The NOAA Science
Seminar Series began in 2004 and is a voluntary effort by
over 70 NOAA seminar coordinators to integrate and distribute a list of
NOAA-hosted, publicly accessible science seminars. In 2020
we shared listings for over 500 seminars!
All NOAA Program Offices are welcome to share their hosted science-related
seminars as part of the NOAA Science Seminar Series effort.
To become a seminar calendar contributor, e-mail Hernan Garcia.
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& update seminars on the calendar. We use the data from this Google calendar to populate the
listings for both e-mails and the seminars page.
We ask seminar contributors to follow our formatting and content guidelines,
which helps us keep the seminar listings consistent across all our contributors.
Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; and LuAnn Dahlman, Contracted to the NOAA/OAR/Climate Program
Title: The Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) tool
Sponsor(s): NOAA's Eastern Region Climate Services Webinar Series
Presenter(s): Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; and LuAnn Dahlman, Contracted to the NOAA/OAR/Climate Program
Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/National Centers for Environmental Information/Regional Climate Services.
Remote Access: Please register here. After registering, you will get a confirmation email with a link to the webinar. Audio is over the computer, so adjust the volume on your computer speakers or headset. Users should use either Google, IE or Edge on Windows, or Safari if using a Mac. Questions will be addressed in the chat and the Q/A windows.
Abstract: The webinar will feature a recap of December conditions and LuAnn Dahlman will brief on the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) tool.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: If interested in obtaining a PDF of the slides and/or the recording, see the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
Abstract: Join us for a snapshot of the overall USS Monitor story, telling the role that the U.S. Navy played in the salvage and recovery operations during MONITOR Expedition 2002. As told by CAPT Bobbie Scholley, the Navy's On Scene Commander for the operation, you will hear how the Navy partnered with NOAA and The Mariners' Museum to plan and execute a historic diving operation off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 240 feet below the surface, to recover the unique revolving gun turret and two Dahlgren guns from the wreckage of USS Monitor.
Hear about the technical, environmental, and sometime emotional challenges that the team had to overcome to lift the 200-ton turret successfully to the surface and move it to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Learn how the Navy used two different types of deep ocean diving systems, Surface Supplied Mixed Gas and Saturation Diving, to accomplish the tremendous amount of work required to prepare the turret for lifting. Discover how the U.S. Navy's diving procedures were modified and evaluated during this operation and then ultimately approved for future use by the Navy.
See how over 150 Navy divers worked with NOAA, The Mariners' Museum, the Wotan barge crew, and contractors to form a strong, cohesive team. Learn how this team quickly came together in hazardous conditions during the 45 days and nights of operation to beat the approaching hurricane season to ultimately recover the turret from the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
Bio(s): Captain Barbara Bobbie Scholley graduated from Illinois State University in 1980, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. In May 1981, she graduated Officer Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island, and in 2000, she graduated the Industrial College of the Armed Forces where she earned a Master of Science Degree in National Resource Strategy. She also holds an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Illinois State University.Scholley was designated as a Special Operations Officer, a deep-sea Diving Officer, a Salvage Officer, and a Surface Warfare Officer. She became the fourth woman in the U.S. Navy to command a surface vessel and served as the Commanding Officer, USS Bolster (ARS 38) from 1992-1994. She served as the Combat Logistics Group TWO Senior Diving Officer during TWA Flight 800 Salvage Operation in 1996. In 2000, she became the first woman to command a Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) at MDSU TWO. In that position, she deployed to Adan, Yemen, in support of the USS Cole (DDG 67) recovery effort. In 2001 and 2002, she led the USS Monitor salvage expeditions. Her final operational assignment was Chief Staff Officer, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group TWO. Scholley retired from the U.S. Navy in August 2005. Today, she serves as a consultant, routinely speaking in public. She is a member of the Illinois State University, College of Science Hall of Fame and is a member and former Chairman of the Board of the Women Divers Hall of Fame. She has received recognition for many of her volunteer efforts including the Beneath the Sea Diver of the Year for Service Award in 2012.
Abstract: It is just of recent that regional ocean circulation models started showing improved internal tidal energetics with the presence of high frequency remote baroclinic forcing at the open boundaries. It has been postulated that globally 31% of the internal tides (ITs) dissipate in the coastal ocean; hence, it may be important to force regional models with high frequency internal waves (IWs) to improve the energy cascade in the coastal ocean. In this study, we address the following questions: What boundary condition setup is best suited to radiate high frequency IWs into the domain while minimizing reflections? How much do the regional simulations improve with the inclusion of remote waves as compared to observations? What is the impact of remote internal wave forcing on internal tide dissipation on the continental margin? We force our 4-km Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) trial simulations of the U.S. West Coast with surface tides and internal waves from an 8-km Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) simulation. For these runs, we consider different open boundary conditions for baroclinic (Specified and Orlanski) and barotropic (Specified and Flather) modes. To control the reflections of internal waves at the open boundaries, we include sponge layers with varying sponge viscosities and widths. Lastly, we validated the trial simulation we judged best against TPXO9-atlas, historical mooring and altimetry datasets.
Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna, Andy Beet, Andrea Havron, Alana Santana and Rory Spurr, Greg Williams, Eli Holmes, Emily Markowitz, Sean Rohan, Elizabeth Gugliotti, Meg Oshima, Felipe Quezada, Desiree Tommasi, Brian Smith, Catherine Foley, all NOAA NMFS affiliates
Presenter(s): Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna, Andy Beet, Andrea Havron, Alana Santana and Rory Spurr, Greg Williams, Eli Holmes, Emily Markowitz, Sean Rohan, Elizabeth Gugliotti, Meg Oshima, Felipe Quezada, Desiree Tommasi, Brian Smith, Catherine Foley (all NMFS affiliates)
Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and NOAA's Central Library (NCL)Seminar Contacts: Kathryn Doering (kathryn.doering@noaa.gov) and Library SeminarsLocation: Webinar
Accessibility: Captions are added to the recordings of presentations once uploaded to the NOAA Central Library YouTube Channel. Sign language interpreting services and Federal Relay Conference Captioning (RCC) service are available, but need to be requested at least 5 days before the event.
Abstract: These lightning talks (3 min each) will showcase the recent and in progress open science work happening within NMFS using R. Topics include data and modeling R packages, automated report writing, sharing data and results, and automating fisheries modeling runs.
Hem Nalini Morzaria-Luna | Using package vertical to creating packages for scientific papers
Andy Beet | stocksmart: an R data package
Andrea Havron | Fisheries Integrated Modeling System (FIMS)
Alana Santana and Rory Spurr | Research permit visualization app
Greg Williams | Automating California Current Ecosystem Status Reports for the PFMCouncil
Eli Holmes | Creating NOAA reports with R and Quarto using the quarto_titlepages extension
Em Markowitz | Converting data reports to dynamic R Markdown feat. the Bering Sea bottom trawl survey data report
Sean Rohan | coldpool: Cold pool area and temperature from the eastern Bering Sea
Em Markowitz | AFSC Groundfish Survey Data in Fisheries One Stop Shop (FOSS): Sharing Survey Data with the World
Elizabeth Gugliotti | Creating a rstudio connect api and using it to run a model/get model results
Meg Oshima | Automating SS model development workflow
Felipe Quezada | CPS cluster and bayesian modelling for landings
Desiree Tommasi | Bluefin tuna MSE
Brian Smith | Knee-deep in fish guts: sharing metadata and creating interactive products with Shiny and RMarkdown
Abstract: Over the past 50 years, routine analyses of pressure, temperature, moisture, and wind near the storm surface have been rare. Safety concerns and other logistical constraints have made in-situ data collection within the Tropical Cyclone (TC) air-sea transition zone prohibitive. Accurate assessments of momentum, heat, and mass exchanges within this critical region of the storm are needed in order to consistently predict changes in TC structure, intensity, and in some cases, short-term storm track. This presentation will discuss the implementation of various methodologies and technologies, past, present and future, designed to push the limits of what we know (and what we think we know) about the coupled ocean-atmosphere environment of TCs. Outcomes and lessons learned from applied research associated with this important, yet difficult-to-observe region of the storm will be discussed, along with the various technologies and concepts of operations used to advance our understanding and ability to better predict these dynamic systems.
Abstract: Animal-borne sensors (bio-loggers) are essential tools for observing the biology of marine vertebrates in environments where human eyes cannot follow. These devices increasingly unlock new discoveries and inform conservation and management. But despite their scientific value, bio-logging data remain grossly underutilized in large part due to insufficient data-sharing infrastructure. In this seminar, I will present two recent projects that demonstrate how data science reveals latent information hidden in bio-logging data. The first is a ballistocardiogram, a non-invasive method for measuring cardiac function in marine mammals using high resolution mechanical sensors. The second is Stickleback, a machine learning pipeline tailored to bio-logging data that automates behavior detection using the latest time series classification algorithms. As I share these new methods, I will demonstrate how adoption of software engineering principles facilitates reproducibility and transparency in science. My talk will conclude with a vision for open bio-logging science, driven by new cyberinfrastructure and lowering barriers to participation for the next generation of marine scientists.
Bio(s): Max is a postdoctoral scholar with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and UC Santa Cruz's Department of Ocean Sciences. He recently completed his PhD at Stanford University under the supervision of Prof Jeremy Goldbogen, studying the ecophysiology of baleen whales using animal-borne sensors. In his research, he applies his training and experience in software engineering to develop new computational methods and tools for solving problems in marine vertebrate ecology. He is an avid educator and enjoys teaching data science skills to scientists of all career stages.
Recordings: The talk will be recorded; link to recording available upon request.
Abstract: Join us as we welcome Deborah Burton, Co-Founder of Tipping Point North South, a non-profit set up by former UK debt trade and tax justice campaigners to work across both the creative and NGO sectors through campaigns, events and film.
Bio(s): Deborah will discuss the emerging topic of military emissions and the impact of the Russian invasion on this; why these emissions are missing from UN reporting; the scale of the problem; the countries responsible; and critically, how the trillions spent on conventional defense is draining resources away from the biggest security threat to people and planet in the 21st century " runaway climate change. All sessions are recorded and archived on the CCRUN website.
