Download 2006 - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science
2006 Annual Report
Degrees of Change
Message from the Dean
When it came time to prepare this year’s
annual report, the theme became abundantly clear: Degrees
of Change.
Scientists are not in the business of advocacy – solid science
depends on smart, objective research. At the Rosenstiel
School we take great pride in our own thoughtful, objective
studies. However, to think that our science doesn’t
ultimately effect changes would be quite naïve. Clearly,
research isn’t intended to just stay in a lab or within the
paper it’s communicated on. Research clearly has its place
in the midst of making changes, and I believe quite strongly
that our research is increasingly doing just that.
I also believe we all want our world to be a better place.
And as the world changes, it is our duty to understand this
evolution and what it means for life on this planet presently
and in the future. This year, the term “climate change”
has been bandied about in record proportion. Maybe the
documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, was responsible for
this, or maybe – universally – people have recognized the
realities of dramatically rising carbon dioxide levels, oceans
that are rapidly increasing not only in temperature, but
acidity, and global air circulation patterns that are shifting in
new, surprising ways.
© 2007 Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Fla. 33149
Phone: 305/421-4000
Fax: 305/421-4711
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu
Editors: Christian Howard and Ivy F. Kupec
Design: Ivy F. Kupec
Production: Ellsworth H. Augustus, MA ‘92
Printed April 27, 2007
Cover photo: A research diver in the Tortugas Ecological Reserve monitors the
biodiversity of the recovering marine habitat, part of Rosenstiel School’s biennial
census in the Dry Tortugas. Read about the census on page 18. Photo Credit:
Jiangang Luo, MBF
At the Rosenstiel School, a majority of researchers study
climate change from an impressive number of angles. Even
as I write this, we have coral reef scientists constructing
a unique, new lab that will study how corals react to
controlled, simultaneous changes in water temperature and
acidity. We are embarking on a mammoth project with
scientists not only from all around our school, but from a
few others as well to put theory to the test and to work to
truly restore an Antiguan ecosystem that has been stressed
from overfishing and warming. We are taking genomics to
Little Salt Spring to learn more about the secrets contained
within this unique, anoxic climate history vault. But, I get
ahead of myself. For this report is rich with science from
2006 – all of which provides varying degrees of information
to understanding our planet Earth better.
In 2006, while the world seemed to wake up to the concept
of climate change, our researchers were publishing research
that they had spent, in some cases, a lifetime studying. This
report again can only provide a snapshot of one year in
science, but we hope it gives those who read it a chance to
understand the complexity of climate change science, and
the even greater breadth of how our research extends far
beyond that.
Within these pages, you will see how our scientists
scrutinized the Earth for climate change clues from the
atmosphere’s higher levels to ocean depths where they
discovered and explored newfound reefs in our own
backyard. They swept the air and sea, too, evaluating
carbon dioxide changes and other pollutants and chemical
“tracers.” They looked for historic clues to climate change,
especially with new high-tech tools that analyze sediment
samples in hours instead of weeks. They left no cell behind,
constructing a genomic map of the smallest zooplankton
to learn – even there – about climate change. They reached
out to business and agriculture to bridge their science to
the “real world” and help them understand the impact of
climate change on their bottomline. And the students who
were seamlessly integrated in this work, finding research
opportunities both near and far, and pursuing their own
science – they also made a difference to what we do at the
Rosenstiel School every day, and ultimately the degree of
change we can make together.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing
that ever has. Margaret Mead said that about her own
anthropologic endeavors. As a scientist, I believe it’s hard
to find more thoughtful, committed individuals than
scientists, and that the best hope we have for addressing
climate change and its impacts is, in fact, science. Step by
step, scientists, like those here at the Rosenstiel School, will
indeed provide the answers that can produce meaningful
solutions. p
Otis Brown, Dean
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
Contents
Message from the Dean........ 3
Features................................. 6
Faculty News......................... 22
Alumni News........................... 24
Student News........................ 28
Research Vessels.................. 30
Outreach................................ 32
Financial Information........... 33
Donor Honor Roll................ 34
People..................................... 37
Sponges, corals, and gorgonians flourish in a Western fore reef in the North
Sound of Antigua. Photo Credit: Aletta Yniguez, MBF
Understanding Change
While climate change and global warming
have become household terms, scientists are examining the
implications of the phenomenon further by quantifying
contributing factors.
“jumps” are associated with major volcanic eruptions (El
Chichon in 1982 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991) that inject
aerosols into the stratosphere. These aerosols also absorb
sunlight thus heating the stratosphere and temporarily
offsetting the cooling trend from ozone loss.
Rosenstiel School scientist Dr. Brian Soden actively works
to quantify man-made versus naturally occurring damage
to Earth’s upper atmosphere. In 2006, he and a team of
scientists made headway with two new research models: one
to depict ozone cooling patterns and one that calculates how
global warming is altering large air circulation patterns and
the resulting consequences.
The latter model, which Soden and colleagues wrote about
in the journal Nature, suggests that an approximately
3.5 percent weakening of tropical Pacific atmospheric
circulation has occurred since the mid-1800s in an air
system known as the Walker circulation. They also cite
evidence that it may weaken another 10 percent by 2100.
Soden and colleagues published their work in the journal
Science on this first model that found that the stratosphere
This paper holds significant weight as the Walker circulation
has profound effects on weather and climate patterns
around the globe. Soden says we are moving toward a
more El Niño-like
climate. He notes
this slowdown has
modified the structure
and circulation of
the tropical Pacific Ocean, a source of nutrients to one
of the most biologically productive regions of the world’s
oceans, which has significant implications for ecosystem
sustainability as well.
Modeler studies man, nature’s impacts on climate
is cooling because of global warming damage, which in turn
has led to an increase in ozone depletion and the heightened
frequency of ozone breakdown. Situated between 10km
and 50km above Earth’s surface (closer at the poles), the
stratosphere is the second closest layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
It is internally stratified in temperature with warmer layers
resting above and cooler layers below. This layering is caused
as the area inside it containing relatively high concentrations
of ozone (an “ozone layer”) absorbs solar ultraviolet
radiation from above. Interestingly enough, the bottom of
the stratosphere is often the height around which planes
tend to cruise during commercial flights.
This new model of scientific research
into the atmosphere has shown that
the relative cooling of this layer over
the past 25 years is more complex
than originally thought. As was well
publicized in the past few decades,
ozone depletion attributed to
humans comes from a wide range of
sources, most notably the burning
of fossil fuels and the presence of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) released
into Earth’s stratosphere. The
molecularly stable CFCs stay intact
as they migrate into the stratosphere,
eventually beginning a series of chain
reactions that have contributed to the
depletion of the atmosphere’s ozone
layer. However, the layer’s recorded
cooling trends are not uniform like
ozone loss, but rather broken into a
series of staccato breaks. Even more
shocking was the discovery that these
From here, Soden and his colleagues will continue to collect
new information, adjusting the model to further improve
what it can tell them about Earth’s future climate. p
Carbon Conscious
The one piece of evidence of global
warming no one can dispute is that atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels are higher than ever. And they only continue
to increase. Likewise, oceans also face the consequences
of increased carbon dioxide levels, which will have serious
repercussions on marine ecosystems and our global
environment.
This year, Rosenstiel School chemists finished their 2006
leg of the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR)
Repeat Hydrography program, a global effort to identify
where in the ocean the growing amount of man-made
carbon dioxide resides, its concentrations, distributions, and
changes over time — measurements that may eventually
help scientists understand, model, and predict how changes
in global ocean chemistry
affect the ocean’s role in
moderating climate change
and atmospheric carbon
dioxide.
Half of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide released to the
atmosphere has accumulated in the ocean – mostly in the
upper ocean – and is slowly mixing into deeper waters.
This year, Rosenstiel School scientists took sail in the North
Pacific Ocean from Tahiti to Kodiak, Alaska, stopping every
30 nautical miles to collect data. The ship spent roughly 90
days to complete its journey, collecting water samples to log
water temperature, conductivity, and other chemical data.
Millero, are helping other scientists to create a
comprehensive decadal time-scale of the ongoing ocean
sampling paths. Each scientist covered a separate portion of
the research; Millero’s group analyzed samples to measure
changes in ocean chemistry. Fine’s group with Dr. Jim
Happell as lead analyst provided data about rates of mixing,
transport, and other processes within the ocean, while
Hansell’s group measured carbon residing in organic matter.
Global ocean surveys are extremely costly and thus
infrequent, but they help to understand and model climate
change and carbon system dynamics. Ultimately, because of
this research we can understand how human activities have
forced the ocean to absorb extra carbon dioxide from Earth’s
atmosphere and preview the ocean’s future.
Global project studies ocean chemistry changes
Rosenstiel School scientists and project principal
investigators Drs. Dennis Hansell, Rana Fine, and Frank
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide has already changed ocean
chemistry, and if the trend continues, will have severe
impacts, such as being too acidic for hard-shelled organisms
like coral reefs. Fine’s research has specifically focused on
measuring chlorofluorocarbons, which serve as tracers of
air-sea interaction so that scientists can understand how
fast oceans absorb atmospheric constituents, such as carbon
dioxide.
These data have already helped build the first comprehensive
inventory of man-made ocean carbon dioxide, which
illluminates potential large-scale effects of global warming
on ocean biogeochemistry, factoring in ocean stratification,
circulation, or transient disturbances such as seasonal dust
deposits. Ocean pH has decreased and total carbon dioxide
has increased considerably over the past 10 years due to this
process.
Efforts to survey global oceans will continue, with Rosenstiel
School scientists leading the pack towards a greater
understanding of marine environments. p
Above, scientists aboard a NOAA research vessel in the Atlantic
Ocean retrieve a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) sampler
that measures salinity, temperature, pressure, and other variables,
while also collecting water at different depths. Photo credit: Frank
Millero, MAC. At left, on a research vessel in the Antarctic Ocean,
well south of Australia, senior research associate, Charles Farmer
monitors icebergs and ocean carbon. Photo credit: Paul Mauricio.
Clearing the Skies
It’s easy to slip into the mindset
that pollution is something you can see, smell or touch.
Oftentimes, it is. But chemists will quickly clarify that
pollution often leaves invisible trails that require more
analysis to better understand its current impacts and future
effects.
Rosenstiel School scientists have taken complementary
approaches to better understand air pollution. For Drs.
Elliot Atlas and Daniel Riemer, professors of marine and
atmospheric chemistry, 2006 took them to some of the most
polluted cities in the world and remote, downwind areas
that this pollution potentially impacts.
According to Riemer, cars create the most air pollution,
Scientists study pollution trail
especially those built with low emissions standards.
However, organic and inorganic trash burning comes in as a
close second. In the past 15 years, developing countries have
quickly become more industrialized but have also left many
necessary safeguards behind. While this may seem like only
a local problem, it’s not. Toxic emissions from one country
travel high into the air, spreading out over miles, traveling
into neighboring countries or as faraway as other continents.
