Continued on page 3

Vol.1 No.2 Spring 2004

Prof. Robert Chen and his UMass Boston co-PIs havecompleted work, funded by the Defense University ResearchInstrumentation Program (Office of Naval Research), upgradingtheir ECOShuttle coastal observing vehicle and outfitting aninstrumented mobile lab van to transport the vehicle andexpand its physical, chemical and biological analysiscapabilities. The integrated mobile laboratory (IntegratedCoastal Observations System — ICOS) is versatile (fit for ships

from 40-300 feet), operable in awide range of coastal systems(from estuaries to shelf/sloperegions), and capable of rapidresponse (hours to days) to episodicevents (e.g., spills, harmful algalblooms, hurricanes). In the water,sensors on the ECOShuttlecontinuously measure parameterssuch as temperature, salinity,oxygen, organic matter, andchlorophyll, while continuousanalyses of pumped seawaterinclude particle size, total organiccarbon, total nitrogen, and planktonnumber, size and species. Discrete

samples can be captured on demand for further analysis (http://www.es.umb.edu/research/shuttle/index.html) • • • TheOffice of Naval Research has announced an award to Prof.Louis Goodman (UMass Dartmouth), IGSMST ResearchDirector, to pursue “AUV Turbulence Measurements in theLOCO Field Experiments” for three years. The project is part ofa new ONR initiative, Layered Organization in the CoastalOcean, to understand the properties of denselyconcentrated, thin layers of planktonic biota thatcan occur in coastal ocean environments. Aspecially equipped autonomous underwatervehicle, acquired through a separate grant, willserve as the observation workhorse of theproject. Goodman will be joining colleagues frominstitutions including the University of RhodeIsland, Oregon State University, Woods HoleOceanographic Institution, and the University ofCalifornia Santa Cruz, in this interdisciplinaryprogram (http://www.smast.umassd.edu/Ocean_Physics/) • • • A pair of new grants fromDuke Energy and from the National ScienceFoundation Biocomplexity Program has bolstered

UMASS MARINE is published by the University of Massachusetts Intercampus Graduate School of Marine Sciences and Technology, Office of theDean, Brian J. Rothschild, 706 South Rodney French Blvd., New Bedford, MA 02744-1221.Information and submissions: f1smith@umassd.edu • 508-910-6347 Editor: Frank Smith Production: Dianne Rittmuller

The ECOShuttlethe environmental mercury research of Prof. Mark Hines (UMassLowell) and collaborators. For more than a decade, Hines’ teamhas been on the trail of mercury in the environment as it movesthrough various chemical and biological pathways at sites fromthe Arctic to the Adriatic Sea. By some measures, mercury is theanthropogenic pollutant of longest standing: at one site inSlovenia where the team has been active, the source is amercury mine that opened in the year 1492; at another in Spain,

mercury is said to have been mined since the YearOne. Hines and company are uncovering the role ofbacteria in transforming mercury between theinorganic, oxidized form and methyl mercury,which is the most serious problem, especially forpregnant women and children (http://faculty.uml.edu/mark_hines/) • • • With fundingfrom Duke Energy, Prof. David Ryan (UMassLowell) and co-investigators are working on thedevelopment of new biomarkers or indicators foruse in coastal monitoring. Can certaincontamination problems at a coastal site bededuced by analyzing an organism from that site?Specifically, the group is examining binding

Prof. Mark Hines

A message from the Dean . . .The University of Massachusetts

Graduate School of Marine Sciences andTechnology is a distributed system. Ourfaculty and students reside on theAmherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowellcampuses. Yet as in any distributedsystem, we have pathways along whichwe communicate: graduate courses viadistance learning technology, graduatecommittees, and shared research. UMassMarine is another essentialcommunications link bringing together ourdiverse interests at our several campuses. It focuses on ourbiggest assets: our people—faculty, staff, students—and whatthey do.

In these pages and in future issues, we will introduce ourpeople as space allows. In our “Research Notes,” you’ll alsofind highlights of their diverse research efforts. Whether workingon the frontiers of theory or solving practical problems, whetherin the Southern Ocean off Antarctica or in Massachusetts waters,it is these talented people and their research that drive ourgraduate school.

