As the semester gets into full swing, here’s the latest updates from SoMAS Faculty and Staff.
Dr. Yong Chen has received a new award in the amount $417,022, for the period 9/1/2021 – 8/31/2023 in support of the project entitled “Evaluating Impacts of Changing Life History Parameters on the American Lobster Stock Dynamics Under Different Management Regulations in a Warming Northeastern US”.
The overarching objective of this project is to develop and conduct a simulation study to evaluate impacts of possible climate-induced changes in life history parameters and alternative management regulations on the lobster population dynamics. The simulation framework will consist of the Individual-based Lobster Simulator (IBLS) conditioned based on the information derived in the newest stock assessment for both GOM/GBK and SNE stocks. Given the anticipated effects of rising temperatures on aspects of American lobster productivity (e.g., growth, maturation, and mortality), it is critical to provide fishery stakeholders insight on the future of the lobster population dynamics and how to make fisheries management as robust as possible to climate change. We will (1) develop a Research Collaborative Team to help identify “what if” scenarios for simulating realistic ranges of changes in key life history parameters for GOM and SNE stocks; (2) develop a simulation framework for predicting the response of lobster stocks to changing life history parameters; (3) evaluate impacts of increasing temperatures on lobster stocks given status quo management; and (4) compare the performance of different management regulations in a changing climate.
Dr. Joe Warren has received a new award from NSF/OCE in the amount $118,677 in support of the project entitled: “Collaborative Research: An Autonomous Profiling Vehicle for Concurrent Acoustic, Visual and Environmental Measurements in the Mesopelagic Ocean” for the award period 9/1/21 – 8/31/24.
The mesopelagic region of the ocean, 200 – 1500m depth, is home to a complex mixture of physical processes, biological environments and animal communities that interact over a range of temporal and spatial scales. The mesopelagic remains poorly sampled due the inherent limitations and asynchrony of measurements collected with ship-based CTDs and acoustic surveys, floats, gliders, remotely operated and towed vehicle systems. This project will develop a novel autonomous mid-water profiling instrument to simultaneously collect physical, visual and acoustic data, resulting in concurrent environmental, abundance, taxonomy and size structure data for mesopelagic communities (100 micron – 10 cm). The suite of sensors, non-disruptive propulsion system and operational flexibility will provide an integrated toolkit to address critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of the distribution, ecology and biogeochemical contributions of animals in the ocean’s midwater zone.
The proposed instrument will be an autonomous vertical pro-filing vehicle that can operate as a free vehicle or along a deployed cable (ROV umbilical, CTD wire, etc.). The sensor suite will consist of steerable multiple-frequency (38/70/200 kHz) broadband split-beam acoustics, stereo low light imaging, Under-water Vision Profiler (UVP6), and environmental sensors (temperature, salinity, oxygen, light level, chlorophyll, turbidity, beam attenuation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)). Vertical propulsion will be achieved by an internal pumped volume displacement system, which will create minimal disturbance around the vehicle to reduce avoidance behaviors known to bias trawl and ROV observations. Low light cameras, controllable lighting, and stereo vision will enable taxonomic documentation and size discrimination of larger organisms and gelatinous animals not typically quantitatively captured in net tows. The concurrent acoustics and environmental data will provide more complete habitat information than is not possible with shipboard systems alone. Programmable and adaptive profiling will enable detailed characterization of the water column over hourly and daily time scales. With these capabilities the instrument will occupy an unfilled niche for sensing in the mesopelagic.
Dr. Marv Geller, Professor Emeritus, has received a new NSF award from AGS/PDM in support of the project “Collaborative Research: Processes Determining the Climatology of Atmospheric Unstable Layers” in the amount $156,447 for the award period 10/1/21 – 9/30/24.
This research seeks to answer a number of questions that have arisen from the results of a recent publication (Geller et al., 2021), concerning the distribution of unstable layers in the atmosphere. By unstable layers, we mean an atmospheric altitude region in which a bit of air, if displaced vertically, continues its motion in the direction of its displacement rather than returning to its original altitude, which would be the case if the atmosphere were stably stratified in that region. Unstable layers are of interest for a number of reasons, one of which is that such layers can be identified as regions where turbulence either originates or is present, and atmospheric turbulence is important for aircraft operations and remote sensing. Furthermore, atmospheric turbulent regions are where atmospheric kinetic energy is dissipated. In Geller et al. (2021), unstable layers have been identified by examining high vertical-resolution meteorological balloon data from stations operated by the United States (US) Weather Service. By high vertical-resolution balloon data, we are referring to data taken every second. Given the nominal balloon rise rate of 5 m/s, these data have a nominal altitude resolution of 5 meters. Unstable layers in these data are identified by examining the measured temperature profile as a function of atmospheric pressure. Care is taken to avoid identifying spurious
unstable layers that are a result of noisy data as real.
