WELCOME TO
NEW FACULTY

The new school year brings news faces and three joining the faculty include: Dr. Ben Kirtman and Dr. Igor Kamenkovich in the Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography and Dr. Xinrong Ren who will join the Division of Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry.

Ben Kirtman, who earned his PhD from the University of Maryland, is working on the development of simple and complex coupled ocean atmosphere general circulation models to investigate the predictability of the coupled system on interannual and intraseasonal time scales, to study the influence of tropical predictability on mid-latitude predictability and to assess how the annual cycle affects intraseasonal and interannual predictability. Current areas of interest include: El Niño prediction, dynamics and low frequency variations; impact of atmospheric stochastic forcing on coupled climate variability; El Niño-monsoon interactions; and the maintenance of the inter-tropical convergence zone.

Igor Kamenkovich earned his PhD at the MIT/WHOI Joint Program and did postdoctoral work there on the science and policy of global change. His research interests are in ocean dynamics, working to understand how the large-scale ocean circulation, meso-scale eddies and small-scale mixing interact and affect each other. Although these interactions play an important role in determining oceanic state, their dynamics are still poorly understood. Another frequent topic of his studies is the role of the oceans in past and future climate reorganizations. He tries to combine comprehensive numerical simulations, observational data, and conceptual models to obtain a consistent dynamical picture, including work with the global thermohaline circulation and water masses of the Southern Ocean and their global role.

With his PhD in environmental chemistry from Pennsylvania State University, Xinrong Ren comes to the Rosenstiel School to continue his work in atmospheric chemistry. His research looks at air pollution, environmental chemistry, and uses instrumental and quantitative analyses for environmental monitoring.

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SOUNDINGS IS FOR...

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IN REMEMBRANCE

Carol C. Natland
(1945-2007)

Biologist and Oceanographer Carol Craig Edgerton Natland, wife of James Natland, professor of marine geology and geophysics at the Rosenstiel School, died July 31 at Cedars Medical Center in Miami. Carol, who worked as a research technician for many years at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with Dr. Robert Hessler, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Mt. St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. Recognized for discovering and documenting new genera of deep-sea agglutinated benthic foraminifera of the order Komokiaceaea, she has two species named for her. She is survived by her husband and three children, Gregory, 27; Paul, 23; and Melissa, 16. Services were held privately with family members in California. Donations can be sent to the American Cancer Society.

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

NEW LAB STUDIES CLIMATE
CHANGE, CORALS

Across the street at the Hatchery, a modest new lab is doing research of global proportions. In fact, it is the first of its kind to tackle coral climate change issues by modulating temperature and pH controls simultaneously to create an accurate picture of future ocean environments.

Fully operational at the end of July, this new lab has begun to study how corals respond to the combined stress of greenhouse warming and ocean acidification. The lab is the first to maintain corals under precisely controlled temperature and carbon dioxide conditions while exposing them to natural light conditions.

Using two corals, Montastraea faveolata (mountainous star coral) and Porites furcata (finger coral), the research team will study how the world’s increasingly acidic oceans (caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide) affect these corals when accompanied with increasing ocean temperatures.

“I was interested in stressing corals at differing levels of carbon dioxide and temperatures much like they would experience in the next 50 to 100 years to see if skeletal development is affected,” said Dr. Chris Langdon, one of the lab’s creators and the scientist who developed a similar lab at the University of Hawaii studying corals at varying carbon dioxide changes alone.

Photo credit: Oana Ioncel

Dr. Andrew Baker, co-creator and also a Rosenstiel School faculty, has spent much of his career looking at climate change impacts on corals and has geared his perspective towards understanding whether corals can adapt to any of these changes. “It’s clear that corals of the future will see much warmer, more acidic oceans than we have now,” Baker said. “By mimicking these same changes in the laboratory we get a much clearer idea of how these corals will respond.”

The National Science Foundation, the Packard Foundation, Conservation International and the Wildlife Conservation Society have made the new lab possible through their funding of research and the actual facilities and instrumentation necessary to ensure precise monitoring.

The lab includes a research team of nearly 10 faculty, staff, and students.

RESTORING REEFS

University of Miami joins
Punta Cana Coastal Marine Project

Over the next few years, the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and The PUNTACANA Ecological Foundation will conduct innovative ecological studies working closely with local communities towards an effective coastal management strategy for the greater Punta Cana area. This partnership will align the brightest scientific minds with a premier destination, further strengthening the existing sustainable tourism, environmental protection and enhancement efforts.

“This is a tremendously challenging, but exciting project to get involved in,” said Dr. Liana Talaue-McManus, the principal investigator on the UM portion of the project and marine affairs and policy scientist at the Rosenstiel School. “Our earlier studies have shown that the coral reefs in the area are largely overgrown with seaweed, inhibiting the growth of coral. As future storms disturb the reef, damaged corals are likely to be replaced by more seaweed instead of young corals, leading to increasing environmental loss. The value of the reef as a source of food and tourist income will decline as well. We must identify the causes of the excessive seaweed growth and come up with a coastal management strategy that will both improve the environment and provide optimal benefits for local communities and businesses.”

Rosenstiel School researchers have proposed sustainable measures within a broad-scale watershe approach, involving:

• Activities that can reduce excessive fishing pressure

• Coral reef restoration and coastal management

• Action to improve water quality in the large, underground river system and along the

Punta Cana coastline,

• Stakeholder involvement to improve understanding and compliance with protective

measures

Talaue-McManus,along with Professors John McManus and Larry Brand, will lead a team of Rosenstiel School student researchers, using a collaborative approach with the Foundation, to:

• Identify the ecological health of the habitats

• Assess nutrient patterns and the roles they play in the reef and seagrass beds

• Determine ecological impacts of fishing in area

• Characterize the relationships between local communities and the environment

• Make recommendations for future and long-term research

• Develop education materials that aid understanding and environmental awareness

“This will be one of the most comprehensive efforts in the Caribbean to restore the marine coastal ecosystems and implement programs that insure long-term sustainability of the region,” said Jake Kheel, the Foundation’s environmental director. “Through the support of GRUPO PUNTACANA, the Ecological Foundation hopes to motivate local businesses and communities to make significant investments in protecting and restoring one of tourism’s most important assets, its coral reefs.”

A combination of satellite data analyses and underwater surveys will help produce a map of the major habitat types in the Punta Cana reef ecosystem. The team will establish a monitoring program to study the patterns of nutrients that are deteriorating water quality and seek out their potential sources. Shore-side surveys and periodic inventories of fishing activities will help estimate fishing impacts. And, lastly, the research team will analyze policies and regulatory instruments that could provide long-term solutions to revitalizing this reef system.

REPORT FROM MSGSO

The Marine Science Graduate Student Organization (MSGSO) (http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/msgso/) provides a link between the students and the school administration at the Rosenstiel School. It is here to listen to students’ ideas and concerns and answer any questions they have as well as provide activities and opportunities to interact with other students here at the Rosenstiel School and other university graduate programs. MSGSO’s leadership welcomes all new students as it looks forward to a fun-filled year. Here is a list of activities scheduled thus far:

RSMAS New Student Events for Fall 2007
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/grad-studies/

August 24 – New Student Party/BBQ (volleyball courts)

October 12 – MSGSO Student Auction (Commons)

October 20 – FSU game (Commons)

October 31 – Halloween Party (Commons)

December 7 – End of semester/Christmas party (Commons)

MSGSO leadership will update the community through e-mails and a regular column in Soundings. Please feel free to contact MSGSO leadership at msgso@rsmas.miami.edu, or through the division representatives.