Rutgers University
  • RUCOOL Updates: February – March 2022

    Posted on April 26th, 2022 Mike Crowley No comments

    Spring has arrived and we are smack in the middle of a busy semester of teaching and research. Offshore wind continues to be a focus for both current and proposed projects as we quickly approach summer. 2022 promises to be the busiest for glider deployments in a long, long time, and the R/V Rutgers will be key to that work, not to mention that the boat will be transporting loads of students out on the water for classes research.

    State 

    • Forecasters from the National Weather Service (NWS) met with Rutgers’ graduate student Casey Jones in February to discuss career paths within their agency.  Casey is presently a student in the Masters of Operational Oceanography program. Casey met with Lead Marine Forecaster Sarah Johnson as well as Science and Operations Officer Brian Haines. They shared their career experiences working in the agency and described entry level and internship opportunities for Casey to pursue with the Weather Service.

    National

    • Grace Saba and Dave Aragon, Josh Kohut and Oscar Schofield had two Top Cited Articles in 2020-2021  in Limnology and Oceanography (Wiley Publishers). Grace’s paper was titled “Toward a better understanding of fish-based contribution to ocean carbon flux” (https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11709). Dave, Josh and Oscar’s paper was titled “FIReglider: Mapping in situ chlorophyll variable fluorescence with autonomous underwater gliders” was recently recognized as a top cited article (2020-2021).” (https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10380).
    • RUCOOL was able to assist former NOAA Gulf Stream forecaster Jenifer Clark in research for a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida that occurred when a passenger fell off a Disney cruise line.  Florida law is in effect if the location of the vessel was NOT in the Gulf Stream at the time of death.  If it was in the Gulf Stream, then international waters will try the case. Jen used RUCOOL archived satellite data to locate the Gulf Stream edge on the day of the accident.
    • The RUCOOL education team continues to work on the national 4-H STEM Challenge which will be released in October 2022.

    International

    • The RUCOOL education team is planning a big implementation of the Data to the Rescue: Penguins Need Our Help at Liberty Science Center in Jun 2022 for 200 kids –  see  our example Polar Literacy videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ODzx3_s-w&t=5

    Student Awards

    • Ph.D. student Lauren Cook was awarded the Frank Marmin Memorial scholarship from the International Women’s Fishing Association.
    • RUCOOL grad student Joe Gradone was selected to receive the 2022 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Award.  This fellowship is awarded in recognition of academic excellence and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) achievements, from over 3,000 applicants.  The award will cover all of his graduate school costs for the next 3 years.
    • Liza Wright-Fairbanks gave the Marine Technology Society (MTS) Walter Munk Scholar Award Commemorative Lecture on March 29, with the introduction and moderating by Dean Laura Lawson. This Zoom lecture had 75 attendees and was a follow up to her MTS award and lecture in fall 2021.
    • Congratulations to RUCOOL grad student Sam Coakley on successfully completing his Masters defense entitled “The evolution of a stratified upper ocean under tropical cyclone forcing.” Sam will be moving on to work at the US Climate Variability and Predictability Program.

    Newly Funded Research 

    • Vetelsen, “Challenger Glider Mission,” S. Glenn, O. Schofield and T. Miles ($150,000, 1 year).
    • NJ Department of Environmental Protection, “An ecological and oceanographic baseline to inform offshore wind development over the continental shelf off the coast of New Jersey,”  Grace Saba & Josh Kohut ($2,503,552, 2 years). Press release link: https://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2022/22_0011.htm
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (NOAA CINAR), “Ocean Acidification Synthesis Products,” Grace Saba ($78,999, 1 year)

    Papers Published: (**Current or Former Graduate Student or Postdoctoral Researchers)

    • Michael R. Stukel, Oscar M.E. Schofield, Hugh W. Ducklow, Seasonal variability in carbon:234 thorium ratios of suspended and sinking particles in coastal Antarctic waters: Field data and modeling synthesis, Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Volume 184, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103764
    • Schofield, O., A. Fassbender, M. Hood, K. Hill, and K. Johnson (2022), A global ocean biogeochemical observatory becomes a reality, Eos, 103, DOI: 10.1029/2022EO220149
    • Slesinger, E., Bates, K., Wuenschel, M., Saba, G. 2022. Regional differences in energy allocation of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) along the US Northeast Shelf (36°N – 42°N) and throughout the spawning season. Journal of Fish Biology, DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15023
    • Schwartzman, B., Saba, G.K. 2021. Workshop Summary: Developing a Statewide Ocean Acidification Monitoring Network for New Jersey. November 19, 2021 (virtual). Access report here.
    • Gutt, J., Isla, E., Xavier, J., Adams, B., Ahn, I.-Y., Cheng, C.-H., Colesi, C., Cummings, V., Griffiths, H., Hogg, I., McIntyre, T., Meiners, K., Pearse, D., Peck, L., Piepenburg, D., Reisinger, R., Saba, G.K., Schloss, I., Signori, C., Smith, C.R., Vacchi, M., Verde, C., Wall, D. 2022. Ten scientific messages on risks and opportunities for life in the Antarctic. Antarctic Environments Portal: https://environments.aq/publications/ten-scientific-messages-on-risks-and-opportunities-for-life-in-the-antarctic/.
    • Thompson, T., Wright-Fairbanks, E., Barnard, A.H., Branham, C.W., Saba, G.K. 2021. Best Practices for Sea-Bird Scientific deep ISFET-based pH sensor integrated into a Slocum Webb Glider. OCEANS 2021: San Diego – Porto. San Diego, CA, 2021, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.23919/OCEANS44145.2021.9706067.
    • Sheehan, A., Saba, G., Nardelli, S., Beaird, N. 2021. Developing open-source analysis pipeline for a glider-based Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP). OCEANS 2021: San Diego – Porto. San Diego, CA, 2021, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.23919/OCEANS44145.2021.9706028.