Brian J. Rothschild

Research Notes

Page 2

Graduate student Yuko Hasegawa(UMass Lowell, Microbial Ecology) comesto Massachusetts from Japan—by way ofWyoming, where she took her Bachelor ofScience degree in Biology at the stateuniversity in Laramie. Yuko traces herinterest in the life sciences to her earlyyears growing upin a small Japanesemountain townthat she witnessedgradually transforminto an industrialarea, a processwhich inspired herto, "think aboutthe relationshipbetween thenaturalenvironment andthe human society." With ProfessorJuliette Rooney-Varga, Yuko is studyingthe bacteria that associate with the algaldinoflagellates responsible for shellfishpoisoning. Some bacteria appear tostimulate the growth of thedinoflagellates; other seem to be algicidal.Ultimately, the research may lead to newcontrols on the infamous "red tides" thatthreaten shellfisheries worldwide.

—An accomplished cellist, Amnesty

International member, Sunday school

Julie Brigham-Grette joined theUMass Amherst Geosciences departmentin 1987, where she is currently Professorand, since 1998, Associate DepartmentHead. She received her Ph.D. in Geologyat the University of Colorado-Boulder andheld post-doctoral fellowships at theUniversity of Bergen, Norway, and withthe Canadian Geological Survey based atthe University of Alberta. For over twodecades, Julie’s research interests havebeen focused on the stratigraphy andchronology of geologic systems (lakes,

rivers, oceans)that recordinformationabout pastclimate change.Julie teachesupper levelundergraduateand graduatecourses in her

specialty of Glacial Geology, and regularlyteaches Introductory Oceanography. Sheis on the editorial advisory boards of threeinternational journals and is currentlyPresident Elect of the AmericanQuaternary Association. In spring 2002,she was elected a Fellow of theGeological Society of America. Julie isthe new Chair of the International ScienceSteering Committee of the IGBP PastGlobal Change Program.

—Professor in the School of Marine

Science and Technology at UMassDartmouth, Mark Altabet teachesChemical Oceanography and GlobalMarine Biochemistry. His researchspecializes in nitrogen cycling in themarine environment; light stable isotopebiogeochemistry; particle fluxes in theopen ocean; marine productivity; andoceanic paleochemistry andpaleoproductivity in relation to pastclimate change. Mark's work has focused

on understanding major biogeochemicalcycles in the marine environment, as theyoperate today and in the past, usingnatural variations in stable isotope ratiosas in situ tracers. The sites of his researchhave included the coastal environment(e.g., Long Island Sound, Pacific coast of

South America) as well as the open ocean(e.g., Arabian Sea, the Southern Oceanoff Antarctica, and the Sargasso Sea).Mark received his Ph.D. from HarvardUniversity in 1984. §

founder, and gospelsinger, Anne-MarieBrunner is not yourtypical physicaloceanographygraduate student.Hailing from theGerman city ofNeustadt, close to theFrench border, Anne-Marie lists almost asmany humanlanguages ascomputer languages on her resume,including—in addition to her nativeGerman—English, French, Swedish, Latin,and Ancient Greek. Anne-Marie receivedher M.S. in Physics at UMass Dartmouthin 2002, and is currently a Ph.D.candidate advised by Dr. James Bisagni,SMAST/Physics. She is examining theinteraction between the North AtlanticOscillation within the atmosphere andlarge-scale circulation variability in thewestern North Atlantic. Variations in theGulf Stream and Labrador Current mayinfluence the western North Atlantic'secosystem, including both plankton andfish.§

Students

Faculty

Introducing...Editors Note: Over the next several issues ofthe UMass Marine newsletter we plan tointroduce our current faculty and students.That goal accomplished, we will focus on newIGSMST faces. Send your comments to theEditor at: f1smith@umassd.edu

Seminar SchedulesSeminar schedules are posted on theUMass Intercampus Graduate School ofMarine Sciences and Technology website at:

http://www.umassmarine.net/news/

or visit these campus web sites:

