MY RESEARCH
WATER QUALITY AND HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN THE COASTAL WATERS OFFSHORE ASSATEAGUE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE IN MARYLAND
June, 2018 - Present
As a popular tourist destination, the ecosystems surrounding Ocean City, Maryland, including Assateague Island National Seashore and the Maryland Coastal Bays (MCB), are impacted by human use through recreation, sewage outflow, and agriculture. There is a need to better understand the linkages between the coastal ocean and the MCB, ecosystem changes and impacts of human activity. Coastal ocean monitoring from the past two years has helped determine nutrient dynamics which explain water quality degradation, and an increase in emergent harmful algal bloom species of concern. Research cruises during the summer months of 2018-2019 evaluated environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, pH, etc.), chlorophyll, phytoplankton species composition.
EFFECTS OF NUTRIENTS ON PHYTOPLANKTON BIOMASS IN THE OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND INLET
June - August, 2019
Ocean City’s inlet is a conduit for nutrients and pollutants between the Atlantic Ocean and Maryland’s Coastal Bays. This study investigated the response of phytoplankton to increased nutrient availability and temperature as part of a larger investigation of phytoplankton dynamics, in relation to eutrophication and climate change effects. Three nutrient bioassays were conducted on phytoplankton biomass in the Ocean City Inlet, with additions of 10μM nitrate, 10μM ammonium, 5μM phosphate, and 10μM Nitrate+5μM Phosphate.
TRACKING MICROBIAL CONTAMINANTS IN BALTIMORE HARBOR: ARE CURRENT TECHNIQUES SUFFICIENT FOR ASSESSING HUMAN RISK?
June - August, 2018
Waters that have been polluted with storm water and urban runoff, sewage treatment plants can contain human pathogens. Methods that use fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), including E. coli and Enterococci, have traditionally been used to assess the human pathogen risk in waterways. Molecular methods are being developed that are more reliable in pointing to sources and pathogen presence. We measured FIB and water quality parameters in 8 sites surrounding Baltimore Harbor, Maryland.
PREDICTING COLLARED PIKA OCCURENCE IN HATCHER'S PASS, ALASKA
August 2017 - May 2020
Collared pika are small alpine mammals that reside in the western region of North America. Rather than hibernate, they construct hay piles in the crevices of boulders where they can feed throughout the winter. This pilot study through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game assessed the ability to detect the presence of Pika in a single boulder field at Hatcher’s Pass outside of Palmer, Alaska. Camera traps were deployed at hay pile locations to detect Pika, and test them against the following independent variables: time of day, location of hay pile, temperature, wind speed, and humidity.