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Carolina
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The
North Carolina coast brings together people with passions for marine
research, coastal preservation, serving the community and life on the
water in a way the traditional campus classroom cannot. Three graduate
students in the Royster Society of Fellows Eleanor Camann, Sarah
Carr and Jonathan Grabowski are taking advantage of this idyllic
setting and studying at the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences. At the institute, students and faculty in biological, chemical, physical and geological oceanography regularly collaborate on research projects. Marine sciences is inherently interdisciplinary, said Carr, a second year masters student and physical oceanographer. One of the neatest things around here is its one of the major conglomerations of marine scientists. Located in Morehead City, the institute conveniently sits on the water and allows access to isolated coastal, near coastal, Gulf Stream and estuarine marine environments. The prime location also allows fellows to work with scientists from the Duke Marine Lab, the North Carolina State University and Cartaret Community College Center for Marine Sciences & Technology, the State of North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeastern Laboratory. Fellow marine sciences fans are sharing projects, information and even boats and All Terrain Vehicles. After a hard day of research,
the fellows harvest some extra perks. I learned how to catch food,
said Grabowski, a doctoral student writing his dissertation in marine
ecology. I enjoy spending time on the water. Its definitely
a side benefit to this career. Graduate students have a symbiotic
relationship with the community as well. Their research tells state and
local organizations which housing developments are most susceptible to
strong storms, or how to preserve commercial fishes. The community is interested
in what we do, said Camann, a doctoral student and coastal geologist.
Most of our information is free and open to the public. Camann, Carr and Grabowski
work in different fields, but together they explore how the coast affects
our lives and how our lives affect the coast. They are learning the value
of a collaborative scientific community, firsthand experience in the field
and a chance to add to a body of research. The Fountain invites
you to read each of their stories below. Weathering Storms Eleanor
Ellie Camann knows how hurricanes and big storms affect the
coast of North Carolina and ultimately the lives of those who live there.
A doctoral student in the Department of Geological Sciences, Camann is
surveying Shackleford Banks, an eight-mile strip of the Cape Lookout National
Seashore. Im
hoping to find that you can use the dunes to predict how the area will
be affected during storms, Camann explains. Shackleford Banks is a well-protected
island where dunes transform slowly and last longer than those in highly
populated areas on the coast. Despite the relative security, Shackleford
Banks is a lesson on how a severe storm can dramatically affect peoples
lives. A large hurricane in 1899 sent the islands small fishing
village sailing for the safety of the mainland. About 120 wild horses
are the only residents left on the island today. Its something
the whole society has to deal with, Camann said.
Today the sea level continues
to rise as more people are moving to the coast. This provides the opportunity
for hurricanes and other high-wind, high-wave events to wreak
even more havoc. In an ideal world, I wish no one would build at
the beach, Camann admits. But her research will help beach lovers
avoid building in places that are really risky, she said. But as most coastal residents
know, a large hurricane isnt necessary to change the structure of
the beach. Every day I go out there, its different,
Camann said. For a long-term perspective, Camann examines U.S. Geological
Survey data and aerial photos to see how the shoreline changed in the
last several decades. In turn, Camann will share her findings with the National Park Service. The park service does not have enough funding or workers to monitor the constantly changing, vast space of protected coastal areas. Its nice to be
able to help them out, Camann said. Her affiliation with the National
Park Service began when she spent a summer working on Cape Cod collecting
fees at the beach. After Camann finished her bachelors degree in
Foreign Service at Georgetown, the park service offered her the opportunity
to educate the public about the coast as an interpretive ranger, and so
her interest in marine geology began. Camann worked as a DJ for a
radio station in Rochester, New York, but couldnt forget her experiences
working for the park service. So after working for two years as a travel
agent in Austin, Camann enrolled at the University of Texas-Austin for
a second bachelors degree, this time in geology. After graduating in Austin,
Camann received a Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster, Jr. Fellowship and
began her studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. Camann looks forward to graduating
so she can do what she truly loves: teaching. Camann teaches physical
geology at the local Cartaret Community College. She also volunteers for
a reading program at the local middle school. Camann said many of her role
models, including her father, have been teachers. To teach a full
class, the lectures and the labs, is a good experience, Camann said.
Good teachers have had a big influence on me.
Riding
Waves Sarah Carr puts the physical into physical oceanography. In the summers and falls, Carr spends as many as 12 hours a day taking measurements from a boat or diving to maintain equipment. Carr is a second-year masters student in the Department of Marine Sciences and a Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Fellow. Along with another graduate student and adviser Rick Luettich, Carr is collaborating with Duke Marine Lab biologists to study the selective tidal stream transport of spawning blue crabs. To keep pace with the living habits of blue crabs, Carr often stays on the boat overnight. Wed work anywhere from about 10 at night until 10 the next morning, she said. Carr said other universities conduct similar studies, but not in such difficult field conditions with currents of three to four knots. Selective tidal stream transport,
in simple terms, describes how many marine animals rise up from the ocean
floor to ride currents and get where they need to be. During the day,
the migrating blue crabs remain relatively stationary, resting at the
bottom of the ocean. During the night, the female crabs ascend when currents
are favorable, ride out of the estuary, and spawn in the coastal ocean.
