The Department of Fisheries Oceanography will be hosting Raquel Bryant on Wednesday, April 2 from 3-4.  Bryant, Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University will be discussing “Ocean storytelling with fossil foraminifera” Please join us for this seminar in SMAST East 101-103 or online via Zoom!

Abstract:

Foraminifera are unicellular, marine organisms that boast one of the most complete and extensive fossil records of any organism – living or extinct. Their pervasiveness in marine sediments and rocks from throughout the Phanerozoic make them excellent storytellers about Earth’s past oceans. Among foraminifera, or forams for short, there are varieties that live at the top of the water column amid primary producers and at the seafloor within or above the sediment. Through the life of a foram, they grow their tests (shells) by adding chambers and take on distinct shapes, sometimes depending on the ambient environmental conditions. Thus, their assemblage structure and morphology through geologic time can be used to reconstruct paleoenvironments and interpret paleoceanographic change. In this talk, I present examples of the storytelling power of forams from the Late Cretaceous (~100 – 66 million years ago) Western Interior Seaway and from a new project studying the glaciation of Greenland through the Neogene (~23 – 2.5 million years ago) based on sediments recovered during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 400.

The Department of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences will be hosting Brian Yellen on Wednesday, April 2 from 12:30-1:30. Yellen, MA State Geologist and Research Asst. Prof UMass Amherst, will be discussing “The Importance of Sediment to Northeast Salt Marshes and Threats Posed by Regional Decline in Coastal Sediment Supply.” Please join us for this seminar in SMAST East 101-103 or online via Zoom!

Abstract:

Coastal environments such as salt marshes, shellfish flats, and beaches depend on a continuous supply of sediment to adjust to rising sea levels. For several years, a UMass Amherst based team has been focusing on assessing (1) the dominant sources of sediment to the New England coast, (2) how sediment contributes to salt marsh accretion, and (3) how humans may be reducing coastal sediment supplies in the Northeast US. In this talk, I will first illustrate the relationship between sediment supply and the ability of salt marshes to build vertically, a process that is essential to maintaining a platform elevation above rising sea levels. Second, I will show how coastal bluff slumping and erosion contributes to coastal sediment supply. We use lidar differencing to quantify the amount of sediment being added directly from bluff erosion. Finally, I will conclude by making use of a newly developed satellite remote sensing tool to demonstrate that coastal suspended sediment has been declining in the Northeast US. Our team hypothesizes that extensive coastal armoring is partly to blame for observed decreases in coastal suspended sediment, potentially posing added adaptation challenges to threatened coastal habitats like salt marshes.

The Department of Fisheries Oceanography is hosting Elle Keane, Biologist and Tribal Liaison Officer for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and Asha Ajmani, Tribal Engagement Coordinator at the Northeast Regional Ocean Council on March 5th. The seminar, “Working with Tribal Nations” will be held in SMAST East 101-103 from 3-4. Please join us in person or on Zoom!

Abstract:

The U.S government and the governments of federally-recognized Tribal Nations have a unique government-to-government relationship set forth in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, and court decisions. Within this relationship, NOAA Fisheries works with Tribal Nations on a range of issues, including habitat, fisheries management, and endangered species, among others. This seminar will provide an overview of this relationship and NOAA Fisheries’ engagement with Tribal Nations in the Greater Atlantic Region. The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) is a voluntary forum for Tribal, federal, state and NGO partners to form interagency coordination and cooperation on regional approaches to support balanced uses and conservation of the Northeast’s ocean and coastal resources. Recently, NROC launched a Tribal Caucus to identify Tribal interests and needs, and coordinate Tribal guidance on NROC priorities and the implementation of specific NROC projects. These efforts have led to increased Tribal participation in NROC and the development of work groups and other products responding to identified needs.

The Department of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences is hosting Laurel Schaider on Wednesday March 5 for a seminar on “PFAS in the waters of Cape Cod: What do we know and how can we protect water quality?”. The seminar will take place in SMAST East 101-103 from 12:30-1:30 and is available on Zoom.

Abstract:

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—also called “forever chemicals”—are grabbing headlines every day as global environmental pollutants. Closer to home, PFAS are increasingly being discovered in drinking water, surface waters, and groundwater throughout Massachusetts. Groundwater on Cape Cod is vulnerable to PFAS contamination because of the shallow sand and gravel aquifer and dense development. This presentation will provide an overview of the key concerns about widespread PFAS exposure and health effects. We will discuss major sources of PFAS contamination in groundwater and surface waters on Cape Cod, and present key findings from past and ongoing research to discover the extent of PFAS contamination and implications for human and ecological health.