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November 30, 2009

Highlights

RU 27 "Scarlet Knight"

"After being at sea for 203 days and traveling over 7300 Kms, RU27 'Scarlet Knight' has reached its goal of arriving into European waters! Congratulations to Scott Glenn, Oscar Schofield, Josh Kohut and everyone in the COOL Room (students, engineers and technicians) for leading this historic first trans-Atlantic glider crossing. Plans are to pick up the first week of December in Spanish waters and to celebrate the achievement in Baiona, Spain, on 9 December. Congratulations again to all in the COOL on this important achievement!" Cisco Werner (Photo right courtesy of RU COOL)

2009 Award from NOAA and NERRS

It is a pleasure to report that Mike Kennish received the 2009 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association for outstanding contributions to the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). The award was presented to Mike at the annual meeting of the NERRS held in San Diego last week. Mike was recognized for his research and public outreach on human impacts to coastal systems including watershed development, habitat loss and alteration, nutrient enrichment and eutrophication. Regional and national contributions were noted including ecosystem assessment and remediation for the Barnegat Bay, publication of several special issues of journals such as the Journal of Coastal Research devoted to estuarine ecosystem studies, and his efforts to develop new measures of assessment for estuarine and marine waters with state and federal resource management agencies.
Mike has made it his mission to ensure the effects of global climate change and the eutrophication of the Barnegat Bay are recognized and mitigated through changes in environmental policy and better planning in the communities surrounding the Bay and its tributaries.
  • Melanie Reding, Education Coordinator for the Cousteau Reserve received a fellowship award to participate in the 2009 Whole Thinking Retreat, an elite 6-day forum for educational, environmental and social leaders. Retreats focus a broad range of perspectives on contemporary policy issues.
  • George McGhee has been awarded a 3-month research fellowship at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Altenberg, Austria (just outside the city of Vienna) for the summer of 2010.
  • Alan Robock gave invited testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology Hearing, "Geoengineering: Assessing the Implications of Large-Scale Climate Intervention," November 5, 2009. In October, 2009, Alan represented Rutgers at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) annual meeting (10/13-10/15/09), and served on the UCAR President's Advisory Committee on University Relations (10/15/09). Alan was also honored by UCAR for advocacy on behalf of the scientific community above and beyond the call of duty.