Abstract: The modern history of the Flower Garden Banks is a series of transitions--a Mystery Era that lasted for nearly 30 years, the Discovery Era in the 1960s, the Enlightenment Era in the 1970s and early 1980s, then the Sanctuary Era. Steve Gittings was fortunate to be part of the last two, working on the banks starting in 1980, then being selected as the first sanctuary manager in 1992. His mentor, Tom Bright, called it "a plum job." It was even better! Let Steve take you back to that time and tell stories about the best job he will ever have.
Remote Access: JOIN VIA WEBINAR Join WebEx meeting Meeting number (access code): 2761 153 2344 Meeting password: PEujfwth654JOIN BY PHONE: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll Global call-in numbersJOIN FROM A VIDEO SYSTEM OR APPLICATION Dial 27611532344@noaanmfs-meets.webex.com You can also dial 207.182.190.20 and enter your meeting number. CAN'T JOIN? CONTACT SUPPORT https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/WBX000029055Seminars are public meetings, and these may be recorded if the speaker has agreed to do so. If you missed a current seminar and would like to check if a recording is available, please contact Vicky.Krikelas@noaa.gov
NOAA Science Seminar Series Title: Minimum Information Management and Price-Abundance Relationships in a Fishery (National Stock Assessment Science Seminar Series)
Presenter(s): Akbar Marvasti, Economist, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA
Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and NOAA's Central Library (NCL)Seminar Contacts: Abby Furnish (abigail.furnish@noaa.gov) and Library SeminarsLocation: Webinar
Accessibility: Captions are added to the recordings of presentations once uploaded to the NOAA Central Library YouTube Channel. Sign language interpreting services and Federal Relay Conference Captioning (RCC) service are available, but need to be requested at least 5 days before the event.
Abstract: We explore the information content of dockside prices and fishing costs in the estimation of stock abundance. We find a statistically significant correlation between biometric estimates and changes in a price-based indicator that is robust to the inclusion of confounding factors.Keywords: Forecasting, Bayesian VAR, MIDAS
Bio(s): Akbar Marvasti has been working as an economist at the SEFSC since 2010. He has taught at a few universities including University of Miami, University of Southern Mississippi and Pomona College in the past. His current research focus is on seafood trade, insurance, offshore oil rigs and wind energy.
Abstract: Southwest Asia is a semi-arid region that includes several food-insecure countries where cool season precipitation determines the water available for agriculture and consumption. Consequently, subseasonal precipitation forecasts in support of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network are provided for southwest Asia from November to May. Forecasts are generated using a linear stochastic model " namely a linear inverse model " which can assess the confidence of its own forecasts based on the forecast signal-to-noise ratio. We find that forecasts with high confidence are more skillful than the remaining forecasts, and that the likelihood of a high confidence forecast increases related to Nio3.4 and RMM index values, used to consider El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) events of appreciable amplitude. Consistent with past research, La Nia conditions and MJO phases 2-3 often precede anomalously dry forecasts, while El Nio conditions and MJO phases 6-7 precede anomalously wet forecasts.This webinar is part of a series featuring NOAA Climate and Global Change (C&GC) Fellows in the NOAA Science Seminar Series. C&GC is supported by NOAA's Climate Program Office and managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
Bio(s): Dr. Melissa Breeden is a research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder and the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, where she studies subseasonal-to-seasonal prediction and predictability of variables relevant to hydroclimate. Before joining CIRES in 2021, Melissa was a NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellow at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, where she studied the variability of deep stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange. She earned her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013 and 2018, respectively.
Abstract: This monthly webinar series was created to share ongoing work within NWS and OAR at the Weeks 3-4 and S2S timescales. We would like to foster a relaxed, informal dialogue among forecasters, modelers and researchers. This month, Dr. Prashant Sardeshmukh will speak about "Improving Atmospheric Models by Accounting for Chaotic Physics." Dr. Rochelle Worsnop will speak about "Neural network-based methods to post-process probabilistic weeks 3-4 precipitation accumulation forecasts."
Abstract: Oceanic adjustments associated with a hurricane have received less attention than direct hurricane impacts (e.g., wind, pressure and precipitation), although they play critical roles in determining coastal sea levels. The main goals of this study are to develop multi-scale, three-dimensional, high-resolution coastal models (SHYFEM and SCHISM) to investigate the spatiotemporal impacts and dynamics of the oceanic adjustments during and after hurricane events (e.g., Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Dorian in 2019). In the study, I reveal the importance of relative peak timing between oceanic forcing (e.g., change in Gulf Stream, Ekman transport and coastally trapped waves) and local atmospheric forcing (e.g., wind and pressure forcing) on the U.S. Southeast coast. Importantly, the variability of the peak timing can control storm surges by increasing the peak level by up to 30 % for Hurricane Matthew (2016) and 50 % for Hurricane Dorian (2019). In the following study, I expand the numerical modeling capability and domain over the entire U.S. East Coast to examine the shelf-scale high water levels in a post-hurricane period. Numerical experiments reveal that oceanic adjustments to hurricane forcing determine the magnitude and persistency of the shelf-scale high water levels for several weeks. In contrast, atmospheric forcing controls the fluctuation of the abnormal water levels along the coast. The abnormal water levels can pose potential flood damage even after a hurricane because the post-hurricane water levels are significant and comparable to the projected 100-year flood level induced by future tropical cyclones (44 cm). The lessons learned from the studies provide new insights into the extreme water levels related to the oceanic adjustments, both during and after hurricane events, and fill critical knowledge gaps and data needs necessary to inform best practices to scientists, engineers and policymakers.