Scientists are primarily focusing on modeling this process
that has potential local, regional, and global influences
on earth’s environment. Air pollution obviously affects air
quality but also human health, population growth, and
climate change.
computer models predictive capabilities.
Atlas studied man-made emissions using land, ocean, and
airborne sampling. He is interested in profiling mega-city
atmospheric composition from the ground up, measuring
hydrocarbon and halocarbon dispersal and decomposition.
The NOAA-funded Texas Air Quality Study took Atlas
to Houston in 2006, where he and colleagues collected
approximately 1,100 samples to assess air pollution levels.
By looking at Houston’s changing air composition, he
assessed how chemicals degrade and disperse and their
impact on overall global air quality. Houston has the most
severe air quality issues in this country. An earlier 2002
assessment showed petrochemical plants had large air
composition impacts. He is currently analyzing data to
determine if the situation has worsened.
Funded by NASA, NSF, and NOAA, he examined major
urban areas and background atmospheric impacts. Currently
Mexico City, Houston, Lagos and Mumbai are the key
study sites. Beyond urban pollution, Atlas and Riemer
use additional land, ocean, and air-based studies to look
at global implications. For example, both scientists study
pollution composition that reaches the North Pacific,
tropical Atlantic, and Southern and Indian oceans. Oceans
produce a lot of the naturally formed chemicals transported
to the stratosphere and can contribute to ozone depletion.
Atlas’ measurements extend into the stratosphere, using high
altitude aircraft and large balloons to study the ultimate fate
of industrial and natural chemical emissions.
Atmospheric composition data for the world’s emerging
growth centers are sparse or non-existent. Scientists hope to
compile and analyze a baseline data set to expand our ability
to gauge long-term impacts on the global atmosphere. p
“Mega-cities,” large, industrialized urban areas around the
globe, are where pollution is worst, and that’s where Riemer
Over Mexico City, air pollution is glaringly obvious. Atmospheric
and Atlas completed their field work in 2006. Scientists
researchers study its influences and reach. Photo credit: Elliot Atlas,
MAC
began by building computer
models and taking air samples
along suspect pollution
Below, atmospheric researchers study influences of air pollution over Mexico City.
pathways consistent with
Photo and graphics credit: Elliot Atlas, MAC
prevailing wind conditions.
Riemer studies mega-city
pollution with airborne
instruments. This year, he
traveled to Mexico City, one
of the fastest growing megacities, to assess how economic
status differences affect the
amount and type of air
pollution produced. Riemer
and colleagues spent a month
collecting data to improve
Sinking Levees
What really happened with the
levees in New Orleans? Many people think that much of
the catastrophe suffered by thousands in the city’s poorest
of areas could have been buffered if only city officials
had checked on the status of the levees. In a study titled
“Subsidence and Flooding in New Orleans,” published in
a May 2006 issue of the journal Nature, scientists from the
Rosenstiel School have found evidence to suggest that some
of the levees were indeed operating at standards below their
original design model.
Most of New Orleans is sinking as the larger Mississippi
Delta slowly slides into the Gulf of Mexico, and as the
organic soils of former marshes corrode and compact.
Dr. Tim Dixon, lead author of the research paper and a
Rosenstiel School geophysics
professor, has found that in
some areas, subsidence is
occurring at rates in excess of
20mm/year, with an average
sinking rate throughout the city of roughly 6mm/year.
Rosenstiel School
authors have concluded
that when global sea
level rise is factored
into their analysis,
the average rate of
subsidence of the city
relative to sea level is
even higher – averaging
about 8mm each year.
the Rosenstiel School, thinks the impacts could be rather
significant. Researchers predicting an increase in this
trend over the next 20, 30, or even 100 years estimate that
reconstruction plans for the city must take this subsidence
into consideration. Dixon has found that some locations
where levees failed were also places where subsidence was
highest. These levees were built over 40 years ago and have
since sunk a minimum of 3 feet lower than the original
design level.
This information comes from analysis of 33 radar images
taken between 2002 and 2005 from Canada’s RADARSAT
satellite. The satellite exploits points on the ground that
strongly reflect radar, termed “permanent scatterers,” and
uses these points to plot topographic information. The
study revealed that in the three years prior to the August
Studies reveal new issues in Mississippi Delta
Although for most
this may not seem like
such a dramatic rate,
Dr. Falk Amelung,
one of the paper’s
co-authors, also from
2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, parts of New Orleans had
already undergone rapid subsidence. The new map indicates
that the levee next to the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet
(MRGO) canal that failed during peak storm surge could
be explained by subsidence of three feet or more since the
levee’s construction, placing the levee below the maximum
water level.
Civil agencies assigned to assess the new levees’ durability
will also have to take global warming into consideration.
Dr. Shimon Wdowinski, another co-author from the
Rosenstiel School, fears that further warming of Earth’s
atmosphere due to greenhouse gas emissions may give
rise to increased hurricane intensity, and hence increased
opportunity for future flooding. These global warming
effects will only exacerbate existing problems with New
Orleans’ flood protection systems.
The Office of Naval Research, NASA,
and NSF provided funding for this
project. p
Above, Falk Amelung checks his research
data as he sits at a gas station in New
Orleans whose foundation is beginning to
shift due to the rapid rate of soil corrosion
and compaction. Photo Credit: Shimon
Wdowinski, MGG.
Subsidence in New Orleans is occurring
at rates in excess of 20mm/year, with an
average sinking rate of roughly 6mm/year.
At left, the ground around this pole has sunk
substantially below its original level. Photo
Credit: Roy Dokka, LSU.
10
HYCOM
In most instances, foresight is a good thing.
When scientists are able to plug into a computer model
ocean current, topography, algal blooms, wind, sea surface
heating and cooling, and other variables that influence
how anything in or on that ocean will move, that kind of
foresight is invaluable.
At the Rosenstiel School, a team of ocean modelers has done
exactly that, producing a 3-D ocean model in collaboration
with scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory that
can provide information in real-time. Among its many
applications, this sort of model can help officials rapidly
assess where oil spills or algal blooms are spreading, or aid
search and rescue teams hoping to locate capsized boats
faster.
CSTARS
temperatures, and salinities at a much higher resolution;
an improvement that will be able to account for things like
rivers, tides, etc. in real-time for anywhere in the world.
Rosenstiel School Scientist Dr. Eric Chassignet, HYCOM
principal investigator and a professor of Meteorology and
Physical Oceanography, hopes that this model is just what is
needed to help clarify forecasting and minimize or prevent
impacts from natural hazards on the seas. Chassignet,
who is now director of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric
Prediction Studies at Florida State University, is no stranger
to ocean prediction; he published a book titled, Ocean
Weather Forecasting: An Integrated View of Oceanography.
He is also one of several scientists working hard to create
predictive models to improve our knowledge of the marine
environment and ocean climate; accurate forecasting to
benefit local,
commercial, and
international
environments;
and develop
a comprehensive and fully integrated method of ocean
monitoring.
New 3-D, real-time model boosts ocean forecasting
In 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA) National Center for
Environmental Prediction adopted the Hybrid Coordinate
Ocean Model (HYCOM) operationally to provide mariners
with “nowcasts” and five-day forecasts for the entire North
Atlantic Ocean.
The new model, which is the next-generation data
assimilative system at the Naval Research Laboratory, is
unique not only because it provides three-dimensional,
global data that are of fine enough resolution to factor in the
real-time displacements in currents caused by eddies, but
also because of its flexibility in modeling both coastal and
deep ocean regions.
Also in 2006, the journal Oceanography spotlighted
HYCOM, publishing its ability to integrate into ocean
monitoring systems for greater prediction of velocities,
The HYCOM Consortium (http://www.hycom.org) is a
broad partnership of institutions that focuses on producing
in real-time a realistic depiction of global ocean features
in hindcast, nowcast, and forecast mode. Other Rosenstiel
School scientists integral to developing this HYCOM
forecasting system with Chassignet include Drs. George
Halliwell and Ashwanth Srinivasan. p
The ability to monitor the direction and speed of currents across world
oceans will aid diverse operations – from shipping to generalized ocean
surveillance, especially search and rescue, or tracking hazards.
The maps of the not-so-distant future will be fully
interactive, globally reaching, and rich in detailed air, water,
and land variations. Scientists will be able to assess cloud
density, real-time ocean surface and wind conditions, and
even measure the bio-erosion, density, and melting rates
of Arctic glaciers. Such advances in imaging technology
might ultimately provide scientists with up-to-the-minute
information about the Earth on a local to global scale, and
for researchers at the Rosenstiel School, these developments
may be just around the corner.
Through a contract created in 2006 between the University
of Miami and Spot Image Corporation, such progressive
imaging is quickly becoming a reality. The contract will
provide the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced
Remote Sensing (CSTARS), part of UM’s Rosenstiel School
of Marine and Atmospheric Science, with significantly
better resolution, and satellite imagery of important
11
environmental observations, including weather phenomena,
sea-level changes, storm surge, and surface subsidence rates.
The expansion of CSTARS satellite imaging capabilities will
provide insight into the assessment of natural disaster areas,
weather forecasting, and other information that may help
scientists and government agencies better understand the
changing world around us.
Rosenstiel School’s Drs. Tim Dixon and Hans Graber,
co-directors of CSTARS, hope that this upgrade to SPOT 5
satellite imagery will provide spatial resolution that enhances
what they already understand about satellite imaging. The
potential implications are vast: improving shipping routes,
national security measures, quicker disaster response, study
of shoreline changes, and environmental monitoring.
Satellite upgrades aid facility
This agreement to receive much higher resolution satellite
imagery from the SPOT 5 satellite, represents an important
increase in the type and amount of imagery CSTARS will
be able to provide. As one of the world’s premier remote
sensing facilities, CSTARS was the first to provide critical
satellite imagery to government agencies during the
hurricane response activity in 2005. p
Below, satellite imagery captured this photo of the debris trail (dark
line) left by the tornado that cut through central Florida in 2006. The
higher resolution image, at left, shows the heavy damage sustained
by homes in one area, including some homes completely destroyed.
Many vehicles can be seen in the area, as well as several homes with
tarps on their roof. Photo Credit: ©CNES 2006. Distribution SPOT
IMAGE CORPORATION, acquired and processed by the Center for
Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing, University of Miami.
12
Small Matters
According to a new study on the tiniest,
free-living eukaryotic organism, big things truly do come in
small packages.
Genomic analysis of Ostreococcus tauri, a marine
phytoplankton species, is offering insight into its
evolutionary biology and ability to thrive in the world’s
oceans. Thought to be nearly 1,500 million years old, O.
tauri is the smallest eukaryote (complex-celled organism)
known to survive as a free-living, self-replicating cell.
