My research focuses on coastal biogeochemistry and how natural and anthropogenic processes influence benthic carbon and nutrient cycling. These topics are important because human activities are rapidly altering these processes and the long-term effects of these changes are largely unknown. Because a large portion of the human population lives adjacent to the coast, we are tightly linked to the productivity and stability of coastal systems, and their ability to mitigate anthropogenic changes.

I use the eddy correlation technique to investigate the ambient, in-situ factors that control carbon cycling such as: nutrients, irradiance, benthic communities, waves, and currents. My PhD work is primarily on tropical coral reefs and seagrass meadows in south Florida. These results reveal the complex interactions of hydrodynamics with productivity, the tight link to irradiance, and complex benthic communities that efficiently harvest light to create linear photosynthesis to irradiance curves. These results also show the importance of sampling in-situ over large spatial scales as these effects are not able to be observed with any other methodology. Further, these measurements show extremely high production rates on coral reefs and why these areas are hotspots of biodiversity while being a large source of production for the surrounding areas.

The majority of my work has been done through O2 eddy correlation in the tropics, but I have also engaged in a number of collaborations in different environments using different solutes for eddy correlation. I conducted the first measurements of calcium and hydrogen sulfide eddy correlation fluxes. I also worked in Greenland to determine the controls and dynamics of primary production within sea ice. As the popularity of the eddy correlation increases and new advancements in sensor technologies emerge, I expect eddy correlation to become a standard tool in the analysis of carbon cycling within marine systems as it is currently the most accurate method for determining in situ metabolic rates.

I am interested in carbon dynamics in shallow coastal systems and how carbon cycling changes with a large scale ecosystem state change. My research focuses on using oxygen as a proxy for carbon metabolism at different stages of seagrass colonization in the shallow lagoons of the VCR-LTER. I use the eddy correlation technique to measure real time ecosystem metabolism throughout the year to observe seasonal variability in the ecosystem response to light, temperature, and flow.

While the drivers of metabolism in aquatic ecosystems are well known and include nutrients, sunlight, temperature, organic matter inputs, and water flow or mixing, our ability to quantify the effects of these drivers on metabolism is limited. This limits our understanding of the impacts of these drivers on water quality and aquatic carbon transformation. My research focuses on a novel hydrodynamic technique, eddy correlation, which can be used to determine the flux of oxygen, heat, and salt in an aquatic ecosystem at a high temporal resolution and without a gas transfer velocity correction. The calculated fluxes which result can improve our predictions of an aquatic ecosystem’s response to environmental change.

An abundant source of nutrients to freshwater and shallow marine ecosystems is groundwater. Because over-enrichment of surface waters with nutrients leads to water quality degradation and habitat loss, I have also worked with seepage meters, radioisotopic tracers, thermal imagery, and salt and heat fluxes calculated with the eddy correlation technique to quantify sources of groundwater discharge to surface waters. The delivery of groundwater nutrients to surface water at some locations is controlled by microbial activity in sediments. By improving our understanding of these processes we can improve the application of our effort to preserving water quality and aquatic habitats.

I am working as an undergraduate assistant to Prof. Berg testing several newly-designed instruments that will improve the accuracy of the eddy correlation technique. This method can be used to integrate nutrient flux measurements over large areas to yield accurate estimates of ecosystem metabolism. My specific interests are in the ecology, conservation, and resilience of coral reefs in response to projected climate change.

My graduate thesis research focused on biogeochemical cycling and hydrodynamics of recovering seagrass meadows on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Specifically, Dr. Berg and I adapted the micrometeorological concept of eddy-correlation to measure fluctuations of dissolved oxygen in order to determine ecosystem metabolism dynamics of seagrasses. As a graduate research student for Dr. Berg, I was lucky to participate in multiple research cruises and field campaigns around the globe. After graduating from UVa, I accepted a research assistant position at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, Scotland where I set up a aquatic eddy-correlation lab. Upon moving back to the United States, I decided to apply my educational background to marine policy and conservation. I am currently a Senior Program Officer at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).