, M.R. Abbott, Y.H. Spitz, J.G. Richman, and D.M. Nelson.
Modeling controls of phytoplankton production in the southwest
Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Research Part II,
v. 50/3-4 pp. 769 - 798.
- K. Fennel, M.R. Abbott, Y.H. Spitz, J.G. Richman, and D.M. Nelson.
Impacts of iron control on phytoplankton production in the modern
and glacial Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Research Part II, v. 50/3-4
pp. 833 - 851.
- Hartnett, H.E. and A.H. Devol. 2003. Role of a strong oxygen-deficient
zone in the preservation and degradation of organic matter: A
carbon budget for the continental margins of northwest Mexico
and Washington State. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta. 67(2): 247-264.
- Schofield, O., W.P. Bissett, T.K. Frazer, D. Iglesias-Rodriguez,
M.A. Moline, and S. Glenn. Development of Regional Coastal Ocean
Observatories and the Potential Benefits to Marine Sanctuaries.
Marine Technology Society (In Press).
- Ashley, G.M., M. Goman, V.C. Hover, R.B. Owen, and R.W. Renaut.
2002. Artesian blister wetlands, a perennial water resource in
the semi-arid rift valley of East Africa: Wetlands, Wetlands,
v. 22, pp. 686-695.
- Taillefert, M., V.C. Hover, S.M. Theberge, T.F. Rozan, and G.W.
Luther III. 2002. The influence of sulfides on soluble Fe(III)
in anoxic sediment porewaters: Estuaries, v. 25, pp. 1068-1093.
- Hover, V.C., L.M. Walter, and D.R. Peacor. 2002. K uptake by
modern estuarine sediments during early marine diagenesis, Mississippi
Delta Plain, Louisiana: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 72,
pp. 775-792.
- Martini, A.M., L.M. Walter, T. Lyons, V.C. Hover, and J.R. Hansen.
2002. Significance of early diagenetic water-rock interactions
in a modern marine siliciclastic/evaporite environment: Salina
Ometepec, Baja California. Geological Society of America Bulletin,
v. 114, pp. 1055-1069.
Student News
- Tenley Conway, PhD student in Geography (Rick Lathrop, advisor)
and Graduate Fellow for the Jacques Cousteau NERR has received
the NOAA Excellence Award for Coastal and Ocean Resource Management:
Excellence in Coastal and Marine Graduate Study - This award recognizes
graduate students whose academic study promises to contribute
materially to the development of new or improved approaches to
coastal or ocean management.
NOAA is hosting an awards ceremony to honor Tenley and the
other award recipients on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 5:00p.m.
in Room 2168 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington
D.C. The 10th Annual Coastal Celebration Reception will follow
the awards ceremony. The Secretary of Commerce, Members of Congress,
NOAA Administrator and members of the coastal community are
invited to the awards ceremony and the Coastal Celebration.
- Dana Rowles, a Master's student in the Graduate Program in Oceanography,
was selected for a NOAA/NERR fellowship. Her project is entitled
"An evaluation of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus),
coastal habitat use and dynamics: comparison between migration
and summer residence in the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine
Research Reserve at Mullica River/Great Bay."
- Congratulations to Jessie Sebbo, the recipient of the Outstanding
Senior Award for 2003. Jessie's advisor is Oscar Schofield.
Let's Welcome...
- Jennifer Bosch - After spending my formidable undergrad years
at Rutgers, wandering the halls of IMCS, I went to the University
of Maine where I completed a MS in oceanography (specifically
satellite oceanography) with Dr. Andrew Thomas. I returned to
IMCS this past December to replace the great Mike Crowley as the
director of satellite operations for the COOL lab. My interests
in marine science go well beyond satellite imagery to bio-physical
interactions, coastal oceanography and general marine ecology.
I'm glad to be back and I look forward to working with each one
of you. (Phone Ext. 532, Office Rm. 111)
- Please welcome Ruth Dorn, who just joined Costa Vetriani's laboratory
as a technical assistant. Ruth is located in lab 208A-B, phone
extension x224.
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