Planktonic food web dynamics of the Northeast US Shelf

This project develops new planktonic ecosystem models for the Northeast US Shelf to understand fundamental ecological processes occurring in the region. The main question is:

• What is the structure and dynamics of the marine planktonic ecosystem on the US Northeast Shelf?

We thank the Simons Foundation and WHOI for funding. 

Modeling the impact of offshore wind installations on the ocean circulation and biological productivity of Nantucket Shoals

This project is focused on developing new planktonic ecosystem models for the Northeast US Shelf with application to modeling potential impacts of planned offshore windfarm installations. The main questions are:

• How will windfarm installations alter the mixing and nutrient supply dynamics on the US Northeast Shelf?

• How will changes in mixing impact primary and secondary productivity?

We thank NOAA and BOEM for funding.

Ocean Vital Signs Network: the plankton ecology of carbon sequestration

This project is part of the broader Ocean Vital Signs Network (OVSN) project at WHOI which is developing a basin-scale sensor network to observe and model the carbon cycle of the Northwest Atlantic.  The main questions are:

• How do plankton community dynamics control the export of organic matter from the surface ocean? 

• How do heterotrophic plankton community dynamics control the respiration of organic matter at depth?

We thank the Schmidt Foundation and WHOI for funding. 

Environmental drivers of fish stock recruitment on the US Northeast shelf

This project is developing new models of environmentally-driven recruitment processes in exploited fish populations, both methodologically and applied to stocks in the Northeast US. The questions are:

• Can state space stock assessment methods effectively model the environmental drivers of fish stock recruitment? 

We thank WHOI for funding. 

Environmentally-driven state space fisheries stock assessment methods  

This project was focused on the response of phytoplankton growth to environmental variability on hourly to seasonal timescales. We examined the seasonality of chlorophyll-to-carbon ratios in the North Pacific. We developed a model for extreme phytoplankton in the North Atlantic using statistical extreme value theory. And we are currently finishing a paper on how predictability of photosynthesis-irradiance varies across daily to annual timescales.

We thank WHOI for funding.

Timescales of variability in marine phytoplankton dynamics

This project was focused on the response of phytoplankton growth to environmental variability on hourly to seasonal timescales. We examined the seasonality of chlorophyll-to-carbon ratios in the North Pacific. We developed a model for extreme phytoplankton in the North Atlantic using statistical extreme value theory. And we are currently finishing a paper on how predictability of photosynthesis-irradiance varies across daily to annual timescales.

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Simons Foundation.