Meetings Attended

  • Melanie Reding, Education Coordinator for the Cousteau Reserve delivered an invited talk entitled, "Applications for Education and Outreach" at the Survey Methods for Shallow Water Habitat Mapping conference for the Northeast Department of the Interior Holdings & Estuarine Research Reserves in Durham, NH on September 30, 2009. Melanie along with Reserve partners and local students also participated in World Water Monitoring Day at Batsto Village in Wharton State Forest. Students tested water samples from Batsto Lake and learned about the Pinelands’ history and ecology. Melanie traced the water’s path through the Great Bay Estuary. An article highlighting the day’s events was published in the Asbury Park Press.
  • Several webinars were delivered by the Cousteau Reserve including "Clean Energy Incentives for Municipalities," and a beta test of a new "Stormwater Management Information System." The latter features a suite of internet-based geospatial tools to display, assess and analyze data for stormwater and sediment control, planning, permitting, management and mitigation. This new on-line decision support tool will go live shortly.
  • Lisa Auermuller received the 2009 Outstanding Floodplain Management Award from the N.J. Association of Floodplain Management for training programs she developed to support science-based decision-making on coastal issues and floodplain management in New Jersey. Past award winners include former Acting Governor Richard Codey and DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson. Lisa Auermuller also presented a talk at the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Managers Conference on October 16th, entitled "The Storm Water Management Information System: Coastal Water Quality Enhancement Through the Use of an Internet-based Geospatial Tools."
  • Peter Rona served as a US representative at the INVEST workshop that considered the future course of scientific ocean drilling, held 21-27 September in Bremen, Germany. He also presented an invited lecture, Ocean Exploration From The Shore to The Solar System, at the New Jersey Science Convention at the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset on October 13th. He had the opportunity to meet with high school science teachers of students that are now at Rutgers in his Introduction to Oceanography course, and encouraged the teachers to continue sending students to Rutgers to study marine sciences.
  • Peter Rona with Karen Bemis and co-authors, presented their poster, "Acoustic imaging and quantification of plume and diffuse flow at vent clusters in the Endeavour Integrated Study Site (ISS): Integration with in situ measurements," at the NSF Ridge 200 program Integration and Synthesis workshop held 30 September- to 3 October in St. Louis, MO.
  • Mike Kennish gave the following presentations which were focused on the impacts of human activities on the environmental condition of New Jersey's coastal ocean waters and coastal bays. It is a subject of increasing interest among the coastal communities of the state.
    • Kennish, M. J. 2009. Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor: Estuary and Watershed Linkage. Ocean Gate Yacht Club, Ocean Gate, New Jersey. October 27, 2009.
    • Kennish, M. J. 2009. Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor: Ecosystem Condition. Bay Head Yacht Club, Bay Head, New Jersey. October 19, 2009.
    • Kennish, M. J. 2009. Human Impacts on New Jersey's coastal ocean waters and coastal bays. Village Harbor Fishing Club, Manahawkin, New Jersey. October 9, 2009.
  • Liz Sikes, Michelle Hardee and Aurora Elmore traveled to New Zealand to capture the austral spring conditions in the Southern Ocean. They were aboard the New Zealand Research vessel R/V Tangaroa from Oct 25-Nov 1. They are working with colleagues at New Zealand’s national oceanographic research organisation, NIWA (www.niwa.co.nz), led by Dr. Scott Nodder. This is the third in a series of cruises where they return to the Chatham Rise to look at phytoplankton growth in different seasons to coordinate with a long term environmental monitoring project that NIWA has sustained for several years using two sediment trap moorings that straddle the Rise. The report of the cruise is on the departmental weblog site: http://marine.rutgers.edu/main/blog/?cat=10
  • Anthony Broccoli attended a meeting of the Scientific Review Group for the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter, United Kingdom, October 21-23, 2009. He is in the second year of a four-year term as a member of the Scientific Review Group. Tony also gave the following presentations:
    • "A New Look at Orbital Forcing of Climate: How Does Reduced Obliquity Cool the Earth?" Invited presentation at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, September 2009, with M. Erb, A. Clement, and D. Mantsis.
    • "The Role of Radiative Feedbacks in the Response of Climate to Orbital Forcing," IAMAS-IAPSO-IACS Joint Assembly, Montreal, Canada, July 2009, with M. Erb.
  • Alan Robock gave the following presentations, "Volcanic Eruptions and Climate" (Keynote Lecture; NOAA National Weather Service, Northeast Regional Operational Workshop XI, Albany, New York, November 4, 2009); and invited talk "Smoke and Mirrors: Is Geoengineering a Solution to Global Warming?" at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, on September 25, 2009.

New Grants

  • Curchitser, E. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Tightly Coupled Dynamic End-to-End Marine Ecosystem Models. 9/10/09-9/30/2010 ($56,876)
  • DeLuca, M. Consortium for Ocean Leadership, 10th Annual Shore Bowl Competition. 9/25/09-6/30/10 ($14,000)