Department of Natural ResourcesConservation (UMass Amherst)

http://forest.fnr.umass.edu/seminar.htm

The Biology Department (UMassBoston): www.bio.umb.edu

Environmental Coastal and OceanSciences (ECOS, UMass Boston)

http://www.ecos.umb.edu/seminars/curr_seminars_sched.html

The Center for Complex EnvironmentalSystems (CCES, UMass Lowell):

www.uml.edu/centers/ces/sem_eve.htm

The School for Marine Science andTechnology (SMAST, UMass

Dartmouth):www.smast.umassd.edu/seminars_spring2004.htm

Prof. JulieBrigham-Grette

Yuko Hasegawa

IGSMST faculty contact information

is available at:

http://www.umassmarine.net

Prof. Mark Altabet

Anne-Marie Brunner

Page 3

Research Notes...continued

Researchers from the R/V Gould workingoff Antarctica.

relationships between metals and bloodplasma proteins found in mussels. Studiesare being conducted by graduate studentMatthew Woodcock (UMass Lowell), with

the help of Dr.Lenny Pitts(Woods HoleGroup) and Dr.William E.

Robinson (ECOS, UMass Boston) (http://faculty.uml.edu/david_ryan/index.htm) • •• In conjunction with Prof. Martha Mather(UMass Amherst), Unit Scientist ofMassachusetts Cooperative Fish andWildlife Research Unit, graduate studentKristen Ferry recently completed a studyof factors driving distribution of migratorystriped bass across Massachusettsestuaries. In collaboration with theMassachusetts Division of MarineFisheries, this study quantified estimatesof striped bass distribution, diet,consumption, habitat selection, andgrowth implications of habitat selection.The estimates generated from this studycould help identify strata for effectivepredator monitoring, improve estimates ofgrowth and size at age, pinpoint time

periods of preyvulnerability, andimprove singlespecies models orprovide the basisfor a multi-speciescommunityapproach • • • “Climate-RelatedInterannual Variability of Potential NewProduction over the Western NorthAtlantic Ocean” is the title of a projectrecently funded for three years by theNational Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration. Using a blend of satelliteand in-situ data and fine-scale numericalmodeling, Prof. James Bisagni (UMassDartmouth), along with co-investigatorsAvijit Gangopadhyay (UMass Dartmouth)and Joaquim Goes (Bigelow Laboratory)are seeking to understand the role ofclimate variability and the North AtlanticOscillation in regulating oceanic circulation

Graduate TeachingAssistantships

Four teaching assistantships areavailable at the UMass Lowell campus.The areas of interest include:

Chemical Oceanography,Biological Oceanography,Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction(meteorology),and Ocean Engineering.

For more information please contactthe Associate Dean of the GraduateSchool,

Robert_Gamache@uml.eduor see the contact page of the IGSweb site, http://www.umassmarine.net

and biology and their effect on the carboncycle over the western North Atlantic(http://celtic.cmast.umassd.edu/) • • •Prof. Meng Zhou (UMass Boston),Research Associate Yiwu Zhu and Ph.D.student Ryan Dorland spent most ofFebruary and March aboard the R/V Gouldin the Southern Ocean off Antactica.Their research is funded by the Office ofPolar Programs, National ScienceFoundation. Zhou, Zhu and Dorland arepart of a scientific group seeking tounderstand mesoscale physical circulationpatterns associated with bottomtopography, and to understand the off-shelf transport of nutrients and iron,enhanced primary productivity and krillpopulations in the Shackleton Fracturezone, southern Drake Passage. In the

highly productive Antarctic waters, krill isthe key link in the food chain that extendsto seals, penguins, and whales (http://www.es.umb.edu/faculty/mzh/files/sfz/sfz.htm) • • • Prof. Miles Sundermeyer(UMass Dartmouth) has been notified thatthe National Science Foundation hasfunded his proposal, “CollaborativeProposal: Laboratory Studies of Stirring bySmall-Scale Geostrophic Motions.” Thelong-term goal of this research is toprovide a quantitative description ofocean stirring on scales of 1-10 km,which is particularly important tounderstanding global ocean circulation andheat balances. The studies will beconducted in collaboration with theUniversity of Rhode Island’s GraduateSchool of Oceanography (http://www.smast.umassd.edu/msundermeyer/)• • • When considering the effect of apolicy change on the ecology,environmental planners have often leftone animal out of the equation: Homosapiens. But 21st century policy plannersare now folding human ecology into theirplanning process. Prof. David K. Loomis(UMass Amherst), Human DimensionsResearch Unit and Department of NaturalResources Conservation, has been fundedto gather the leading human dimensions