Mapping the migration of blue crabs could help local organizations decide
which coastal areas should be protected.
Carr investigates this phenomenon
with Conductivity Temperature & Depth (CTD) devices and Current Meters,
which measure water qualities and tidal currents. Crabs can choose to
ride different layers of the water column that travel at different speeds,
she explains. Meanwhile, biologists attach a pinger
or ultrasonic transmitter to the back of a female blue crab and
throw it into the water. Carr and the other scientists then spend the
night following the sound of pings in her labs 25-foot
motorboat. This collaboration between
Carolina and Duke, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation,
has been going on since the mid-1990s. For physical oceanographers and
biologists to work together is a fairly new concept, Carr explains. After
graduation, Carr plans to continue working to incorporate the biology
into physical models. I enjoyed the spatial aspects of geology, Carr said. I enjoy that same aspect of physical oceanography. When Carr isnt busy taking
measurements in the field or analyzing data, she takes advantage of opportunities
to connect with the community. In her spare time, Carr tutors a reading
partner at the local Morehead Middle School and sails near the historic
town of Beaufort with members of the Friends of North Carolina Maritime
Museum Traditional Small Craft Association. The association is dedicated
to maintaining sharpies, a traditional fishermens workboat. Beaufort likes to have workboats out there, so people can see what it looked like 100 years ago, Carr said. I like the fact that you are able to use the wind, this free commodity, to get where you want to go. Rebuilding
Reefs Jonathan Grabowski wants to
benefit two natural enemies: the fish and the fisherman. To do this, Grabowski
rebuilt some of North Carolinas disappearing oyster reefs to see
how marine organisms, including fish, move into and use the habitat. Profiting adversaries is nothing
new to him. Fisheries are a really natural bridge between ecology
and economics, said Grabowski, a Paul Hardin Dissertation Fellow
in the Royster Society of Fellows and doctoral student in the Ecology
Curriculum. The fishing industry has traditionally
treated its catch as a single species resource to exploit,
Grabowski explains. He is testing whether restoring oyster habitats will
produce more fish and increase their value for commercial and recreational
fishermen. How could a little bivalve
do so much? Living oysters build on top of a pile of dead oyster shells,
creating reefs much like tropical coral do. Oyster reefs provide a home
to shrimp, crabs, fish and other marine organisms. They also provide food
needed by predators, filter and clean water and stabilize surrounding
habitats.
The Neuse River was once full of immense reefs, but overharvesting diminished them dramatically. Since then, The recovery has been impeded by a whole suite of things, Grabowski said. This includes degraded habitat quality, increased incidence of disease and low-oxygen stress, all off which negatively affect reproductive output. So Grabowski decided to help
out in 1997 by building some oyster reefs of his own. With money from
the state and a fellowship from the National Estuarine Research Reserve
System, he and other scientists began tackling the immense task of dumping
25 tons of oyster shells in 12 locations. The North Carolina Division
of Marine Fisheries assisted by providing the dead shell and barges to
transport the shell to the field site. In an ideal world we would
have done a lot more, Grabowski said. But we couldnt
have done much without them. Building the first 12 oyster reefs, it turned out, had quite a learning curve. It took us a solid month to do it, and it took a lot of help, Grabowski said. In 2000, the scientists were able to build eight oyster reefs in two days. For his experiments, Grabowski
planted dead shell in three intertidal landscapes in between sea
grass beds and salt marsh, on mud flats, and next to salt marsh isolated
from sea grass beds to see how different landscapes affected marine
organisms use of the reefs. Whats going on in the oyster
reef might depend totally on whats next to it, Grabowski explained.
The hard work paid off when juvenile oysters and fish started moving in.
Using simulated environments at the lab, Grabowski later investigated
predator-prey interactions of the organisms that live in oyster reefs. In his final year as a doctoral
student, Grabowski is analyzing fish and invertebrate use of the reefs
and the estimated value they add to the revenues of commercial fisheries.
Grabowski has the help of his Paul Hardin Dissertation Fellowship to do
just that. The fellowship has given
me the opportunity to concentrate on writing my dissertation, Grabowski
said. In addition, participating in the Royster Society of Fellows
has broadened my perspective on graduate school at UNC. Collectively,
these aspects of the fellowship leave me incredibly grateful for such
a wonderful experience. In addition to a rewarding
experience at the University and the institute, Grabowski said he enjoys
collaborating with the Shellfish Rehabilitation Program and local fishing
clubs on his dissertation. I like the experience of working on fishery
issues and interacting with the fishing community, he said. This summer, Grabowski looks
forward to teaching a class in underwater research at Shoals Marine Lab
in Maine. He was a teaching assistant for Carolina last year and also
has experience in the icier waters of the world. Grabowski taught in Maine
and conducted research in Alaska and in Antarctica at McMurdo Station. Grabowski hopes to continue working in a place like the marine institute after graduation, where he can collaborate with a research community, teach small classes out in the field, and advise students. After all, it was a course with his adviser as an undergraduate at Duke University that inspired Grabowski to become a marine scientist. Grabowski said barrier island ecology made him think, This is exactly what Im going to do. |
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