Abstract: In the equatorial Atlantic, temperature, salinity, sea level anomaly, and ocean velocity variations on time scales of tens of days are dominated by the presence and westward passage of large-scale Tropical Instability Waves (TIWs). Several decades of satellite and surface drifter data as well as moored velocity observations show a long-term intensification of TIW activity in all of these variables in the tropical North Atlantic where TIWs are most pronounced. We find that increased high-frequency flow variability, and not long-term changes of the mean zonal current system, drives the TIW intensification. One consequence of increased Atlantic Ocean TIW activity is the corresponding intensification of the horizontal eddy temperature advection pattern in boreal summer leading to stronger cooling of surface waters north of the equator. This equates to an increase in TIW-driven sea surface temperature cooling of 74% 53% in the tropical North Atlantic during the last 3 decades. The presented multidecadal TIW trends are strongly modulated by interannual variations such as the 2021 Atlantic Nio. We further explore potential large-scale drivers of the TIW intensification, including changes in high-frequency wind variability.
Bio(s): Dr. Tuchen received his Ph.D. in 2020 from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. After a Postdoc period at the same institute, he joined NOAA/AOML in January 2022 as a Postdoc supported by an NRC Postdoctoral Research Associateship Award.
Accessibility: Captions are added to the recordings of presentations once uploaded to the NOAA Central Library YouTube Channel. Sign language interpreting services and closed captioning are available, but need to be requested at least 5 days before the event.
Abstract: In this research we used participatory modeling to gain an understanding of Gulf of Mexico red snapper populations in the context of the larger social-ecological system in which they occur. Based on information collected from fishery stakeholders, we identified several factors that may affect red snapper population dynamics and the stock assessment process. Participatory models also allowed us to assess downstream effects and feedback loops associated with various current and potential future management actions. Our research highlights the benefits of participatory modeling for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management.
Keywords: Participatory modeling, red snapper, EBFM
Bio(s): Carissa Gervasi is a postdoctoral associate and NOAA Affiliate of the Southeast Fisheries Science Center through the University of Miami. As part of the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) team, Carissa works closely with stakeholders and uses socio-ecological methods to improve fisheries stock assessments and better inform Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management. She earned her Ph.D. in Natural Resource Management in 2022 from Florida International University.
Title: Estimating phytoplankton size fractions using satellite models in the Chukchi and Bering seas
Presenter(s): Dr. Jens M. Nielsen, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
Sponsor(s): NOAA Ocean Color Coordinating Group (NOCCG)
Abstract: Here, we compare empirical models which can be used with satellite ocean color data to estimate phytoplankton size-fractionated chlorophyll in the Bering and Chukchi seas. We compared models using total chlorophyll as the predictor for three size-fractions (<5, 5-20 and > 20 m). First we assess existing size fraction models, with their global original parameters, and compare them to models which were regionally-tuned using 266 in-situ surface chlorophyll samples for each size, collected in 2017 and 2019. In addition, we tested if other input variables (e.g. sea surface temperature (SST), spatial location) improve predictions of chlorophyll size fractions.
Finally, we assess and compare the utility of general additive and Random Forest models. Comparison among models show the regionally tuned models perform best regardless of size fraction, with total chlorophyll being the most important predictor. SST appears to improve the models primarily for the smallest size fraction. Future implementation of these models with long-term satellite ocean color data can help us understand the effects of long-term environmental change in the Bering and Chukchi ecosystems, and aid the prediction of future trophic scenarios, which is necessary for ecosystem management.
Bio(s): I am an aquatic ecologist. Focusing primarily on plankton ecology, my research aims to understand community and trophic dynamics in ecosystems. I am further interested in how chemical, physical and biological factors influence the functioning of ecosystems, and how ecological research can inform ecosystem management. My current research focuses on analyzing long-term ichthyoplankton data in an effort to develop biological indicators of ecosystem changes along the US west coast from California to Alaska. My past research has centered on food web ecology and diet tracing techniques through a variety of empirical, modeling and syntheses studies. Before joining NOAA, I worked as a post-doctoral fellow at University of Washington and at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. I hold a PhD in Marine Ecology from Stockholm University, Sweden.
Abstract: Who knew, that hidden beneath the beautiful reefs we know and love, lay ancient reefs of a different nature? In 2006-2007, while conducting annual long-term monitoring activities at the Flower Garden Banks, researchers discovered remnants of a fossil reef comprised of elkhorn and staghorn corals, species almost non-existent on our reefs today. This discovery has dramatically altered our understanding of reef development at the Flower Garden Banks and the response of coral communities to changing climate through time.
