Coastal & Marine Conservation

Fellow Story

Ganguli looking at biological mercury hotspots with NSF postdoc

Phytoplankton are the entry point for mercury in marine food webs, and subsequent mercury accumulation in fish is the primary route of human exposure. Yet despite the fact that phytoplankton form this critical link, their role in marine mercury dynamics is not clear, especially with respect to seasonal and geographic variability. This study is designed to evaluate trends in mercury cycling in highly productive coastal marine environments, with a focus on the seasonal effects of phytoplankton blooms in a range of coastal lagoon systems.
January 12, 2016
Fellow Story

Doerr new Research Associate with the Center for Ocean Solutions

Angie Doerr has accepted a position with the Center for Ocean Solutions as a Research Associate for Coupled Human-Natural Systems. See Angee Doerr's LinkedIn profile
January 1, 2016
Fellow Story

Stoll quoted on whether community supported seafood is a model for the future

By the mid-2000s, reality was hitting hard: The commercial seafood supply and distribution chain was all but broken. Overfishing had depleted fish stocks and, in turn, marine biodiversity. By and large, fish had become a commodity caught in one place, trucked to a processor in another and then sold to stores and restaurants.
December 22, 2015
Fellow Story

Ganguli publishes in PNAS on effects of seal colonization on coastal mercury cycling

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in food webs, posing a global threat to environmental health. Marine mammals are common sentinel species for studying marine pollution; however, their potential role as vectors of contaminants to local ecosystems has rarely been addressed. By quantifying the concentration and chemical form of mercury in seawater affected by Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) colonization, we demonstrated here that marine mammal behavioral ecology can substantially influence nearshore mercury cycling.
December 22, 2015
Fellow Story

Zollitsch wraps up report on state wetland programs in the United States

Brenda Zollitsch recently completed her report, Status and Trends Report on State Wetland Programs in the United States, which provides a comprehensive look at how states are approaching each of the four core elements for state wetland programs, including state summary documents, comparative data analysis and maps, descriptive text on status and trends and documentation of potential models.
November 25, 2015
Fellow Story

O'Leary appointed Honorary Warden of the Kenya Wildlife Service

Jennifer O'Leary has been appointed an Honorary Warden of the Kenya Wildlife Service for her work there.
November 25, 2015
Fellow Story

Brooks finds Antarctic species threatened by willful misinterpretation of legal treaty

Countries are loosely interpreting the legal meaning of “rational use” of natural resources to escalate fishing efforts in Antarctic waters and hinder efforts to establish marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean, scientists and legal scholars say.
November 24, 2015
Fellow Story

Moffitt now postdoctoral scholar with Future of Ice Initiative

We are pleased to have in residence the recipients of the inaugural Future of Ice post-doctoral fellowships below.
November 17, 2015
Fellow Story

Ocean science, politics, and management at the White House

As the management adage goes, "you can't manage what you can't measure." At Yale's Environmental Performance Index they are all about integrating data and indicators into environmental policy and decision-making. This summer, Ariana Spawn was fortunate to receive an on-the-ground lesson in how the United States government is putting this concept into practice for ocean and coastal management.
November 11, 2015
Fellow Story

Working Group Re-Assessing Status of Pacific Albatross Species

Black-footed and Laysan albatrosses are charismatic, long-lived, pelagic seabirds that are considered important indicators of North Pacific ecosystem health. New information indicated that the most recent official government status assessment for these species might have underestimated population threats and overestimated population health. Thus, the main purpose of our project was to re-assess the conservation status of these albatrosses and share our results with a broad group of stakeholders to ensure these species are adequately protected. We assembled an expert adviso
November 3, 2015