But O. tauri isn’t just interesting because of its small
size – it is found in many marine systems and performs
photosynthesis, impacting the global carbon cycle that is
integrally linked to climate change.
Scanning the Globe
changes in Earth’s oxygen abundance. Consequently,
Worden’s research focuses on the physiological controls of
O. tauri growth and ultimately its role in the carbon cycle
– via hints from its genome sequence. The research will
lend more predictive power to issues such as the population
changes likely to occur and, in turn, the oceans’ ability to
deal with climate change.
An important expansion of this work is currently going
on in Worden’s lab at the Rosenstiel School. Worden is
the principal investigator on a genome sequencing project
collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, again
focusing on the carbon cycle. The target organisms, two
strains of Micromonas pusilla, are closely related to O.
tauri, however they have a much broader environmental
distribution, thriving from polar to equatorial waters.
Because of its broad thermal range, Micromonas
may have better response capabilities for
adjusting to the thermal fluctuations expected
with climate change. Originally thought to be
a single species, the genome sequences indicate
otherwise – they cannot even be compared at the DNA
level.
Taking a microscope to climate change
This year, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
carried a scientific paper with genomic evidence that despite
this organism’s compact makeup, its genome is structurally
complex, while in other aspects it is quite streamlined.
The research not only made the cover of PNAS but was
also highlighted in Science and other prestigious journals.
Dr. Alexandra Worden, one of the paper’s authors, is an
assistant professor at the Rosenstiel School. Worden joined
the faculty at the Rosenstiel School in 2004 just as she was
selected as a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Young
Investigator in Marine Microbiology, which carries an
$875,000 unfettered research prize.
Worden understands that the dynamics of such organisms
are critical to the current function of the global carbon cycle.
They are “the plants” of the ocean, so the amount of carbon
dioxide they consume via photosynthesis, and where it goes,
are crucial questions to understanding how they affect ocean
processes. One of the prevailing indicators of climate change
and global warming has been increased
atmospheric carbon dioxide. Scientists agree
that the ocean plays a key role in removing
excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
in a process known as carbon fixation, a
part of the carbon cycle. Photosynthesizing
organisms such as O. tauri consume carbon
dioxide by “fixing” it (into plant material)
and simultaneously release oxygen. This
process is notably linked to prehistoric
Phytoplankton Ostreococcus tauri. The red is the
natural autofluorescence of its photosynthetic
pigments — the chloroplast. Each red dot represents
one cell. Photo Credit: Alexandra Worden, MBF
Worden’s team is composed of participants from around
the world – but University of Miami undergraduate and
graduate students are also in the mix. As part of Worden’s
course “Marine Microbial Ecology: Genomic Approaches,”
students have received a first shot at the unpublished
genome sequences and are learning the ins and outs of
integrating genomic data with the environmental challenges
that confront the broader community. As Worden’s work
with colleagues continues, population changes in these
minute organisms may ultimately serve as indicators of
shifts in the Earth’s climate. More importantly, information
on how these organisms will respond to climate shifts will
provide insights into future consequences for global climate
conditions. p
Over a decade ago, scientists postulated that
13
to generate data at a speed and resolution that only a few
years ago would have been thought impossible.
the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization in the lowlands
of the Yucatan Peninsula was linked chronologically to an
extended regional drought thought to have lasted close to a
century. In 2003, sediment core samples from the bottom
of the oxygen-free Cariaco Basin off northern Venezuela
yielded evidence that the extended drought was actually
a series of shorter droughts, each lasting for a decade or
less. This refinement in interpretation, which more closely
matches the archaeological record, was achieved by applying
novel new X-ray technology to the sediments.
This year, the Rosenstiel School received and installed a
version of the instrument that made the more detailed
Maya study possible. The new XRF (X-ray Fluorescence)
Core Scanner is only the third to make its way to the
United States, and the first of the latest model made
by Avaatech, a company based in the Netherlands that
originated the technology. Dr. Larry C. Peterson,
associate dean of graduate studies and the marine
geology professor who took part in the Maya study, hosts
this new scanner in his lab. The state-of-the-art XRF Core
Scanner makes possible the rapid chemical analysis of
sediment and rock cores using completely non-invasive
methods. It can accurately measure the abundances of
elements ranging in mass from calcium to uranium and
do so continuously at a sample spacing of 500 microns,
all in a few hours. The scanning XRF technique is rapidly
revolutionizing studies of Earth history because of the ability
A vast amount of information about past climates is
preserved in the chemical composition of sediments
deposited on the ocean floor, in lakes, and on land. The
skeletal remains of tiny plankton that settle and accumulate
on the sea floor, the weathering products of rocks on land
that enter the ocean by rivers, and even airborne dust that
falls into the open ocean – each have distinctive chemical
signatures that can be traced and interpreted with the XRF
Core Scanner. Past geological events such as tsunamis,
earthquakes, droughts, and rapid climate changes all
leave lasting impressions in the sediment record. Peterson
and other Miami scientists are engaged in a wide suite of
research projects – many focused on climate change – for
New tool aids paleoclimate research
which this new instrument is proving invaluable. The
Rosenstiel School houses a collection of several thousand
sediment cores from all the world’s oceans, so there is no
lack of mud to analyze.
The new XRF technology has been hailed as the most
efficient way to get fast, detailed insights into the chemical
composition of sediments, simultaneously revealing Earth’s
oldest stories of climate change and helping Rosenstiel
School scientists better anticipate future changes. p
At left, scientists aboard the Scripps R/V Melville get ready to deploy a
15m piston-core in the gulf of Papua New Guinea. Photo Credit: Carlos
Alvarez Zarikian, MGG. Below, Larry Peterson explains the workings of
his new Avaatech XRF – Core Scanner. The scanner, which allows hi-speed
non-destructive chemical analyses of core samples, analyzes Rosenstiel
School’s extensive library of marine sediment core samples. Photo Credit:
Ivy F. Kupec
14
Deep Water Discovery
Imagine trying to map out the biological
diversity and complete topography of the Grand Canyon,
top to bottom, in pitch-blackness with only a standard
flashlight. Compound that with completing the entire
task under a few miles of water, and it all might seem too
daunting to attempt. But for some marine scientists this
example isn’t that far from reality.
For marine geologists and oceanographers at the Rosenstiel
School using advanced sonar techniques, exploration into
the Straits of Florida between Miami and Bimini turned up
extraordinary deepwater reef sites previously undiscovered.
With anywhere from 90 to 95 percent of the world’s oceans
still unexplored, the potential for finding new materials to
develop medications looks promising. That’s why Drs. Mark
Grasmueck and Gregor Eberli from the Rosenstiel School
water coral mound fields in 590-875m water depth at
different positions within the Florida Current.
High-resolution morphologic and oceanographic maps
acquired with an AUV, together with 13 submersible dives
provided for the first time a field-wide perspective of the
cold-water reefs in the Straits of Florida. Each of the five
sites contain living corals and hundreds of coral mounds
with heights of 1–120m.
The high-resolution bathymetric maps of these deepwater
ecosystems are also a catalyst for further multidisciplinary
research into these deepwater environments. For example,
Harbor Branch has spent years researching and synthesizing
chemicals with pharmaceutical properties from marine
organisms to help treat diseases such as cancer, HIV, and
Alzheimer’s. Harbor Branch has collected tens of thousands
of marine organism samples,
many of which are now in
various stages of development
and government testing.
For them, the deep ocean
provides an undisturbed source for new biological research
material.
New reef system mapped in the Florida Straits
have been working alongside researchers from Harbor
Branch Oceanographic Institution on expeditions to explore
the newly discovered reef. Through the NOAA Ocean
Exploration program, researchers are now interested in
knowing just how deepwater coral reefs develop and sustain
themselves without the sunlight normally associated with
healthy coral colonies.
Deep reefs in the Straits of Florida have been known to
exist since the 1970s from dredging, submersible dives and
seismic surveys, but these techniques were not able to map
the spatial distribution and their morphological variability.
In 2006, Rosenstiel School researchers employed for the
first time an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to map
entire deepwater coral reef fields. AUVs operate without a
tether to the surface and are pre-programmed to perform
tasks independently. The researchers surveyed five deep-
After the initial discovery of
deep ocean reefs using a radiocontrolled ROV, scientists
descended into the ocean to get a
first-hand view of the interesting
new corals using Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institution’s
underwater submersible. Photo
Credit: Gregor Eberli
Rosenstiel School’s 2006 AUV work has provided maps of
five promising seafloor areas, all of which are likely to harbor
a vast number of organisms. As more data are collected,
scientists will be able to better predict correlations between
depth and relative species diversity – a link that just may
lead to groundbreaking medical discoveries.
For the deepwater ecosystem itself, the integration of
bathymetric, oceanographic, geologic, and biologic
properties and processes is a first step to delineate,
understand, and adequately protect these diverse deepwater
habitats. p
Mesoamerican Modeling
As the sun rises on a new day in a Honduran
banana plantation, broad green leaves yield to warm breezes
that wind through the verdant landscape. It is a peaceful,
bucolic setting that contradicts the scientists’ work nearby,
assessing a watershed laden with pollutants and other runoff.
Drs. Laurent Cherubin and Claire Paris, Rosenstiel School
marine physicist and marine biologist, respectively, have
been integral to a science team investigating land use and
watershed contamination that affects Honduras, Belize, and
Mexico. The project was a function of the International
Coral Reef Action Network, which receives funding
through the World Resources Institute, the United Nations
Environmental Programme World Conservation Monitoring
Centre, and the World Wildlife Federation.
15
coral reefs and to implement better management practices to
reduce those impacts.
Agriculture in this portion of Central America is
predominately bananas, pineapples, assorted citrus, and
sugar. The farmers have seen how yields improve with
fertilizer; so with that success, nutrient levels in soil and the
watershed have become problematic. Hurricanes and rainy
seasons push nutrients into nearby rivers out to the Gulf
of Honduras and ultimately the Yucatan Current, where
reef impacts are easily discernible. Thus, the Mesoamerican
Barrier Reef (MBR), second largest in the world, is
particularly exposed to sediment, nutrient, and toxic runoff.
The scientists used NASA satellite imagery to monitor
nutrients – where and how quickly they disseminate – thus
Scientists analyze land use to improve watershed
Using high-tech tools
and a multidisciplinary
approach, the group
released a watershed
analysis for the Mesoamerican reef in 2006. The project
had two basic goals: to model present and future impacts of
land cover changes and agricultural activities on the nearby
helping to develop an effective, integrated model that shows
connectivity between land use, rivers, and reefs.
While marine physicists were able to factor in currents and
topography to the model, marine biologists could evaluate
impacts on the biological components using the Millennium
Coral Reef maps, thus producing a complete picture of
environmental consequences – past, current, and projected
land use. The model looks at sediment and pollutant
delivery at the river mouth, which includes accumulated
runoff, sediment delivery and concentration, and pollutant
(nitrogen and phosphorous) delivery and concentration.