The two principal questions being addressed are as follows:
1. Why are there more unstable layers in the lower stratosphere at midnight Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the western contiguous US than at noon GMT, with the opposite being true in the eastern US?
2. Is the “notch” in the altitude profile of unstable layers that is observed at Koror (7.3 N, 134.5 E) present at other near equatorial stations, where this “notch” is characterized as an altitude region near 12 km altitude where there are a great number of thick unstable layers and a relative paucity of thinner layers? In what way might this “notch” be related to the minimum in atmospheric stability that
has been noted earlier by other authors in the same general atmospheric region?
The research plan to address question 1 is to try to identify differences in the times and locations of atmospheric gravity buoyancy waves that lead to the lower stratospheric unstable layers. This is planned to be done using a ray-tracing methodology. The research plan to address question 2 is to compare the geographical and temporal variation of the “notch” feature to that of the stability minimum. We also plan to see if we can see identify the “notch” feature with in-cloud and cloud-outflow turbulence. Other research questions are planned to be addressed, but addressing questions 1 and 2 is the principal focus of this research. We also plan to stimulate international research using high-resolution meteorological balloon data by holding an international workshop in which the results of recently available global data of this type will be presented and discussed.
Higher Ground is a new podcast from WSHU featuring SoMAS faculty Donovan Finn and Lesley Thorne and PhD student Kimberly Lato, among many others, over 8 episodes.
Climate change is already here in America’s first suburbs. Communities on Long Island must prepare, and people find ways to adapt to violent storms and rising tides. Higher Ground tells the stories of these communities exploring solutions that may or may not give them the best chance at survival and help save the places millions of people call home. Or they may discover that the only way forward for suburban America is retreating from the sea.
We report on perspectives from Long Island. But those perspectives have implications far beyond the region in the search for solutions to survive climate change. Our focus is municipal policy, technology and community ingenuity through the lens of climate adaptation. We will be sending out more material through a newsletter and social media.
This podcast was made possible by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, and the Kavli Foundation. And all of the climate geeks and everyday people that welcomed us into their community to talk climate change.
Additional Press
Sag Harbor Express: Heavy Rain Will Close Beaches This Week, Check Where On New App
- Long Islanders who want to easily track where it is safe to swim or gather shellfish over the Labor Day weekend can tap into a new mobile phone app developed by marine scientists at Stony Brook University that carries up to the minute information about water quality across Long Island, closures of beaches or shellfishing areas and other water quality concerns. Also ran in Southampton Press.
Food Management: Healthy seafood dishes make big wellness waves on the menu
- Diving deep into seafood’s very important sustainability aspect, Stony Brook University’s Faculty Student Association and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences worked with Alaska Seafood and hosted chef/fisherman/aquaculture evangelist Barton Seaver.
Data Science Mixer: Innovating in data science for Antarctica’s wildlife | Dr. Heather Lynch (Also on Apple Podcasts & Spotify)
- Dr. Heather Lynch, professor at Stony Brook University, joins us to share how she uses data science to study penguins and other species in Antarctica, with surprising connections to business and other fields.
Newsday: Long Island’s summer of 2021 brought algae and sharks
- At least the rust tide, one of the last outbreaks still infesting bays, including the East End’s Peconic and Shinnecock, should die off as waters cool by month’s end, said Christopher Gobler, who holds the endowed chair of coastal ecology and conservation and is principal investigator with the Gobler Laboratory at Stony Brook University.
Marine Technology News: New MPA Guide Maps Out Ways to Effectively Protect 30% of Ocean by 2030
- A novel scientific framework to consistently understand, plan, establish, evaluate and monitor ocean protection in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) developed by an international team of scientists including Ellen Pikitch, PhD, of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, is published in Science. (Also in AzoCleanTech)
Times Beacon Record: Power of 3: SBU’s Ellen Pikitch helps enhance tool to protect oceans
- A group of 42 scientists including Ellen Pikitch, Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Sciences at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, recently published a new framework developed over more than 10 years in the journal Science to understand, plan, establish, evaluate and monitor ocean protection in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
New York Post: City Council rolls over for de Blasio despite botched response to Hurricane Ida
- Stony Brook University atmospheric scientist Kevin Reed praised the council and city’s future-focused approach as “a good thing,” but even he cautioned against claims the storm’s impact could not have been anticipated. Also ran in News Brig.