experts and restoration practitionersavailable into an ad hoc think tank for fourdays in April. Sponsored by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administrationand the University, the Workshop forMonitoring the Human DimensionsAspects of Coastal Restoration proposesto develop a state of the art perspectiveon monitoring the human dimensions ofcoastal restoration, in particular for theEstuary Restoration Act of 2000, whichseeks to restore one million acres ofcoastal habitat in 30 states by the year2010 (http://www.umass.edu/hd/index.html). §

Graduate StudentKristen Ferry

Graduate ResearchAssistantships

Two research assistantships are availableat the UMass Dartmouth campus.

Ocean Mixing and Stirring: to assist withlaboratory studies of horizontal dispersionby eddies resulting from patchy mixing.For more information visit:

http://www.umassmarine.netContact:

Prof. Miles A. Sundermeyermsundermeyer@umassd.edu

Layered Organization in the CoastalOcean: a multidisciplinary program aimedat understanding how ocean turbulenceaffects the formation and breakdown ofthin biological layers of plankton. Formore information visit:

http://www.umassmarine.netContact:

Prof. Louis Goodmanlgoodman@umassd.edu

Prof. DavidRyan (left) andMatthewWoodcock

Non Profit Org.US Postage PaidNew Bedford, MA

Permit Number 149

Office of the DeanIntercampus Graduate School of Marine Sciencesand TechnologyUniversity of Massachusetts Dartmouth706 South Rodney French Blvd.New Bedford, MA 02744-1221

EventsMarch 26 – May 28 (Fridays), BOSTON, Class offered -Fundamentals in Marina Management and Planning (EGS478) - 1-3:30 p.m., McCormack Hall, Marine OperationsBoat Shop, UMass Boston. Management techniques,storm preparation, government and environmentalregulations, electrical and mechanical systems, and"hands-on" basic boating operations. 3 credits. Formore information, call Moni at 617-287-5404 or emailopctr@umb.edu.

April 25-28, OCEAN CITY, MD, The NortheasternAssociation of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 60th AnnualConference - Ocean City, MD. See http://northeastconference.fws.gov/. Fisheries sessioncontact, Alan Heft, aheft@dnr.state.md.us.

April 30, SCITUATE, Marine Art Contest - Deadline forthe 2003-2004 Marine Art Contest, sponsored by theMassachusetts Marine Educators, Stellwagen BankNational Marine Sanctuary, and the New EnglandAquarium. This year's theme is "Marine ProtectedAreas," and artwork will be judged in five categories: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 and scientific illustration. Details:http://stellwagen.noaa.gov/PDF/2004postercontest.pdf.

May 6-7, BOSTON, The Massachusetts BaysSymposium - venue TBA. Details to be posted at theMassachusetts Bays Program website http://www.state.ma.us/envir/massbays/conference.htm.

Granting M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in seven areas:• Analysis and Modeling of Marine and

Atmospheric Systems• Coastal Systems Science• Integrated Coastal Management• Living Marine Resources Science and

Management• Marine Biogeochemical Cycles and

Environmental Change• Marine Observation Technologies• The Ocean and Human Health

http://www.umassmarine.netMay 10-11, HALIFAX, NS, CANADA, Ocean ZoningWorkshop – “Ocean Zoning: Can it Work in theNorthwest Atlantic?” Saint Mary’s University, Halifax,Nova Scotia, Canada. For information, call 902-429-1335 or email oceanzon@dal.ca.

May 23-26, NEWPORT, RI, Measure for Measure: HowDo We Gauge Coastal Stewardship? The CoastalSociety, 19th International Conference. Seewww.thecoastalsociety.org/conference/tcs19/. ContactJudy Tucker, coastalsoc@aol.com, 703/768-1599.

U n i v e r s i t y o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s

Amherst • Boston • Dartmouth • Lowell • Worcester

INTERCAMPUS GRADUATE SCHOOL OFMARINE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY