Research

Current

Island Scale Dynamics

The island nation of Palau sits in the western corner of the Tropical Pacific and encompasses some of earth's most unique marine ecosystems. For the past seven years I have been a part of an oceanographic observational campaign collaborating with the Coral Reef Research Foundation, which is based out of Koror, Palau. This campaign aims to examine the influence of larger scale physical oceanographic processes on the inner shelf and within the lagoon systems.

I am working to better understand what drives temperature changes on the fore-reefs and the currents around the islands. These dynamics constrain the many unique biological processes that encompass Palau's diverse marine ecosystem.

Recently, we have found that sea level is a predictor of temperature variability near the thermocline. This insight allowed us to adapt common metrics used to assess thermal stress on coral to the temperature regimes experienced down to the mesophotic zone. This work can be found in Geophysical Research Letters and Oceanography.

Previous

Estuarian Processes

Rivers are often times people's most common connection to the sea. Their interface with the coastal ocean is a region rich in dynamics and open research questions. My previous work with river model helped to establish some understanding of these coastal processes and the fluid dynamics at play. In the fall of 2012 I was able to join a research team that included partners from my home institution, SIO, as well as University of Washington, and Can Tau University. Together we were able to observe the interactions between the Mekong River around Cu Lau Dung Island and its interface with the South China Sea.

Riverine Modeling - Circulation and Neural Networks

For two years I worked in support of the Near Shore Modeling Group in the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, MS. My research involved the finite element circulation model ADCIRC. I used the model to run simulations of river flow for locations such as the Kootenai River in Idaho, the Snohomish River is Washington, and the Green River is Utah.

Data from these river models was used to train Bayesian networks, which are statistical models that help to predict outcomes based off of previous observations. These models were used to help support a NRL based project to predict river depths in regions where only satellite data was available.

Ocean Observing Techniques - Zanzibar

Foreign environments attract me. That is why I sprung at the opportunity when accepted to join a team doing exploratory oceanography around the island of Zanzibar off of the East coast of Tanzania. For two months I ran our field work campaign which consisted of four day long cruises transecting the Zanzibar channel which separates the island from Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam. This project gave me valuable insight into working in challenging conditions, while gaining an appreciation for the research coming out of the developing world.

Marine Renewable Energy

During my undergraduate work I was assessed a range of hydroturbines for marine renewable energy applications. A team of two other undergraduate students and myself designed and built multiple types of vertical axis turbines to assess self starting capabilities in marine settings and compare the power capacity.

Related Links: Brochure & Final Report

Marine Sensor Platform Development

In pursuit of an cost-sensitive meteorological sensing system, I worked on a team of three undergraduate students that weather buoy meant for deployment off the coast of Florida. I integrate the instrumentation and on board processing systems into the structure. Instrumentation included an weather station and an ocean current profiler. This buoy was first deployed in the summer of 2009 and has been further developed and redeployed by the department.