    RUCOOL Meetings & Conferences 

    RUCOOL attended several conferences this February and March, however, one stands out amongst the rest.  Every two years, the oceanography research community comes together at the Ocean Sciences meeting, which was held virtually in February 2022 due to COVID-19. In addition to 10/12 Rutgers RIOS students giving talks, the  RUCOOL team contributed to 26 presentations, including:

    • Ackleson, S. G., Schofield, O. 2022. Regional size distribution and morphology of particles suspended in ocean waters adjacent to the West Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Bailey, K., Brenner, J., Glenn, S., Miles, T., etal., Coastal Monitoring Using Underwater Profiling Gliders During the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
    • Bourrin, F., Gentil, M., Durrieu de Madron, X., Miles, T., Suspended Particles Characteristics from Glider Observation in a Region of Freshwater Influence.
    • **Conroy, J., Steinberg, D., **Nardelli, S., Schofield, O. 2022. Trophic ecology of juvenile Antarctic krill: A multi-method approach.
    • ** Diou-Cass, Q., Schofield, O. 2022. Using physiological models to quantify trends in phytoplankton photoacclimation and growth over decades of change in the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
    • **Diou-Cass, Q., Waite, N., Schofield, O., 20 Years of Pigment Data Suggests Regional Shift In Energy Supply To Phytoplankton Communities In The Western Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Gentil, M., Bourrin, F., Estournel, C., Durrieu de Madron, X., Miles, T., Sediment Dynamics on the Outer Shelf of the Gulf of Lions during an Onshore Storm: an Approach based on Acoustic Glider and Numerical Modeling.
    • Gong, D., Wang, H., Kerfoot, J., Miles, T., Crowley, M., Glenn, S., Schofield, O. 2022. Improved thermal lag correction for pumped glider CTD.
    • **Gradone, J., Miles, T., Glenn, S., Wilson, D., Smith, M., Observing Essential Ocean Features in the Eastern Caribbean for a Safe and Predicted Ocean.
    • Hann, A., Bernard, K., Kohut, J., Oliver, M., Statscewich, H., New Insight into Salpa thompsoni Distribution via Glider-borne Acoustics.
    • Kohut, J., Glenn, S., McDonnell, J., Miles, T., Saba, G., Schofield, O., Lopez, A. 2022. Workforce Development Supporting the Blue Economy: A Master’s Program of Integrated Ocean Observing at Rutgers University.
    • Knap, A., Salas de Leon, D., DiMarco, S., Whilden, K., Whelan, C., Glenn, S., Working together; trans-national effort to install and operate 2 HF Radars across the Yucatan Straight.
    • Lin, Y., Cassar, Moreno, Marchetti, A., Ducklow, H., Schofield, O., Delage, E., Meredith, M., Li, Z., Eveillard, D., Chaffron, S. 2022. Decline in plankton diversity and carbon flux with reduced sea ice extent along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Miles, T., Slade, W., Glenn, S., Particle Size and Concentration Observations from a Glider Integrated In-situ Scattering and Transmissometry (LISST) Sensor.
    • **Nardelli, S., Schofield O. 2022. Assessing the ecological drivers of phytoplankton bloom phenology in coastal Antarctica.
    • Nazzaro, L., Kohut, J., Brodie, J., Morse, L., Baurmgartner, M., Dreyfus, C., Ezzat, A., Mapping North Atlantic right whale distribution relative to coastal ocean features in the Mid Atlantic Bight.
    • Passacantando, M., Kohut, J., **Veatch, J., The Decadal Impact from Suppression of Eddy-Diffusivity on Surface Mixing in the Southern Ocean through ARGO Float Analysis.
    • Roarty, H., Evaluation of the NOAA Operational Forecast System in Delaware Bay.
    • ***Romano, J., Schofield, O. 2022. A Closer look at the pH variability of the Southern Ocean in a Warming Climate.
    • Saba, G., Gangopadhyay, A., Gawarkiewicz, G., Anomalous intrusions of warm core ring water onto the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf alleviate acidification but increase warming during summer 2021.
    • Schofield, O., Waite, N., Steinberg, D. 2022 Food web dynamics along a changing West Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Stienbarger, C., Smith, E., Goni, G., Kim, H., Le Henaff, M., Miles, T., Thruston, S., Building bridges between the observing and modeling communities: NOAA works toward improving tropical cyclone intensity forecasts.
    • **Turner, J., Dierssen, H., Schofield, O., Stammerjohn, S., Kim, H., Munroe, D. 2022. Interannual variability of satellite derived phytoplankton indices west of the Antarctic Peninsula 1997-2021.
    • **Veatch, J., Fredj, E., Kohut, J., Using Lagrangian Coherent Structures to Quantify Prey Concentrating Features in Coastal Biological Hotspot.
    • Wang, H., Gong, D., Friedrichs, M., Harris, C., Miles, T., Zhang., Y., Canyon upwelling and downwelling in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
    • *** Zembricki, E., Schofield, O. 2022. Are you krilling me? How humpback whales are impacting a rapidly warming West Antarctic Peninsula.

    (*** undergraduate student, ** graduate student or postdoctoral researcher)

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