The team interacted with agricultural business to reduce the
use of the most harmful pesticides and control soil erosion
from commercial agricultural sectors. As a result, agriculture
has reduced herbicide applications, exploring ways to reduce
other chemical inputs and reduce soil erosion as well. The
Nature Conservancy will now design a network of marineprotected reserves that can incorporate this science-induced
progress so the reefs and watershed have new opportunities
to thrive. p
The Mesoamerican Barrier
Reef is the second largest in
the world and an important
ecosystem for fish like this
spotted grouper, see at far
left. Photo Credit. Evan
D’Alessandro, MBF. Left,
In Belize, a river flows
through one of its many
banana plantations. Photo
Credit: www.Wockerjabby.
com.
16
Aquaculture Advances
The United States is now the third largest
seafood consumer in the world, importing more than
70 percent of it. But, nearly half of the seafood sold for
human consumption is produced through aquaculture,
not caught in the wild, and that number grows steadily
each year. Rosenstiel School scientists were at the forefront
of aquaculture research in 2006, working to create a truly
sustainable industry.
Many cultures’ sole source of protein and economic stability
relies on the fishing industry, so the push has always been
there to develop a healthy, sustainable way to grow fish to
feed such populations and be commercially viable. In 2006,
Rosenstiel School scientists were recognized for their longterm dedication and innovation in developing ecologically
the least environmental footprint.
The project has made great advances toward addressing the
critiques of aquaculture’s main opponents. Rosenstiel School
scientists are exploring ways to develop and implement
a standardized, simple monitoring system that can be
applied uniformly throughout the industry, which most
feel is essential to its continued success and ethical growth
in the future. The Rosenstiel School aquaculture research
agenda is driven by the needs and concerns of the industry,
government agencies, NGOs and the public at large. These
concerns include sustainability of natural marine habitats,
reliance on fishmeal from capture fisheries, and pollution
and disease issues.
The Rosenstiel School aquaculture program joins academia,
private enterprise, and government,
including, NOAA Fisheries Service,
Snapperfarm Inc., AquaSense LLC,
Great Bay Aquaculture LLC, and
Ecomicrobials LLC. p
Researchers recognized for offshore program
sustainable aquaculture.
Dr. Daniel Benetti, director of the Rosenstiel School
Aquaculture Program and chairman of Marine Affairs and
Policy, along with Dr. Larry Brand, a professor in marine
biology and fisheries, are the principal investigators of the
offshore aquaculture program that was recognized with two
grants from NOAA’s National Marine Aquaculture Initiative
2006 totaling $1 million over two years. The grants support
two ongoing projects: one that works to improve hatchery
and offshore aquaculture’s technology and another that
measures environmental impact and develops methods for
preemptive monitoring.
Developed offshore, deep in Caribbean waters, Rosenstiel
School’s aquaculture program has used
stronger currents, strictly native fish
species, and better dispersal of organic
and inorganic materials to help protect
against changing ecological dynamics
of the natural marine environment. The
project raises cobia, a firm-textured, white
fish known by aquaculture scientists for its
unique ability to grow 10 times faster than
other marine fish. Funding is propelling
the most advanced hatchery and growout
technology based on the best available
science in the field to develop a productive
activity that aims to provide seafood with
Above, cobia has proved to be the perfect species
for offshore aquaculture. Monitoring fish health
and growth rates is an important part of this
research. To the right, Benetti works with a student
at Snapperfarm in Puerto Rico to do just that.
Photo Credits: Bruno Sardenberg, MAF
Florida & Climate Change
From the citrus groves in South Florida
to the sugar cane fields of Brazil, farmers face increasing
challenges in keeping their livelihood economically viable
in the face of highly variable growing conditions. In 2006,
while farmers were thankful for a mild hurricane season
brought by El Niño, they faced challenges during much of
the southeast’s winter growing season. The Rosenstiel School
plays a key role among a unique group of climate scientists,
economists, and hydrologists who work across state lines
to provide guidance to the agricultural industry and others
who can benefit from their research.
Known as the Southeast Climate Consortium, the scientists
come from six universities: the University of Miami
Rosenstiel School, Florida State University, the University
of Florida, the University of Georgia,
Auburn University, and the University
of Alabama-Huntsville. The United
States Department of Agriculture and
NOAA’s Climate Programs Office
provide funding.
17
among potato growers in Miami-Dade county, providing
foresight about the increased winter precipitation in El
Niño years. With this advanced warning, growers could
take precautions such as mounding their fields and clearing
drainage ditches.
The SECC does not offer severe or rapid approach weather
alerts, instead offering farmers the knowledge that the
Earth’s current ENSO phase – El Niño, La Niña, or a
neutral phase – may cause specific problems that would
endanger certain types of crops, livestock, or produce.
So, for example, SECC might issue warnings about the
additional risk of freezes during winters not influenced by
either El Niño or La Niña, even though they do not forecast
individual freeze events themselves.
Climate group bridges science and farmers
The consortium uses nested, coupled, regional climate
models to explore how best to employ a climate forecasting
system to provide tailored predictive information for the
agriculture industry, primarily in the Southeast United
States. Drs. David Letson, Kenny Broad, Guillermo
Podestá, Norman Breuer, and Daniel Solís – all Rosenstiel
School faculty and scientists – have played integral, yet
separate roles in the SECC, ranging from expertise in
economics to ecological anthropology to meteorology.
Practically speaking, the group is able to aid farmers with
information about climate phenomena. Last year, SECC
participated in a program to increase weather awareness
Farmers and agricultural agencies in the southeastern United
States, whose crops rely on moderate to warm temperatures
for most of the year, have been hit hard economically.
SECC is researching methods to develop and issue climate
information products based on the use of seasonal climate
forecasts, historical climate data, and other climate analyses
to help decision-makers identify management options
to reduce risk and increase profits while sustaining the
ecosystems of the Southeast United States. p
The SECC unites researchers from several universities in the Southeast, including the
University of Georgia. Drs. Carla Roncoli and Todd Crane, who work as SECC assessment
researchers with Rosenstiel School’s Dr. Kenny Broad, interact with extension agents like
this one in the coastal plain of Georgia to explore decision-making processes and try to
understand where long-term climate forecast information might help them adapt by adjusting
management practices. Photo credit: Joel Paz, University of Georgia
18
Ecosystem Rebounding
Protected reserves and “no-take”
areas are often controversial marine management decisions.
However, when diligent monitoring can back up that
policy decision with science to show whether the reserve is
doing what was intended – helping to rebuild a suffering
ecosystem – then everyone wins.
That was exactly the case in 2006 as Rosenstiel School’s Dr.
Jerry Ault set out with about 45 other marine biologists,
including students to conduct his biennial census of the
Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Keys to monitor ongoing
population changes and observe the effects of hurricanes on
the coral reef habitat in the Reserve. And the conclusion was
that since the federal government set it aside as a no-take
zone in July 2001, this area now has more fish and bigger
The Dry Tortugas, a remote area about 70 miles west of
Key West, is known for its extensive coral reefs, fish, sharks,
lobsters, and other marine life. In 2001, the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary was allowed to set aside no-take
areas, forming the Tortugas Ecological Reserve (TER), to
help address the critical state of overfishing in the region.
In November 2006, the Florida governor and cabinet
approved implementation of a management plan for an
additional Research Natural Area or no-take marine reserve
in the Dry Tortugas National Park to complement the
existing TER. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission also concurred with the proposed National
Park Service regulations related to marine fishing in the
park that became effective in January 2007, and Ault’s data
played prominently in the decision-making process. The
19
sustainability of intensely exploited regional reef fishery
resources — benefiting the Tortugas, the Florida Keys and
beyond.
Southern Florida coral reefs generated an estimated 91,000
jobs and US $6 billion in economic activity in 2005. These
ecosystem goods and services, however, are threatened by
increased exploitation and environmental changes from a
rapidly growing regional human population.
Ault and his team conduct biennial fish abundance surveys
on the more than 260 species that comprise the Tortugas’
reef fish community in the Florida Keys. This year, his
team was also documenting changes in fish abundance and
habitat quality after six major hurricanes since the last survey
in June 2004. Collecting scientific data on a regular basis is
imperative to understand the
dynamics of the ecosystem
and to provide sustainable
fishery management
recommendations. The
Tortugas region plays a critical role in the health of the
overall Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem, thus making this
study important to understanding the overall functioning of
tropical marine habitats.
Biennial Dry Tortugas census shows improvements inside, outside of reserve
fish – inside the reserve, but also beyond. Every other year,
Ault returns to the Tortugas with his team to count fish,
lobster, and corals.
park’s marine reserve, coupled with that in the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary, is designed to protect precious
coral reefs, fisheries, and cultural resources, and to ensure
Ault, along with Dr. Steven Smith (also from the Rosenstiel
School) and Dr. James Bohnsack of the NOAA Fisheries
Service, published a research paper in the Bulletin of Marine
Science this year, citing the increase in number and size of
black groupers and other snappers in the Dry Tortugas. They
have been conducting research there since 1999. Domainwide abundances of several exploited and non-ex­ploited
species have increased; while no declines were detected.
Between 2000 and 2004, for example, Ault has seen the
occurrence of black grouper jump from 19 to 29 percent
at the sites that he routinely visits during this census, and
regional stock abundance of black grouper has increased by
124 percent. This year, one of the more notable events, too,
was Ault’s own sighting of a marbled grouper – very rare in
the Keys – and further indication that the ecosystem is truly
rebounding. p
Opposite, the Dry Tortugas corals offer a unique
display of colors. The biennial census helps to
monitor the improving status of marine life
inside the reserve and in the surrounding marine
areas. Below, this unique, striped Highhat has
a safe haven in this protected area. This year, a
first-ever sighting came in the form of a Marble
Grouper (below). Photo Credits: Jiangang Luo
and Jerry Ault, MBF
20
Patchwork Photography
It sounds like such a simple idea.
Take side-by-side pictures and stitch them together to
get a big picture perspective of coral reefs. But this lowtech concept is quite complicated. Boosted with the latest
technology of remotely operated vehicles that can traverse
the sea floor in systematic fashion producing high-resolution
pictures, images are fed into a computer program that
can build a bigger picture autonomously, the result: an
impressive single mosaic image that allows scientists to
observe coral reefs intensively and extensively.
Over the past four years, graduate students working with
Dr. Pamela Reid, Rosenstiel School associate professor of
marine geology and geophysics, have done exactly that.
Inspired by photographer Jim Hellemn’s 7x20 meter coral
new perspective, allowing scientists to investigate spatial
relationships among benthic organisms at a scale that is
too labor intensive to do by divers alone. The non-invasive
approach eliminates the need to deploy markers to tag
individual colonies and reduces the need for skilled divers,
minimizing the potential for further coral damage during
surveys.