Remote Access: JOIN VIA WEBINAR Join WebEx meeting Meeting number (access code): 2761 153 2344 Meeting password: PEujfwth654JOIN BY PHONE: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll Global call-in numbersJOIN FROM A VIDEO SYSTEM OR APPLICATION Dial 27611532344@noaanmfs-meets.webex.com You can also dial 207.182.190.20 and enter your meeting number. CAN'T JOIN? CONTACT SUPPORT https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/WBX000029055Seminars are public meetings, and these may be recorded if the speaker has agreed to do so. If you missed a current seminar and would like to check if a recording is available, please contact Vicky.Krikelas@noaa.gov
Title 1: Sound and Color " An Immersive Dive into Music Generated from Satellite Data
Presenter 1: Ryan Vandermeulen, NMFS
Abstract 1: In this art-science crossover, we experimented with translating satellite data used to study the Earth's oceans into music, offering a unique accessibility and perspective on a traditionally visually based branch of science. With no underlying subjectivity, the data creates natural compositions, a mixture of chaos and uncertainty, but also a sophisticated order, representing the product of life and photosynthesis in the ocean.
Title 2: Providing a Framework for Seagrass Mapping in Coastal Systems Using High Spatial Resolution Satellite Imagery
Presenter 2: Megan Coffer, GST
Abstract 2: Satellite imagery from Maxar's WorldView-2 and WorldView-3 high spatial resolution, commercial satellite platforms was leveraged to provide a consistent classification approach for monitoring seagrass at eleven study areas across the continental United States, representing geographically, ecologically, and climatically diverse regions. Satellite classification performed best in areas of dense, continuous seagrass compared to areas of sparse, discontinuous seagrass and provided a suitable spatial representation of seagrass distribution within each study area.
Abstract: On December 27th, 1794, the slave ship So Jos Paquete de Africa crashed into the rocks off Clifton Beach in Cape Town, South Africa, 212 of more than 500 captured Africans lost their lives. In June 2015, the Slave Wrecks Project, a partnership between the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American Culture (NMAAHC), Izeko Museums of South Africa, George Washington University, and Diving With a Purpose (DWP), announced the discovery of the So Jos Paquete de Africa shipwreck. It represented the first slave shipwreck ever discovered that sunk with captured Africans on board.
On July 9, 1860, the Clotilda sailed into the Mobile Bay, ending an illegal mission as the last slave ship to bring captured Africans into the U.S. to be enslaved. There were 110 imprisoned human souls from present day Benin in its cargo hold. In June 2018, the wreckage of the Clotilda was located in the Mobile River.
Join Kamau Sadiki as he talks about his participation in the underwater archaeological work on the wrecks of the So Jos Paquete de Africa and the Clotilda as a strategic partner with the Slave Wrecks Project, SEARCH Inc., and NMAAHC. The presentation will highlight the work of DWP, a non-profit organization of scuba divers whose primary mission is to bring back into memory the stories of shipwrecks involved in the commodification and enslavement of Black bodies. He will also explore the intersectionality of transoceanic slave trade systems and the making of the modern world through the histories and wrecking events of the So Jos Paquete de Africa and the Clotilda shipwrecks, two critically important ships of the 18th and 19th centuries. Additionally, the meaning of memory and cultural heritage in the context of the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement will be discussed, along with highlighting a few other significant slave shipwrecks of importance during this period.
Bio(s): Kamau Sadiki is a Board of Directors member and Lead Instructor with Diving With A Purpose (DWP), an organization committed to resurrecting the stories of shipwrecks involved in the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement (TEAE) through underwater archaeology documentation. He is a certified Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) Divemaster with over 1,400 logged SCUBA dives.Kamau was featured in the cover story of the March 2022, National Geographic magazine and companion podcast entitled Into the Depths that explores the work of DWP and the exceptional journey of NatGeo Explorer Tara Roberts as she follows Black scuba divers across the globe in search of slave shipwrecks. Kamau has actively worked on the search and underwater documentation of five TEAE shipwrecks, including the pirated ship Guerrero in southern Florida.Kamau was a member of the archaeology field team that confirmed the location of the TEAE shipwreck Clotilda in the Mobile River in Alabama, the last ship to bring captured Africans into the U.S. He is one of only two African-American divers that have entered into an actual cargo hold of a TEAE shipwreck, the space in which captured Africans experienced the terror and trauma of the Atlantic Middle Passage crossing. He is featured in the October 2022 Netflix release of the documentary film DESCENDANT that tells the story of the Clotilda descendant community of Africatown near Mobile, Alabama.Kamau has conducted numerous lectures and presentations on TEAE shipwrecks, memory and resistance. He has worked on multiple shipwreck sites around Mozambique Island, Mozambique, South Africa, and shipwrecks in the NOAA Thunder Bay and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries and Biscayne National Marine Park off the southern Florida coast, Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
Abstract: During this month's VAWS webinar, we will review the process used to create the Arctic Report Card, the value of the information that is provided, and key findings from this year's report. The Arctic Report Card checks in annually on the state of the Arctic by examining key vital signs, ranging from air and ocean temperature to sea ice and snow. The report also discusses emerging topics like increased Arctic ship traffic. It is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with international author teams and released at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Bio(s): Rick Thoman is the Alaska Climate Specialist with ACCAP and has many years of experience producing reliable Alaska climate change information and graphics describing Alaska's changing environment. His work spans the bridge between climate modeling, Alaska communities, and the media.