City Limits/Op-Ed: Opinion: NYC Needs a New Metric for Warning Residents About Deadly Storms
- Op-ed by Kevin Reed, associate professor and associate dean for research at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Times Beacon Record: Stony Brook hurricane expert Reed sees link between climate change and violent storms
- Kevin Reed, associate professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, said a group of experts on the topic are working on research related to the climate impacts on Ida. No specific timeline is set for such an analysis, which would be similar to what the World Weather Attribution initiative is doing.
East Hampton Star: Trustees Considering Lake Montauk Striped Bass Study
- Mr. Grimes referred to a letter from Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, who monitors water quality in Georgica Pond on behalf of the trustees and the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation. “Salinity numbers have rapidly gone down,” Mr. Grimes said. Mr. Gobler is concerned about impacts on oysters in the pond’s south end, he said, and also about the levels of cyanobacteria.
PolitiFact: In UN speech, Joe Biden calls for collective action on climate, COVID-19
- In some cases, researchers reach very precise conclusions. Atmospheric scientist Kevin Reed at Stony Brook University looked at rainfall from Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and reported that climate change increased the amount of rain by 16%.
WINK News: Fact Check: In UN speech, Joe Biden calls for collective action on climate, COVID-19
- In some cases, researchers reach very precise conclusions. Atmospheric scientist Kevin Reed at Stony Brook University looked at rainfall from Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and reported that climate change increased the amount of rain by 16%.
East Hampton Star: Village Eyes Long-Term Lot for Sewage Treatment
- The village also plans to hire Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences to study how a sewer system will improve the health of the village’s ponds, Mr. Larsen said.
Southampton Press: Tropical Man-O-War Jellyfish Pose Threat On Beaches
- “They are an ocean dweller and are at the mercy of the currents and the winds,” said Chris Paparo, the manager of the Marine Sciences Center at Stony Brook Southampton college. “We had southeast winds for three days and the Gulf Stream is southeast of us here on Long Island so they get blown in.”
Gotham Gazette: Everything is Connected: New York City’s Climate Crisis Demands a New Way of Thinking
- This op-ed was written by Donovan Finn who is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Design, Policy and Planning in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. He is also a proud resident of Jackson Heights, Queens.
Ritz Herald: Could Climate Change be Altering the Marine Food Web?
- Research by scientists at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) reveals that this phenomenon is affecting where large marine mammals are distributed relative to their prey species, which could have important implications for marine food web dynamics. Their findings are published in Scientific Reports.
Saving Seafood: Study Shows Climate Change Could be Altering the Marine Food Web
- Climate change is redistributing biodiversity globally, and distributional shifts of organisms often follow the speed and direction of environmental changes. Research by scientists at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences reveals that this phenomenon is affecting where large marine mammals are distributed relative to their prey species, which could have important implications for marine food web dynamics. Also ran in Phys.org, Florida News Times Today and Gamers Grade.
Recent Publications
Grorud-Colvert, K., Sullivan-Stack, J., Roberts, C., Constant, V., Horta e Costa, B., Pike, E. P., Kingston, N., Laffoley, D., Sala, E., Pikitch, E. K., Lubchenco, J. (2021). The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean. Science, 373, eabf0861-. doi: 10.1126/science.abf0861Grorud-Colvert et al MPA Guide Science 2021
Donovan Finn (2021) Zoning and Disaster Recovery. Zoning Practice. Chicago: The American Planning Association. https://www.planning.org/publications/document/9217853/
- This issue of Zoning Practice is available free to all thanks to financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In collaboration with the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, the Faculty Student Association (FSA) hosted Celebrity Chef Barton Seaver on August 18 for a Sustainable Seafood lecture that covered topics such as how our choices for diet and menus can promote healthier lifestyles, resilient ecosystems, more secure food supplies, and thriving communities. The video is available on YouTube.
Photos from the Lecture are available on Google Photos. Photos from the Dinner event at West Side Dining are also on Google Photos.