These spatially accurate mosaics will also be able to show
approximations of damage to coral caused by strong wind
and ocean current conditions, assess the influence of water
quality on research methods, and even measure the effects
of ship groundings; instances that are often too expansive
to effectively survey by hand. Researchers believe that an
image will convey more information about the extent of
the damage than measurements of the overall dimension,
especially when viewed
by non-technical
personnel.
Coral mosaics enhance observational capabilities
mosaic of Bloody Bay Wall, a world-famous dive site off the
coast of Little Cayman Island, graduate student Art Gleason
conceived the idea to create coral mosaics that could be
used by scientists and governmental organizations for
routine monitoring of marine sites. Though the inspiration
came from beautifully crafted “fine art” pieces, Gleason,
Graduate Assistant Brooke Gintert, and Research Assistant
Professor Diego Lirman wanted something more, trading
fine art quality for ease of scientific use. The aesthetic quality
of the mosaics became less important than getting the
measurements quickly and efficiently.
Mosaics show
a portion of
Molasses Reef in
the Florida Keys
where extensive
hurricane damage
caused major
changes to the reef
and individual
coral colonies.
The second photo
shows where a
portion of reef
broke free and
now lies upside
down on the
sea floor. Photo
Credit: Art
Gleason, MGG
To achieve the goal of routinely producing underwater
video mosaics, Rosenstiel School scientists partnered with
Dr. Shahriar Negahdaripour and post-doctorial researcher
Dr. Nuno Gracias from the University of Miami’s College
of Engineering. Gracias created a software package
that automatically “stitches” thousands of individual
pictures together into complete and seamless composites
of coral communities. The resulting mosaics provide a
The idea took some
refinement, but this past year, the team was able to produce
a second round of imagery, further showing the usefulness
of such a venture. Mosaics made in 2005 and again in 2006
of a portion of Molasses Reef in the Florida Keys show
damage, colony growth, and disease affecting a community
of elkhorn coral. Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and
Wilma all passed over this area in 2005 resulting in major
changes to the reef itself and damage to individual coral
colonies. The research – already published in the scientific
journals Marine Ecology and Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment – proves that changes in reef communities can
be quantified from the mosaics, providing valuable tools for
scientists to use in future coral research.
Funded by the Strategic Environmental Development
Research Program, the Department of Defense’s
environmental science and technology program, the
project hopes to further develop video-based, spatially
accurate, landscape-level mosaics of coral reef habitats that
can be analyzed to extract ecological
indicators of reef health. With this
new observational tool available,
scientists and governmental agencies
may gain valuable insight into the
subtle changes that affect sensitive
coral reefs and the marine life that
resides there, ultimately improving
our understanding of subtle ecosystem
changes that have larger impacts
elsewhere in the world. p
Prehistoric Presentation
The year 2006 was particularly good for unique
prehistoric artifacts in Western Florida — not only because
so many were found in the University of Miami’s unique
Little Salt Spring, but because this anoxic sinkhole-turnedspring was able to take its show on the road, making more
people than ever aware of a surprising part of Florida’s
ancient history.
Once again, Dr. John Gifford, the principal investigator
and underwater archaeologist at the University of Miami
Little Salt Spring project, uncovered many artifacts during
his annual two-week field class with graduate students
— this time another rare greenstone pendant, estimated
at 6,000-7,000 years old. This became the third known
example in Florida of an Archaic pendant made from an
exotic rock type. The discovery is just one
of several that Rosenstiel School researchers
have indirectly dated in Florida’s prehistory
known as the middle Archaic Period. Buried
when the water level of the spring was several
meters lower, the artifacts have recently been excavated by
scientists exploring the site. Gifford believes that the two
pendants recovered from Little Salt Spring may have their
origins somewhere in the southern Appalachians, leading
21
him to propose some form of long distance trade (700
to 800 miles) between central Florida and the Southern
Appalachians. Gifford and others are now utilizing a form
of non-destructive analysis to characterize the elemental and
mineral composition of the artifacts so that they may be
matched to a more specific geographical source.
In addition to excavating more of Florida’s very ancient
past, Gifford obtained education and outreach funding to
share the collection of artifacts in special exhibits, including
a multimedia presentation, around Florida and host a
special day of tours and workshops at the spring itself. The
events aimed to raise public awareness of Little Salt Spring’s
contribution in furthering scientific research and to give
local residents further insight into their deep past.
Since the spring was gifted to the university 24 years
Florida’s Paleoindian past goes on tour
ago, the Little Salt Spring Archaeological and Ecological
Preserve has demonstrated great potential for elucidating the
prehistory and paleoenvironmental evolution of Florida. The
site, a 240-foot deep, hourglass-shaped spring is fed from
underground water sources completely lacking in dissolved
oxygen. Under such conditions, bacteria cannot grow and
decompose organic material such as bone and wood, leaving
many unique relics preserved for thousands of years.
Located in North Port, Fla., about 10 miles from the
Gulf of Mexico, Little Salt Spring was first explored in the
late 1950s. Archaeological excavations in the 1970s led
to the discovery of artifacts dating as far back as 12,000
years ago. The spring was donated to the University
of Miami in 1982 and has been listed on the National
Register of Historic Places since 1979. Surrounded by an
undisturbed native hardwood hammock that contains
several rare and endangered plant
and animal species, Little Salt
Spring has become the site of
an interdisciplinary field school
for undergraduate and graduate
students. With roughly 95 percent
of the spring unexplored, many
believe what remains inside
will offer important evidence
of early human activity, climate
variations, and changes in
the plant and animal makeup
southwest Florida. p
At left, John Gifford speaks to a crowd at
the Little Salt Spring Open House. The
greenstone pendant shown above was
exhumed in 2006. Photo Credits: Steve
Koski.
22
Faculty Spotlight
The assumption that scientific advances will
necessarily benefit large groups of people, particularly in less
industrialized countries, is often false.
That is the driving force behind the research of Dr. Kenny
Broad, assistant professor of marine affairs and policy at
the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
and UM’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy
and also a 2006 National Geographic Emerging Explorer. An
environmental anthropologist, Broad has dedicated himself
to studying nature-culture interactions, by analyzing the
uses and misuses of scientific information in different parts
of the globe. In particular, he studies how forecasts of future
conditions – including hurricanes, El Niño events, climate
change, and ecosystem patterns – are manipulated as they
name for themselves within their fields and beyond, he was
awarded $10,000 and the title of 2006 National Geographic
Emerging Explorer.
Working in the United States, Latin America, and the
Caribbean, Broad is intent on understanding how decision
makers react to the uncertainty inherent in most scientific
information. Collaborating with researchers from other
scientific disciplines including hydrology, oceanography,
psychology, economics, ecology, and climatology, Broad’s
many projects include studying the participatory water
allocation process in Brazil, perceptions of climate change
in Alaska and Florida, risk perception of hurricane forecast
products, use of climate information in Argentina’s
agricultural sector, and ecosystem-based management
approaches in the Caribbean.
Environmental anthropologist named
National Geographic Emerging Explorer
enter the political arena, the private sector, and individual
households.
Traveling to remote locations along with colleagues from
the physical and cognitive sciences, and working closely
with local groups and national policy makers, Broad tries to
direct the strengths of different disciplines toward solving
pressing problems related to natural resource management.
It was Broad’s efforts to inspire change that earned him
accolades from the National Geographic Society. Recognized
as one of their six rising talents who have begun to make a
National Geographic’s choice was also
largely based on Broad’s exploration of
some of the most remote, dangerous areas
of the world. Among other things, he is
an experienced underwater cave diver,
having led and participated in several
scientific and documentary film expeditions, including
the exploration of one of the world’s deepest caves in the
Huautla Plateau in Mexico.
Underwater caves serve as a reservoir of unique ecological
biodiversity and cultural artifacts, as well as to supply local
people with their primary water source. Unfortunately,
many of those caves are now in danger due to pollution and
rising sea level associated with climate change. Broad talks
of caves as one of the last places on earth where humans
must physically go to explore. He is currently planning to
lead a large scale, multidisciplinary expedition to
explore and conduct research on the cultural and
biological significance of underwater caves in the
Bahamian archipelago.
It’s through this extreme science, and merging
insights from the natural and social science
disciplines, that Broad finds ways to make science
and exploration meaningful to society. p
Kenny Broad, after a dive in the Hart Spring System,
one of the largest spring-fed diving areas in the state of
Florida. Photo Credit: Amy Clement, MPO
Faculty News
The Rosenstiel School faculty
constantly make their mark. This annual report highlights
only a fraction of the research done in 2006. Additionally
many faculty passed milestones or received personal honors.
Here are just a few from this year:
Claes G.H. Rooth retires
Distinguished Professor
of Meteorology and
Physical Oceanography
and Assistant Director
of the Cooperative
Institute for Marine
and Atmospheric
Studies, Dr. Claes
G.H. Rooth, retired
this year after more
than 30 years at the
Rosenstiel School.
Rooth’s career was
spent studying both the
ocean and atmosphere,
and the interactions between them that are pivotal to
understanding weather and climate.
Rooth’s scientific contributions have helped formulate ideas
for representation of deep circulation processes and their
causes in global numerical models. His personal example
and work have sparked the interest and research of a great
number of other successful scientists in his field. Rooth has
always been a researcher who thinks in broad, creative ways.
His ideas have consistently inspired colleagues to question
and rethink traditionally held views and produce pioneering
science throughout the world. p
Florida recognizes Lora E. Fleming
Dr. Lora E. Fleming, faculty at
both the Rosenstiel School and
the Miller School of Medicine,
has dedicated some of her
current research to studying
the human health effects of
aerosolized red tide toxins and
the possible human health
effects of microbial pollution in
recreational beach waters.
As a result of Fleming’s
leadership and dedication to
this research, the University of South Florida College of
Public Health awarded her the title of Florida Outstanding
Woman in Public Health for 2006. Fleming is the only
board-certified occupational and environmental medicine
physician and epidemiologist in South Florida. Additionally,
she is acting director of the Florida Cancer Data System,
Florida’s incident cancer registry, and co-director of
the National Science Foundation-National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences University of Miami Oceans
and Human Health Center – one of only four such centers
in the United States. p
Gregor Eberli, Peter Swart
become AAAS fellows
Nominated by a select panel of
respected scientists, two Rosenstiel
School faculty were chosen as
2007 American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Fellows for their global scientific
and technological contributions.
Drs. Gregor Eberli and Peter
Swart, former and current chairs of
the Division of Marine Geology and
Geophysics, were elected as AAAS
Fellows in the organization’s geology
and geography category, joining the ranks of seven other
past fellows from the Rosenstiel School, and yielding a total
of 19 AAAS fellows university-wide since the organization
began electing them. p
Sharon L. Smith travels
to Oman as Fulbright Scholar
After spending years researching climate change,
zooplankton, and impacts on food webs in the Arctic,
Dr. Sharon Smith from the Division of Marine Biology
and Fisheries was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award.