John Walsh is an expert in Arctic climate, weather, climate change adaptation and sea ice. He specializes in climate modeling, addressing regional vulnerabilities, as well as downscaling models, designing research studies, and developing, testing, and evaluating research information products and tools.
Robb Kaler joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2010 and works as a seabird specialist in the Division of Migratory Bird Management in Anchorage.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: Slides, links shared during the presentation, and a recording may be found after the meeting at the URL listed above.
Abstract: Wildlife-vehicle collisions imperil humans, wildlife and property. Collisions with moose are the most consequential form of collision across much of Alaska and Canada, and they are likely influenced by the effect of snow on moose movements. This webinar will draw a link between seasonal changes in driving difficulty and moose movements that lead to a predictable spike in moose-vehicle collisions during winter. We can use this knowledge to predict the times and places where collision risk is highest, and ultimately reduce avoidable human and animal suffering.
Bio(s): Dr Calum Cunningham is a wildlife ecologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington. His work investigates the effect of rapidly changing snowscapes on the movements, distributions and interactions among wildlife species.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: Slides, links shared during the presentation, and a recording may be found after the meeting at the URL listed above.
Abstract: Metabarcoding data from environmental DNA (eDNA) and microbiome studies provide important information for ecology, conservation, management, and health. Presently, metabarcoding studies struggle to link genetic observations to underlying biology in a quantitative way, but many applications require quantitative information about the taxa or systems under scrutiny. As metabarcoding studies proliferate in ecology following decades of microbial and microbiome work using similar techniques, it becomes more important to develop ways to make them quantitative to ensure that their conclusions are adequately supported. Here we link previously disparate sets of techniques for making such data quantitative, showing that both the underlying PCR mechanism and the subsampling processes explain the observed patterns of amplicon data in a general way. Through simulations and empirical data we demonstrate that, for a given species, the biological signal (observed read counts) and noise (rate of non-detections among technical replicates) are a function of (1) deterministic amplification biases during PCR and (2) stochastic sampling of amplicons during sequencing " both of which we can model " but also by (3) stochastic sampling of rare molecules prior to PCR, which remains a frontier for quantitative metabarcoding. Our approach opens the door to improving the use of metabarcoding data in a wide range of applications in ecology, public health, and related fields. Specifically, we use this framework to 1) demonstrate the application to a set of 23-year longitudinal CalCOFI ichthyoplankton samples and 2) explore Cook Inlet Beluga seasonal foraging patterns alongside changes in anadromous fish assemblage abundances. Our process based modeling framework for deriving quantitative estimates from eDNA metabarcoding opens the door to reconstructing the dynamics of species assemblages from modern and archived samples worldwide.
Bio(s): Zachary Gold is the new 'Omics Group Lead at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle leading the development and application of genomic methods to understanding how marine ecosystems are responding to warming, ocean acidification, and hypoxia. Previously, he served as a jointly appointed scientist with the Southern California Coastal Watershed Research Project and California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) leading the application of eDNA efforts to Southern California marine ecosystem monitoring. Before working in San Diego, Zack was postdoctoral researcher at CICOES at the University of Washington and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center at NOAA working with Dr. Kim Parsons and Prof. Ryan Kelly using eDNA to better understand the trophic ecology and foraging behavior of endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2020 under Professor Paul Barber developing and optimizing eDNA efforts to survey inside and outside of Southern California Marine Protected Areas. In 2015, Zack graduated with a B.S. in Marine Biology with Honors from Stanford University. As an avid underwater photographer, former ocean lifeguard, and National Geographic Young Explorer growing up in Santa Monica, he has a deep passion for coastal communities and the marine environment.
Abstract: I will start with internal-wave phenomena such as Saint Andrew's Cross (SAC) in density-stratified flows to motivate the need of high-order efficient numerical solvers for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and Boussinesq equations. Then we will discuss the main ideas of GePUP, a family of fourth-order projection methods that retains a number of important physical properties such as the decay of kinetic energy. Furthermore, GePUP has been augmented to adaptive mesh refinement, parallel computing, and complex geometries with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Results of numerical experiments for SAC and a few other problems confirm the high fidelity of GePUP. This talk will focus on the reasons and applications of the proposed numerical tools rather than proofs and technical details.
Bio(s): Qinghai Zhang got his bachelor and master degrees both in hydrodynamics at Tsinghua University and obtained his Ph.D. in coastal engineering at Cornell University. He then proceeded to pursue his interests in computational mathematics by doing postdocs at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and University of Utha. He is now the chair professor of the department of computational mathematics at Zhejiang University. His work focuses on numerical studies of multiphase flows. He has published dozens of papers in prestigeous Journals such as SIAM Review, PNAS, Math. Comput., SIAM J. Numer. Anal., SIAM J. Sci. Comput., CMAME, J. Comput. Phys., and Coastal Engr.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: This presentation will be recorded. By joining and participating in the meeting consent is being given to the recording. The recording will be made available on the NOAA PMEL YouTube Channel.