Publications

  • Altieri, K., B.J. Turpin, S.P. Seitzinger. 2009. The composition of dissolved organic nitrogen in continental precipitation investigated by ultra-high resolution FT-ICR mass spectrometry, Environ. Sci. Technol., advance on line publication, doi: 10.1021/es9007849.
  • Altieri, K.E., B.J. Turpin, S.P. Seitzinger. 2009. Oligomers, organosulfates, and nitrooxy organosulfates in rainwater identified by ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization FT-ICR mass spectrometry, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9:2533-2542.
  • Francis, J.A., W. Chan, D.J. Leathers, J.R. Miller, D,E, Vernon. 2009. Winter northern hemisphere weather patterns remember summer Arctic sea-ice extent. Geophysical Research Letter. Vol. 36 L0750, doi: 10.1029/2009GL037274.
  • Guo, X., Y. Wang, Z. Xu and H. Yang. 2009. Chromosome set manipulation in shellfish. Pp 165 - 195 in: New Technologies in Aquaculture: Improving Production Efficiency, Quality and Environmental management, G. Burnell and G. Allan (eds). Woodhead Publishing.
  • Kucuktas, H., S. Wang, P. Li, C. He, P. Xu, Z. Sha, H. Liu, Y. Jiang, P. Baoprasertkul, B. Somridhivej, Y. Wang, J. Abernathy, X. Guo, L. Liu, W. Muir & Z. Liu. 2009. Construction of genetic linkage maps and comparative genome analysis of catfish using gene-associated markers . Genetics 181: 1649-1660.
  • Liu, X., F. Wu, H. Zhao, G. Zhang and X. Guo. 2009. A novel shell color variant of the Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino subject to genetic control and dietary influence. Journal Shellfish Research 28(2):419-424.
  • Previdi, M., K. Fennel, J. Wilkin, D. Haidvogel. 2009. Interannual variability in atmospheric CO2 uptake on the northeast U.S. continental shelf. Journal of Geophysical Research Vol 114, G04003, doi:10.1029/2008JG000881
  • Ramey, P.A, J.P. Grassle, J.F. Grassle, and R.M. Petrecca. (2009) Small-scale, patchy distributions of infauna in hydrodynamically mobile continental shelf sands: Do ripple crests and troughs support different communities? Continental Shelf Research. doi:10.1016/j.csr.2009.08.020.
  • Ren, J., X. Liu, G. Zhang, B. Liu and X. Guo. 2009. "Tandem duplication-random loss" is not a real feature of oyster mitochondrial genomes. BMC Genomics, 10:84.
  • Robock, A., A.B. Marquardt, B. Kravitz, and G. Stenchikov, 2009: The benefits, risks, and costs of stratospheric geoengineering. Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L19703, doi:10.1029/2009GL039209. (Featured as a Research Highlight in Nature Reports Climate Change)
  • Shi, Y., Y. Wang, K. Hong, Z. Hou, A. Wang and X. Guo. 2009. Characterization of 31 EST-derived microsatellite markers for the pearl oyster Pinctada martensii (Dunker). Molecular Ecology Resources 9:177-179.
  • Shi, Y., H. Kui, X. Guo, Z. Gu, Y. Wang and A. Wang. 2009. Genetic linkage map of the pearl oyster, Pinctada martensii (Dunker). Aquatic Research doi:10.1111/j.1365-2109.2009.02299.x
  • Wang, L, L. Song, J. Zhao, L. Qiu, H. Zhang, W. Xu, H. Li, C. Li, L. Wu, and X. Guo. Expressed sequence tags from the zhikong scallop (Chlamys farreri): Discovery and annotation of host-defense genes. Fish & Shellfish Immunology 26: 744-750.
  • Skific, N., J.A. Francis, J.J. Cassano. 2009. Attribution of projected changes in atmospheric moisture transport in the Arctic: A self-organizing map perspective. American Meteorological Society. DOI: 10.1175/2009JCLI2645.1
  • Skific, N., J.A. Francis, J.J. Cassano. 2009. Attribution of seasonal and regional changes in Arctic moisture convergence. American Meteorological Society. DOI: 10.1175/2009JCLI2829.1
  • Smith, L.M., and J.R. Reinfelder (2009), Mercury volatilization from salt marsh sediments, J. Geophys. Res., 114, G00C09, doi:10.1029/2009JG000979.
  • Sullivan, M.C., M.J. Wuenschel, K.W. Able. 2009. Inter and intra-estuary variability in ingress, condition and settlement of the American eel Anguilla rostrata: implications for estimating and understanding recruitment. Journal of Fish Biology. 74: 1949-1969.
  • Tan, Y., M.J. Perri, S.P. Seitzinger, B.H. Turpin. 2009. Effects of precursor concentration and acidic sulfate in aqueous glyoxal– OH radical oxidation and implications for secondary organic aerosol, Environ. Sci. Technol., doi: 10.1021/es901742f. (advance on-line publication)
  • Vardi, A., B.A.S. Van Mooy, H.F. Fredricks, K.J. Popendorf, J.E. Ossolinski, L. Haramaty, and K.D. Bidle. “Viral Glycosphingolipids Induce Lytic Infection and Cell Death in Marine Phytoplankton,” Science 6 Nov 2009, vol. 326, pp. 861-865, DOI: 10.1126/science.1177322.
  • Wang, Y., Y. Shi and X. Guo. 2009. Identification and characterization of 66 EST-SSR markers in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin). Journal of Shellfish Research, 28(2):227-234.
  • Wang, Y., A. Wang and X. Guo. 2009. Development and characterization of 30 polymorphic microsatellite markers for the Atlantic surfclam, Spisula solidissima (Dillwyn, 1817). Molecular Ecology Research, 9(4):1264-1267.
  • Xu, F. G. Zhang, X. Liu, S. Zhang, B. Shi and X. Guo. 2009. Laboratory hybridization between Crassostrea ariakensis and C. sikamea. Journal Shellfish Research 28(3):453-458.
  • Yoshimori, M., and A.J. Broccoli. 2009: On the link between Hadley circulation changes and radiative feedback processes. Geophys. Res. Lett.,36, L20703, doi:10.1029/2009GL040488.