Starting in Fall of 2006, she began a research project in
Muscat, Oman, where she
is spending nine months
teaching and studying
zooplankton changes
during the monsoon season,
specifically as they relate
to global warming models
that forecast important
changes to the marine food
web there. Working from
the Department of Marine
Science and Fisheries at
Sultan Qaboos University
in Muscat, Smith will teach undergraduates and mentor
graduate students in their plankton research, even training
a plankton technician in the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries. p
23
24
Alumni Spotlight
Most people recycle in some way
or another. We save pennies in old coffee cans, use glass jars
to store nails in our garage, and each week we separate our
trash into glass, plastic, and paper, making sure we do our
part to recycle, reduce, and reuse whatever we throw out.
We usually draw the line when it comes to bodily waste, but
for the toadfish, using its bodily waste wisely is essential to
its survival.
Urea is a biological waste product most often associated with
land mammals due to the high amount of energy needed
to produce it. But unlike most fish, which excrete waste
by releasing ammonia into the ocean, toadfish secrete a
carefully balanced mixture of ammonia and urea. Scientists
and Rosenstiel School alums Drs. Patrick Walsh (B.S.
toadfish time to hide or make a swift escape.
Toadfish live in coastal areas snuggled comfortably into the
sand and mud of the sea floor. Their name comes from their
toad-like earth tone coloration and their ability to make a
guttural “croaking” sound through their swim bladders.
Published in The Journal of Experimental Biology and Science
in 2006, and featured on Canada’s Radio One program
“Quirks and Quarks,” Walsh and Barimo relayed their
studies of the effect of ammonia on grey snapper. They
found the ammonia positively attracted fish to attack an
artificial toadfish-shelter, while the snapper were much less
interested in the shelter when they released a mixture of
ammonia and urea into the water. The scientists also tested
the effects of a mixture of urea and an amino acid and found
no evidence of this cloaking mechanism.
Urea alone does not act as an arbitrary
chemical in the defense mechanisms of bony
fish. This study represents the first case of a
“waste” chemical excreted solely to distort an
organism’s own chemical signals.
Rosenstiel alums study toadfish masking
‘75) and John Barimo (Ph.D. ‘05) studied the toadfish’s
motives in producing urea and came to the conclusion that
the toadfish has evolved a system of producing waste that
will not draw attention to its presence.
Ammonia is highly attractive to toadfish’s most lethal
predator, grey snapper, so over time the toadfish have
evolved a method of diluting their waste with urea.
Subsequently, the mixture disorients predators, giving the
Shown below, Drs. Pat Walsh (left) and John Barimo (right) worked
together on their toadfish research at the Rosenstiel School prior to
Barimo’s graduation. At right, “Big Bubba” is the largest gulf toadfish
the two ever found. Photo Credit: John Barimo, MBF
In the end, it’s a risky trade-off between expending more
energy to create different waste molecules and becoming
a tasty meal. But by most standards, the sacrifice isn’t that
hard to justify. Related studies are showing that increased
nitrogen concentrations in coastal waters, a factor affecting
ammonia, has become a global environmental problem and
this could affect how predatory fish find their food.
Walsh is currently a professor of biology at the University
of Ottawa and holds a Canada Research Chair in
Environmental Health and Genomics. His recent studies
focus on the impact of natural stressors on the molecular
physiology of fish. Barimo is a postdoctoral fellow at
Portland State University. p
Alumni News
Rosenstiel School alums are known
for making a difference – making varying degrees of change
in the work they ultimately do. Michelle Mainelle, MS
’00 (MPO), became the first female hurricane specialist at
the National Hurricane Center in 2006. John Reynolds,
MS’77, PHD ’80 (MBF), was the 2006 Alumni Lecturer
because of his role as chairman of the Marine Mammal
Commission. Those are just a few highlights. If you know
of Rosenstiel School alums who have been recognized for
the good works they do, let the school know. Contact the
Communications staff at 305/421-4704. p
The Golf Classic
Ask golf pros and they’ll tell you that golf ostensibly is
a complicated science – the physics behind the perfect
swing, the parabolic flight of the ball, adjustments made to
compensate for wind resistance. And while chemistry might
not seem to be a factor, it was a mostly chemist team that
found the winning formula and who took the top prize
in Rosenstiel School’s fourth annual Alumni Golf Classic.
The 2006 tournament raised nearly $12,000 to benefit the
alumni fellowship, which funds new graduate students.
Top place honors went to the Marine Physical Chemistry
Group (which also included a marine biologist!), composed
of Drs. Frank Millero, Jerry Ault, David Kadko, and
student Adam Radich. For the second year in a row, they
25
also took the Rosenstiel School Insider’s Cup.
Team Eden Roc placed second and included Claus Meuller,
Mark Butcher, Ryan Hooper, and Sluggy Hemhauser. The
South Florida Water Management District Team, composed
of Humberto Alonso, Michael Palmero, Alberto Sosa, and
Scott Thorp, placed third. In last place was the Rosenstiel
School Wetlab Team, made up of students Deanna
Donohoue, Leo Llinas, Lyza Johnston, and Ian Zink.
Alumni fundraising aims to support the Rosenstiel School
Alumni Fellowship, awarded annually to an incoming
graduate student. The 2006 recipient was Jennifer Grimm
from the Division of Marine Affairs and Policy. p
Alumni Board
The board each year looks for ways to support the school’s
students and involve increasing numbers of alums. This
year’s board consisted of the following:
Jennifer Schull Johnson, president
Erica Rule, vice president
Stacy Reeder, secretary
Matthew Davis, past president
If you are an alum, and you want to get in on other fun
get-togethers and help support the Rosenstiel School,
contact [email protected]. p
Erica Rule (left),
Stacy Reeder
(middle), Jennifer
Schull Johnson
(right). Photo Credit:
Christian Howard.
26
Student Spotlight
Most students only dream
about skipping their regular science classes for a trip on the
open ocean to study sharks. In 2006, a group of high school
and undergraduate students got to live out that scenario by
helping scientists and graduate students at the Rosenstiel
School with ongoing local shark research and conservation
efforts. Collecting and analyzing shark data, students helped
monitor South Florida’s marine ecosystem while dispeling
public misconceptions about sharks.
The South Florida Student Shark Program (SFSSP) is
a multidisciplinary research and education program in
which Rosenstiel School professors and graduate students
expose high school students and undergraduates to marine
science field work. Students from South Broward High
and controlled their own Remotely Operated Vehicles
(ROV) fitted with cameras to film wild sharks in their
habitats. Students also helped examine the presence and
concentration of mercury in coastal sharks, characterize the
genetic structure of Florida shark species, the extent of gene
flow among sampling sites, determine the diet of coastal
sharks, and identify their important feeding sites.
After only its first year, a time for staff and administrators
to learn what works and what doesn’t for the program,
Rosenstiel scientists are optimistic for the future of the
SFSSP. The program has now teamed with local NGOs, the
Herbert W. Hoover Foundation and the Southern Florida
Chapter of the Explorers Club, as well as collaborating with
Biscayne National Park to generate information important
for managing and conserving the park’s natural resources.
Students partake in local research, conservation
School, the MAST Academy, and the University of Miami
worked cooperatively to understand South Florida’s coastal
sharks and associated mangrove communities in and
around Biscayne and Florida Bay. Public presentations
and data collected from the program were disseminated
to the scientific community and the general public
through journals, scientific reports and conferences, school
presentations, civic organizations, the media, and student
run websites.
Principal investigators from Rosenstiel School’s Division
of Marine Biology and Fisheries, Neil Hammerschlag, a
graduate student and assistant, and Dr. David J. Die, a
research associate professor, set up the program to provide
students with hands-on education and self-initiated research,
both in the lab and field. Supervised by world-class experts
in six major subject areas: biology, genetics, chemistry,
navigation, engineering and IT, students are trained in many
disciplines to encourage young scientists to pursue further
education in natural sciences.
For undergraduate and graduate
students, the program has multiple
benefits; furthering their continued
science education, while empowering
them to play a more active role in
the scientific preparation of younger
students. 150 students traveled
to key sites where they sampled
sharks and fishes as well as built
Above, Liz Dacko, University of Miami marine science major,
releases a lemon shark in Biscayne Bay after sampling. Photo
Credit: Neil Hammerschlag, MBF. Below, Hammerschlag secures
a nurse shark before sampling in Biscayne Bay. Photo Credit: Ted
Davis, South Broward High School
South Florida’s shark
populations and their
ecosystems continue to
decline for many reasons.
SFSSP research focuses on addressing these issues head on
while fostering student education and career development in
the marine sciences, environmental stewardship and marine
conservation. p
Student Awards
Rosenstiel School is proud
of all its student award winners. This annual report includes
short research profiles on three of the top student awards:
Melicie Desflots
Fritz Koczy Fellowship
Current research: Desflots’ dissertation focuses on the
physical processes involved in hurricane intensity changes.
Much progress
has been made
in hurricane
track forecasting,
however
forecasting storm
intensity is still
challenging
because scientists
are missing some
important pieces
in the puzzle
to understand
exactly how
environmental
factors and
hurricane internal dynamics affect intensity. With the
help of a high-resolution, state-of-the-art numerical
model developed at the Rosenstiel School, she is trying to
understand how different environmental factors, especially
vertical wind shear and surface heat fluxes, affect hurricane
intensity. Desflots and other scientists believe that if they
can understand how these factors impact hurricanes,
they can also improve numerical models for intensity
forecasting. p
Peter LaFemina
F.G. Walton Smith Prize
Current research: LaFemina studies plate boundary zones
and integrating geologic and geophysical data to solve
geodynamic
problems.
Specifically, he
uses GPS to
observe changes
in Earth’s
surface across
active faults,
fault systems,
and on active
volcanoes.
These data and
geologic and
geophysical
observations
build models
to better
understand
the processes
behind
lithospheric deformation. He currently is doing research in
Iceland, Central America, the western United States, and
Ecuador. p
Noel Gourmelen
Frank J. Millero Prize
Current research: Plate tectonics currently shapes the
western United States, causing earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, and slow,
continuous motions,
impossible to observe
with the naked eye.
Precise radar techniques
can measure ground
motion that moves
at literally only a few
millimeters per year in
the large geographic
area known as the
western Basin and
Range. With knowledge
of the deformation,
Gourmelen and other geologists pinpoint where seismic
and volcanic activity occurs using modeling. Also, the
observation of those phenomena – earthquakes, volcanic
activity, slow deformation – is often the only way to assess
the nature of the plate that forms the western United States
and the “rocks” that lie several tens of kilometers below the
surface. p
27
2006 Student Awards
Fritz Koczy Fellowship
Melicie Desflots, MPO
F.G. Walton Smith Prize: Best Ph.D.
dissertation
Peter LaFemina, MGG
Dean’s Prize:
Best M.S. thesis
Efthymios Serpetzoglou,
MPO
Frank J.