Abstract: For three decades, between 1960 and 1990, researchers explored the reefs and fishing banks off Texas and Louisiana using scuba tanks and submarines. They even contemplated installing an underwater habitat that would allow them to live and work underwater for extended periods of time. All this was done largely to satisfy their curiosity, but also to protect and conserve. And then, in 1992, we established a sanctuary! Join us for a trek down memory lane with Tom Bright, father of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
Pelika Andrade, founder and Executive Director of Na Maka Onaona, a Hawaii based non-profit, Extension Agent for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program
Title: Pilina, Indigenous Literacy, and ina Momona: Healthy and Thriving Communities of People and Place
Presenter(s): Pelika Andrade, founder and Executive Director of Na Maka Onaona, a Hawaii based non-profit, Extension Agent for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program
Sponsor(s): NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Abstract: This presentation will introduce participants to a philosophy and pathway of ina Momona: thriving and productive communities. On behalf of N Maka Onaona and many partnerships, Pelika will introduce two tools that address how relationships and the growing awareness of indigenous literacy can support our engagements and understandings of ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. This is a collective journey to help guide, inform, and advise the decisions and contributions we collectively make to support the ability of our people, places, and akua (natural world) to thrive.
In celebration of Mahina lelo Hawaii, we invite you all to learn how lelo Hawaii is one of many elements embedded in iwi (Native Hawaiian) knowledge systems, values, and practices to support iwi communities in creating adaptive biocultural resource management across Hawai'i Paeina (Hawaiian Archipelago) including Papahnaumokukea.
Abstract As highly productive social-ecological systems, estuaries have continuously been central to Indigenous lifeways. Indigenous science, stewardship practices, and co-management can strengthen well-being for lands, waters, and people. This session advances understanding of the concerns of Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations to help coastal practitioners address social and environmental justice with a focus on Pacific Northwest coastal systems. Presenters share ways that land stewards can support thriving relationships with estuaries, sustaining cultural knowledge and practices.
Tribal Nations are sovereign governments with needs distinct from other coastal stakeholders. Estuarine lands and waters in the US may have been ceded via treaties, remain unceded, or ceded with important rights retained. While formal government-to-government consultation with Tribal governments or Indigenous governance organizations is required by certain state or federal policies, other types of tribal engagement can still be rigorous, productive, and supportive of conservation and restoration goals. Learn from examples at the South Slough Reserve, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, the NOAA EPP/MSI program, and the Puget Sound Partnership.
Bio(s): Please visit here for more information about the webinar.
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Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!
Abstract: Like all marine animals, corals leave behind genetic traces in their environment. Scientists refer to these genetic traces as environmental DNA or eDNA. Similar to forensics, marine biologists can sequence this eDNA to determine what animals have passed through an area, or are nearby but not easily seen. Learn how Luke McCartin sequences eDNA to better understand the corals that live in the deepest waters of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, even when he can't see them!
Remote Access: JOIN VIA WEBINAR Join WebEx meeting Meeting number (access code): 2761 153 2344 Meeting password: PEujfwth654JOIN BY PHONE: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll Global call-in numbersJOIN FROM A VIDEO SYSTEM OR APPLICATION Dial 27611532344@noaanmfs-meets.webex.com You can also dial 207.182.190.20 and enter your meeting number. CAN'T JOIN? CONTACT SUPPORT https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/WBX000029055Seminars are public meetings, and these may be recorded if the speaker has agreed to do so. If you missed a current seminar and would like to check if a recording is available, please contact Vicky.Krikelas@noaa.gov
Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; and Russ Vose, NOAA/NESDIS/National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
Title: Understanding and Applying Climate Projections
Sponsor(s): NOAA's Eastern Region Climate Services Webinar Series
Presenter(s): Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; and Russ Vose, NOAA/NESDIS/National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/National Centers for Environmental Information/Regional Climate Services.
Remote Access: Please register here. After registering, you will get a confirmation email with a link to the webinar. Audio is over the computer, so adjust the volume on your computer speakers or headset. Users should use either Google, IE or Edge on Windows, or Safari if using a Mac. Questions will be addressed in the chat and the Q/A windows.
Abstract: The webinar will feature a recap of January conditions and Russ Vose will brief on climate projections and their use.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: If interested in obtaining a PDF of the slides and/or the recording, see the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
Title: Marine fish eDNA Metabarcoding: Promising Developments and Early Applications
Part of the NOAA Omics Seminar Series
Presenter(s): Mark Stoeckle, Senior Research Associate and Jesse Ausubel, Director, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
Sponsor(s): NOAA Omics Working Group
Seminar Contacts: Katharine Egan and Nicole Miller, noaa.omics@noaa.gov
Abstract: Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is often considered a qualitative tool best suited for presence/absence surveys. In this update, we present evidence that adding a DNA standard to metabarcoding PCRs quantifies marine bony fish eDNA over a wide range of copies per reaction. With Riaz 12S primers, we do not find significant PCR bias among teleost species. In New Jersey trawl water samples, converting eDNA reads to copies improved correlation with trawl biomass. Our findings support incorporating a DNA standard in 12S metabarcoding. We extend discussions in other seminars in this series about eDNA rarity as a major challenge and show ways to help overcome the rarity problem. We also highlight how allometric scaling of biomass and a new software tool for it can improve eDNA correlation and briefly explore potential applications of eDNA data to ecosystem mapping. We conclude with promising early applications.