Student News

  • Wanjing Liao (GPO, Kay Bidle, advisor) successfully defended her masters thesis, "Further Characterization of Metacaspase Expression and Activity in Marine Phytoplankton” on November 26, 2009.

  • tanya1
    		 Tanya Mendes Silveira bids farewell to Rutgers and the Sandy Hook Cooperative Research Programs after nearly two years. Tanya came to Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Geology from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. After visiting IMCS/Rutgers under a Luso-American Development Foundation scholarship for two weeks in July, 2006, Tanya returned in January 2008 as a co-worker with Norb Psuty on a variety of projects sponsored by the National Park Service and the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve. Her knowledge of coastal geomorphology and skills with ArcGIS were quickly applied to issues of regional sediment budget calculations, coastal dune processes and evolution, resource management, and various aspects of creating protocols for coastal monitoring in four of the US coastal national parks. With a dedication to rigorous data collection and data management, Tanya has worked with Norb to create several major National Park Service publications on the protocols for coastal monitoring and has managed to make presentations at a variety of professional meetings as well as pen a number of refereed publications. Tanya’s dedication to the tasks at hand and her tireless devotion to professionalism in all aspects of her performance have earned high praise from her co-workers and from the Park administrators who are benefitting from her efforts. Tanya will be returning to Portugal where she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Lisbon. She intends to apply some of the experience she has gained at Rutgers University in the generation of her dissertation topic. Click here to view list of professional activity.

Congratulations

  • Frank and Erin Natale are proud parents of Ava Grey Natale, born October 26, 2009. Ava arrived four weeks premature and weighed 4 lbs.13 oz. Mother and daughter are doing well!
  • Maria Aristizabal gave birth to Elisa Sofia Taegar on Oct 28, 2009 at 4:21pm. Elisa weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz and measured 18.5 inches. Mother and baby are well, and the whole family is thrilled, especially big brother Isaac.

Upcoming Events

  • The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve is proud to present a variety of public programs designed to introduce curious people of all ages to the wonders of our coastal habitats. All programs will take place at the Cousteau Coastal Center at 130 Great Bay Blvd., Tuckerton, NJ (just past the intersection of Radio Rd.) unless otherwise noted. Registration is required for all programs, please call Melanie at 609-812-0649 ext. 206 or visit us online at www.jcnerr.org . To view schedule of programs, click here.
  • The Cousteau Reserve will sponsor a workshop on regional impacts of climate change on Barnegat Bay and other New Jersey estuaries on February 11, 2010, at Tuckerton. Municipal leaders, resource managers, engineers, and scientists will help identify the best available adaptation tools and strategies. Workshop partners include the Barnegat Bay National Estuary Program, N.J. Coastal Management Office, and Monmouth University.