Millero Prize:
Best student
published paper
Noel Gourmelen, MGG
Alumni
Fellowship
Recipient
Jennifer Grimm, MAF
Mary Roche Fellowship
Qian Li, MAC
Don deSylva Memorial Award
Klaus Huebert, MBF
Edwin Iversen Student Award
for Aquaculture
Donald Bacoat, MAF
Rosenstiel School Fellows
Ian Enochs, MBF
Kelly Gibson, MGG
Yan Jiang, MGG
Wilson Mendoza, MAC
Joelle Verhagen, MAF
Xue Zheng, MPO
University of Miami Fellows
Mandy Karnauskas, MBF
Remy Okazaki, MBF
Kathryn Shulzitski, MBF
Maytag Fellows
Katherine Loftus, MBF
Royal Caribbean
International/Celebrity
Cruises Ocean Fund
Scholarship
Megan Stone, MAF
Cheryl Tatum, MAC
Photo Credit: Harold Wanless
28
Conservation on the Road
Climate change is an unavoidable fact of life – but our
ability to anticipate and cope with change has not been
predetermined…
--Tundi Agardy, “Impacts of Climate Change on Northeast
Waters: Long Island Sound through the Gulf of Maine,”
presented March 8, 2005 at the CT Science Center
Collaborative
From being lost at sea in Guinea Bissau in a leaking dugout
on her way to a remote, sacred turtle-nesting island,
to founding Sound Seas, a Maryland-based nonprofit
organization that promotes effective marine conservation
through science and sociology, Dr. Tundi Agardy has
traveled around the globe to educate herself and others
about environmental issues where people can effect
meaningful change.
While Agardy
has many
accolades to
her name,
29
one she can now add to her list is the 2006 Rosenstiel
Award for Outstanding Achievement and Distinction in
Oceanographic Science. The Rosenstiel School recognized
Agardy’s work this year in marine conservation and coastal
management and her role as an interface between public
policy and community-based conservation efforts.
Agardy’s research has spanned the globe, allowing her to
conduct field and policy work in Algeria, the Black Sea
region, Canada, Cape Verde, throughout the Caribbean,
Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Papua New
Guinea, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. International and regional
authorities have sought her input in coastal resource
management, marine protected area planning, fishery and
other resource management, and capacity building.
In 2005, she was the coordinating lead author for the
Rosenstiel Award recognizes scientist’s global impacts
seminal report, the Millennium Assessment,
synthesizing all marine findings of this
comprehensive report for the United
Nations Environment Programme to
create a useful document for agencies and
nongovernmental organizations involved in
marine conservation. A prominent expert
on marine protected areas, Agardy authored
a comprehensive treatise on the subject
and created an ecosystem services “toolkit”
for the Ecological Society of America to
help scientists communicate outside their
own community about jeopardized marine
ecosystems.
The Rosenstiel Award is designed to honor
scientists who, in the past decade, have made
significant and growing impacts in their field.
It’s an award targeted for researchers who, in
their early to mid-career stages, are already
making outstanding scientific contributions.
Through an endowment from the Rosenstiel
Foundation recognizing outstanding
marine scientists, Agardy was chosen under the award’s
rotation to the Marine Affairs and Policy division, the
Rosenstiel School’s social science unit offering links
between natural resource economics, political ecology
and marine anthropology, with those of ocean and coastal
law policy. p
From a work trip in the Galapagos, below, to underwater field
work, above, conducting a feasibility study for establishing a
research station (now in place) in the Palmyra Atoll, Tundi Agardy’s
conservation work has taken her around the globe. Photo Credits:
Maria Agardy (below) and Chuck Birkeland (above).
30
Explorer of the Seas
F. G. Walton Smith Scientists
If it weren’t for the satellites silently
There’s no place like your home
orbiting earth, sending continuous readings about the status
of Earth’s climate, oceans, and atmosphere, much of modern
marine science would be nearly impossible. Scientists have
found that satellites are wonderful tools for measuring Earth
systems, even things that can’t normally be “seen,” like seasurface temperatures. Sea-surface temperatures have become
an important part of monitoring climate changes, so not
surprisingly, these measurements demand accuracy.
On Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas,
Dr. Peter Minnett has found a way to validate satellite data
using the school’s unique, very efficient labs. An assortment
of researchers have worked aboard Explorer of the Seas,
which is outfitted with state-of-the-art labs that also include
a comparative analysis of scientific sampling techniques,
assessed Explorer’s own error probability when retrieving
sea-surface and atmospheric temperatures and humidity
distribution readings over the ocean. He then compared
Explorer’s lab measurements to those from instruments
on the NASA satellite Aqua taken when the satellite overflew the ship. The second study was similar to the first
but focused on the thin sea-surface “skin” temperatures
measured from the MODerate-resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometers (MODIS) on two NASA satellites,
Aqua and Terra. Minnett’s third project demonstrated the
deployment of autonomous skin sea surface temperature
radiometers for use on voluntary observing fleet ships.
It’s the combination of instruments that provides very
accurate skin sea-surface temperatures, radiosondes that
measure atmospheric
temperature and humidity,
and a microwave
radiometer that allow
Minnett to do his research
so successfully in this creative, unique lab setting. NASA and
the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP)
have funded these research projects. p
Scientist verifies sea temperature measurements
research equipment to explore and assess the accuracy of
satellite measurements and lead to improvements in how
space-borne data can be utilized.
Minnett’s primary research focus has been on satellite
remote sensing of the ocean. To ensure his satellite data
are correct, he validates them with other data sources, and
Explorer of the Seas has extraordinarily good equipment for
his work. Because the ship sails over essentially the same
track on its voyages, he is also able to take advantage of an
immense repetitive data source as well.
ship. Perhaps that should be the mantra of Dr. Robert
Cowen, who has done a wide array of larval billfish field
studies, thanks to the Rosenstiel School’s home research
vessel, the R/V F.G. Walton Smith.
While Cowen, professor and chair of the Division of Marine
Biology and Fisheries, has spent many a cruise in past years
collecting larval billfish, in 2006 he started to take his
research up another notch, testing new hi-speed imaging
equipment that will be used in future research voyages that
will allow new analyses right at sea. Cowen and his team
created the equipment themselves and will use it in 2007 for
further research.
Cowen’s previous
research aboard the
Walton Smith took
place over three years
as he studied the larval
dispersion of billfish in the upper layers of the ocean as
indicators of reproductive activity. Billfish, as one of the
most popular sportfish around, play heavily in the Florida
economy, so they have economic importance on top of just
being a good indicator species to Florida’s marine ecosystem.
Billfish are as well known for their giant size and terrific
fighting abilities when hooked as they are for being among
the top predators in the oceanic food chain. Unfortunately,
2006 Fast Facts
As a collaborative effort between the Rosenstiel School
and Royal Caribbean International – with funding from
NOAA and the Office of Naval Research – Explorer offers
scientists, research staff, and students unparalleled access to
labs that are out on the ocean 365 days a year. Minnett uses
these data and those of other ship-based research tools to
determine what sorts of studies these satellite measurements
can be used in, and ultimately improves, the accuracies
and range of applications available for such tools, especially
concerning
global climate
change.
80,000+ Cruise passengers who toured the labs
8,000+ Meteorological records due to continuous
164 Days the Walton Smith was at sea
96’ Length of the school’s state-of-the-art research
365 Days Explorer was at sea
280 Researchers who utilized Explorer’s unique labs
54 Cruises
2 Royal Caribbean International-donated cabins each
35 Number of days at sea with UM PIs
26 Total number of cruises
12 Cruises conducted by University of Miami
In 2006,
Minnett
applied the
equipment
onboard
Explorer to
three separate
research
projects. His
first project,
The data set collected aboard Explorer is one of the
most complex, unique, and longest in the world due
to the regional coverage achieved (110,000 nautical
miles per year) and the large number of complementary
measurements of the ocean and atmosphere. On board
researchers in 2006 represented academic institutions,
businesses like Boeing Corporation and ADA
Technologies, and government agencies, such as NOAA.
cruise for participating scientists and technicians
billfish, which encompass sailfish and blue and white marlin,
have diminished greatly, despite “no-take” laws along the
U.S. eastern seaboard. Recent research suggests a 90 percent
loss in the ocean’s top predatory fish. With billfish, the
problem of conservation is exacerbated because they tend
to be very mobile, thus they need protection all over the
Atlantic, not just U.S. shores. Additionally, scientists and
anglers actually know very little about their spawning,
growth, and behavior.
The Walton Smith’s netting capabilities provide convenient
and first-rate collection of delicate larva specimens. As
researchers learn more about billfish growth, development,
and reproduction, they can determine what might help fish
stocks to replenish — the ultimate research goal.
Cowen’s recent research focuses on the role of juvenile
New equipment speeds up larval billfish research
2006 Fast Facts
satellite communications with onshore facilities
31
catamaran
Principal Investigators (PI)
The Rosenstiel School’s primary research vessel, the F.G.
Walton Smith, named in honor of the school’s founder,
was designed specifically to meet the school’s research
specifications. In 2006, researchers with funding
principally from NSF, NOAA, and the U.S. Navy
took their science to the seas on the Walton Smith,
conducting instrument tests, ROV operations, or data
collection to support an assortment of research needs,
such as geophysics, biology, physical oceanography,
chemical oceanography, and biocomplexity.
habitat in the recruitment of fish, population connectivity
in marine fish, and the early life history dynamics of billfish.
His research has been conducted on both reef-related and
pelagic species throughout the Caribbean, along the East
Coast of the United States, California, and Mexico.
The Walton Smith is a state-of-the-art research catamaran
designed and built to meet the needs of Rosenstiel School
scientists and researchers. Since its creation, the Walton
Smith has served other academic institutions, private
research organizations, and governmental agencies such as
the U.S. Navy for their own research expeditions.
Funding for Cowen’s instrument testing comes from several
sources, including the National Science Foundation (NSF),
and the University of New Hampshire through a grant from
NOAA. p
32
Outreach
Throughout the year, Rosenstiel School
faculty, students, and staff, have opportunities to share
what they know with the local community. During the
summer, teacher and at-risk student programs help generate
enthusiasm for science in the Dade county public schools.
The school is involved in the ocean science Manatee
Bowl each year, hosting it every other year. And, there are
countless opportunities that bring children and adults onto
the campus, interacting with scientists and learning more
about the planet they live on.
Annual Underwater Photography Contest
The Rosenstiel School has made a name for itself as an
institution that values new ways to see the world around it.
In its second annual underwater photography contest, the
school saw a remarkable explosion of international interest.
Photographers from around the world submitted more
than 375 images to the competition to be judged in one of
three categories: “wide angle,” “macro,” and “fish or marine
animal portrait.”