Bio(s):
Mark Stoeckle is Senior Research Associate in the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University. Beginning in 2003, he helped organize the early meetings that laid the foundation for the DNA barcoding initiative. His DNA barcoding projects with high school students attracted front-page coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Since 2015 he has been researching environmental DNA in New York Bight as a tool for monitoring marine animal populations. He published the first time-series eDNA study of the lower Hudson River estuary in 2017, and helped organize the First National Conference on Marine Environmental DNA, held at Rockefeller University in 2018. In collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Stoeckle led the first large-scale bottom trawl-eDNA comparison, with results published in 2021.
Jesse Ausubel directs The Rockefeller University's Program for the Human Environment (PHE), which aims to elaborate the technical vision of a large, prosperous society that emits little harm and spares large amounts of land and sea for nature. Mr. Ausubel initiated and helped lead the Census of Marine Life, Barcode of Life Initiative, and ongoing International Quiet Ocean Experiment. In 2018 PHE hosted the first US National Conference on Marine eDNA. Mr. Ausubel is an adjunct scientist of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University Fellow of Resources for the Future, and member of NOAA's Science Advisory Board.
Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an email to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!
Remote Access: JOIN VIA WEBINAR Join WebEx meeting Meeting number (access code): 2761 153 2344 Meeting password: PEujfwth654 JOIN BY PHONE: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll Global call-in numbersJOIN FROM A VIDEO SYSTEM OR APPLICATION Dial 27611532344@noaanmfs-meets.webex.com You can also dial 207.182.190.20 and enter your meeting number. CAN'T JOIN? CONTACT SUPPORT https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/WBX000029055Seminars are public meetings, and these may be recorded if the speaker has agreed to do so. If you missed a current seminar and would like to check if a recording is available, please contact Vicky.Krikelas@noaa.gov
Remote Access: JOIN VIA WEBINAR Join WebEx meeting Meeting number (access code): 2761 153 2344 Meeting password: PEujfwth654 JOIN BY PHONE: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll Global call-in numbersJOIN FROM A VIDEO SYSTEM OR APPLICATION Dial 27611532344@noaanmfs-meets.webex.com You can also dial 207.182.190.20 and enter your meeting number. CAN'T JOIN? CONTACT SUPPORT https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/WBX000029055Seminars are public meetings, and these may be recorded if the speaker has agreed to do so. If you missed a current seminar and would like to check if a recording is available, please contact Vicky.Krikelas@noaa.gov
Ajay Sawant, Indira Gandhi National University; Julia Lara Navarrete, Autonomous University of Baja California; Rebecca Allen, Western Washington University; Serag Heiba, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Summer Snell, Brookes University; Frances Lang, The Ocean Foundation
Presenter(s): Ajay Sawant, Indira Gandhi National University Julia Lara Navarrete, Autonomous University of Baja California Rebecca Allen, Western Washington University Serag Heiba, Chinese University of Hong Kong Summer Snell, Brookes University Frances Lang, The Ocean Foundation
Abstract: With support from The Ocean Foundation and National Geographic Society, a group of young writers between the ages of 18-25 are creating a youth ocean action toolkit focused on the ocean literacy principles and marine protected areas (MPAs). This toolkit " written by youth for youth " provides community examples of how youth can take action to conserve their ocean; demonstrates the benefit of MPAs for ocean conservation; includes links to resources and multimedia content; and features a strong social media component. The toolkit will be available this summer in English and Spanish. This webinar featuring some of the toolkit's youth authors will provide an overview of the content and techniques to engage and empower young people around the world.
Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; and Jason Elliott and Rob Shedd, NOAA/NWS/Northeast and Mid-Atlantic River Forecast Centers
Sponsor(s): NOAA's Eastern Region Climate Services Webinar Series
Presenter(s): Samantha Borisoff, Climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University; Jason Elliott and Rob Shedd, NOAA/NWS/Northeast and Mid-Atlantic River Forecast Centers
Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/National Centers for Environmental Information/Regional Climate Services.
Remote Access: Please register here. After registering, you will get a confirmation email with a link to the webinar. Audio is over the computer, so adjust the volume on your computer speakers or headset. Users should use either Google, IE or Edge on Windows, or Safari if using a Mac. Questions will be addressed in the chat and the Q/A windows.
Abstract: The webinar will feature a recap of February conditions and Jason Elliott and Rob Shedd will brief on the spring flooding outlook for the Eastern Region.
Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: If interested in obtaining a PDF of the slides and/or the recording, see the Northeast Regional Climate Center.