Core Research Themes

Aquatic photochemistry

UV-visible imaging spectroscopy of inland and coastal waters 

Cycling of terrigenous organic C along the land-ocean continuum

Rivers and tidal coastal wetlands represent major conduits by which large stocks of terrigenous organic carbon are transferred from terrestrial ecosystems to the ocean. In recent decades, terrestrial and marine ecosystems have experienced rapid changes in response to climate change and human activities (e.g.,  land cover change, wildfires, enhanced hydrology, permafrost thaw, water temperature, sea-ice melt), which in turn can have major impacts on both the mobilization of organic carbon from terrestrial environments and its subsequent processing along the land-ocean continuum. The question of how these conduits of organic carbon are responding to environmental change remains largely unanswered. Here, we work on integrating remotely sensed properties of the land and ocean, laboratory-derived quantities, and field-based measurements into modeling frameworks of the mobilization, transport and transformations of terrigenous organic carbon along the land-ocean continuum, in order to better quantify these conduits and evaluate their vulnerability to change.

Suspended sediment dynamics at the land-water interface

The dynamics of suspended sediment at the land-water interface are critically important to the short- and long-term evolution of the coastal landscape and play a major role regulating the water quality (e.g., turbidity, transparency) of estuarine and coastal waters. Understanding the mechanisms regulating the supply and redistribution of suspended sediments in and around river deltas, salt marshes, and mangroves and how they are changing are key to determining the vulnerability and resiliency of these environments to human- and climate-driven changes (e.g., rising sea-level, land subsidence, increased storminess, damming, etc…). We leverage remote sensing, field and lab-based measurements, and models to study the dynamics of suspended sediments at the land-water interface, understand its drivers, and determine their vulnerability and resiliency to environmental change.

Seagrass habitat suitability

Seagrass meadows provide important ecosystem services, including the sequestration of >80 million metric tons of organic carbon annually (blue carbon), and are therefore important assets worth preserving to mitigate the anthropogenic impacts on climate. Unfortunately, the abundance and distribution of seagrasses are declining rapidly worldwide due to growing anthropogenic pressures. Major seagrass restoration efforts have been made in recent years to help mitigate this decline, and habitat suitability models are often used to determine suitable restoration sites and guide these efforts. Solar exposure of the seagrass beds is one of the primary determinant of suitability but is often inadequately included in these models. We combine modeling, field optics, and remote sensing to determine the optimal benthic solar exposure conditions for seagrasses in dynamic, heterogeneous shallow coastal environments and help improve habitat suitability models and guide restoration efforts there.