Nearly all the finalists in this year’s selection hailed from
outside South Florida. With a team of professional
photographers and marine scientists as judges, the contest’s
top prize was awarded to David Kearnes of Kailua Kona,
Hawaii, a wildlife photographer and co-founder of the Kona
Underwater Photographic Society. Evan D’Alessandro,
a marine biology and fisheries graduate student, won the
student category for the second year in a row, but another
student, Neil Hammerschlag also won the “wide angle”
category. Other category winners were Patrick Weir
(“macro”) and Andre Seale, B.S. ’97, UM (“portrait”).
Sea Secrets
The Rosenstiel School and the Ocean Research and
Education Foundation expanded the highly acclaimed and
very popular (standing-room only!) lecture series, Sea Secrets
in 2006, taking it on the road. For the first time, residents in
Naples, Fla., were treated to three Sea Secrets lectures there,
thanks to a new relationship with the NCH Healthcare
System, the Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, and
Private Bank of Bank of America, which sponsored the
Immediate right, the 2006
underwater photography
contest winner. Photo Credit:
David Kearnes. (From top
to bottom) Macro 1st Place.
Photo credit: Patrick Weir.
Wide Angle 1st Place. Photo
credit: Neil Hammerschlag.
Portrait 1st Place. Photo
credit: Andre Seale. Best
Student Entry. Photo credit:
Evan D’Alessandro.
Financial Support
lecture expansion. The Rosenstiel School designed this
series of evening programs specifically for the non-scientific
community to learn more about our blue planet and to
meet distinguished scientists and exploreres from around the
world. p
The Rosenstiel School is one of the nation’s top oceanographic research and education institutions. A leader
in developing innovative partnerships with government, industry, and foundations, the school has had impressive success
in receiving funding for its proposals. Approximately one out of every two proposals submitted is awarded the requested
funding.
The Rosenstiel School ended 2006 with total research support at $54 million. Its external funding totaled $46.2 million, with
federal grants coming predominantly from the National Science Foundation, NOAA, Department of Defense, NASA, and
the National Institutes of Health. p
2006 external funding- $46.2M
2006 total support $54M
33
2006 Donor Honor Roll
Colleen F. Fain and
Richard D. Fain
Julia F. Gammon
Janis D. Prospero,
BLA ’01, MALS ’04,
and Dr. Joseph M.
Prospero
Pamela Reid, PHD
’85, and Jack W. Fell,
MS ’59, PHD ’65
Shirley S. Springer and
Dr. Victor G. Springer,
MS ’54
Nancy Van Coverden
and Tom Van
Coverden
$100,000 $249,999
Alfonso Fanjul
Virginia P. Storer, BBA
’51, and Peter Storer,
BBA ‘51
$50,000 $99,999
Arthur B. Choate, AB
‘70, JD ‘74
$25,000 $49,999
Joan Summerhays
Nicole Wang and
Myron Wang
$10,000 $24,999
Judith L. George and
Phillip T. George,
MD ‘65
Barbara Monroe and
Archie L. Monroe
Johann W. Scheidt
$5,000 $9,999
Ramona Brewer and
Harold Brewer
Martha H. Harrison
and Christopher G.
Harrison, Ph.D.
Stephanie J.
MacMahon, AB
’80, and Thomas F.
MacMahon, MD ’82
Eugenia B. McCrea
and W. Sloan McCrea
$2,500 $4,999
Ziad M. Samad, BBA
’93
$100 - $999
Lawrence G. Abele,
PHD ‘72
Sergio Akselrad
Lixion A. Avila, MS
‘84, PHD ‘93
Sathish
Balasubramanian, MS
‘95, PHD ‘98
Rosemarie C. BaronSzabo and Dennis M.
Opresko, BS ‘66, MS
‘70, PHD ‘74
Frederick M. Bayer,
BS ‘48
Michael J. Beach,
MA ‘01
Andrea Benetti and
Daniel D. Benetti,
PHD ‘93
Madelon Blaire and
Jay Blaire
Jon R. Buck, MS ‘70
Linda B. Burlingame
and Alvah Sharpe
Burlingame, AB ‘82
Joan D. Burns and
Thomas P. Burns,
Ph.D., MS ‘83
Diane W. Camber and
Isaac Camber, Ph.D.,
MS ‘54
Leanne J. Carter and
Robert W. Carter,
PHD ‘04
Elaine I. Chan, MS
‘76, and Peter N.
Hiebert, Esq.
Arlene J. Chaplin and
Wayne E. Chaplin,
BBA ’72, JD ’82
Andrew Chermak, BS
‘72, MS ‘79
Joan Feil Clancey,
MS ‘55
Christopher A. Cole,
Esq., MS ‘89
Andrew G. Costello,
MSCE ‘73
Daniel J. Cottrell,
PHD ‘89
William C.
Cummings, MS ‘60,
PHD ‘68
Amie Gimon Davis,
AB ’95, MA ’98, and
Captain Matt Davis,
BS ’95, MS ’98
Diane M. Della-Pietra
Zoe M. DeMason
and Laif J. DeMason,
MS ‘88
Evelyn Parks Dravis
and Dr. Jeffrey J.
Dravis, MS ‘78
Eleanor E. Eirls
William N.
Eschmeyer, MS ‘64,
PHD ‘67
Claudia M. Esker
and Dominic Esker,
PHD ‘98
Lynne A. Fieber, MS
‘83, PHD ‘90, and
Michael C. Schmale,
Ph.D.
Rana A. Fine, PHD
’75, and James S.
Mattson
Lisa Fitzgerald, MS
‘86, PHD ‘92
Donna M. Gannon
and Patrick T.
Gannon, Sr., PHD ‘77
Rolando R. Garcia, Jr.,
MS ‘74
Nancy J. Gassman,
PHD ‘92
William R. Gehring,
MS ‘69, PHD ‘73
Rosalie J. Goldberg
and Walter M.
Goldberg, PHD ‘73
David N. Gomberg,
Ph.D., MS ‘72
Lucien Gordon,
D.D.S.
Craig K.
Grossenbacher, BS ‘84
Susan R. Healy and
Darren G. Rumbold,
PHD ‘96
Mary Ann Hester,
BSED ‘66
Photo Credit: Jiangang Luo, MBF
$1,000 $2,499
Photo Credit: Ivy F. Kupec
$250,000 $499,999
Photo Credit: Frank Millero, MAC
The following lists the names of organizations and
individuals who donated $100 or more to the Rosenstiel
School of Marine and Atmospheric Science from June 1,
2005 to May 31, 2006. We are deeply grateful for their
partnership.
35
Photo Credit: Terry Pitman
34
Jossy P. Jacob, MS
’97, and Samuelraj D.
Jacob, PHD ‘00
Jiann Gwo Jiing, PHD
‘84
Elizabeth Johns and
William E. Johns,
Ph.D.
Constance C. Johnson,
BS ‘71, MS ‘74, and
Walter R. Johnson,
Ph.D., BS ‘72, MS ‘75
Donald R. Johnson,
PHD ‘74
Jennifer Schull
Johnson, AB ’97, MA
’00, and Colby M.
Johnson, AB ‘98
Donald A. Kaplan
Barry J. Katz, PHD ‘79
Dr. Junko Kazumi and
Dr. Steven G. Smith
Kristine M. Kelly and
Rafael J. Araujo, MA
‘98
Edward F. Klima, MS
‘59
Regina M. Krasny and
Edward J. Krasny, Jr.,
BS ‘77, PHD ‘81
Lourdes F. LaPaz and
Donald F. McNeill,
PHD ‘89
David Leblang
Suzanne B. Lepple and
Frederick K. Lepple,
BS ‘67, MS ‘71
Manuel Lonfat, PHD
‘05
Silvia B. Maciel
and Jose HenriqueNobrega Leal, PHD
‘90
Cecile Mactaggart
Joan Randall Mason
and Allen S. Mason,
PHD ‘74
Christine A. Miller,
MS ‘81, and Geoffrey
J. Picard
Kimberly J. Miller and
Andrew M. Miller,
AB ‘82
Marta MilleroQuincoses, BBA ‘95,
and Andres Quincoses,
Jr.
Beverly A. Mixson and
William T. Mixson,
M.D., BS ‘46
Steven A. Morin
Jan C. Potdevin
Munier and Robert S.
C. Munier, MS ‘76
Dr. David S. Nolan, Jr.
Elaine Pappas-Graber
and Dr. Hans C.
Graber
Claire B. Paris, Ph.D.,
M.S. ’87, and Ricardo
R. Paris, MA ‘92
Scott J. Perdigon
Katherine S. Pillsbury,
D.V.M., MS ’84 and
Dale R. Sogge, BSME
‘82
Verna P. Powell and
David M. Powell
Frances L. Provenzano
and Anthony
Provenzano, Jr., MS
‘58, PHD ‘62
John D. Riege, MS ‘74
Martin A. Roessler, BS
‘61, MS ‘64, PHD ‘67
Carol Roffer and
Mitchell A. Roffer,
PHD ‘87
Carolyn D. Rossinsky
and Victor Rossinsky,
MS ‘84, PHD ‘90
Mary J. Rubley and
Earl G. Rubley
Erica Rule, MA ‘99,
and Lance Rule
Alan Schneyer, MS
‘80, PHD ‘84
Kenneth R. Schultz
Sally A. Shay, Ph.D.,
and Dr. Lynn K. Shay
David G. Smith, MS
‘67, PHD ‘71
Dr. Sharon L. Smith
Margaret O. Sowell,
M.D., and Robert P.
Aftring, M.D., MS ‘79
Ashwanth Srinivasan,
PHD ‘00, MS ‘03
Susan W. Swakon and
Edward A. Swakon, Jr.,
MSOE ‘77
Dr. Nancy McKeever
Targett, MSCE ’75,
and Timothy E.
Targett, Ph.D., MS ‘75
James A. Vallee, MS
‘63, PHD ‘65
Wesley F. Van Leer and
John C. Van Leer
Nancy A. Voss, MS ‘54
Patricia R. Wallace
and Milton J. Wallace,
BBA ‘56, JD ‘59
Susan E. Walsh and
Patrick J. Walsh,
Ph.D., BS ‘75
Carolyn J. Westman
and Carl E. Westman,
JD ‘69
Elizabeth J. Williams,
MS ‘83
Lois J. Willoughby and
Hugh E. Willoughby,
PHD ‘77
Myong Hee Choo
Yang and Won Tack
Yang, BS ‘55, MS ‘57,
PHD ‘67
Jean T. Yehle
Frances W. Yokel and
Bernard J. Yokel, MS
‘66, PHD ‘83
ASSOCIATIONS
American Association
of University Women
The Greater Miami
Billfish Tournament
Marine Technology
Society
Miami-Dade County
Fair & Exposition, Inc.
Southeastern
Universities Research
Association
United Way of MiamiDade County, Inc.
Woods Hole
Oceanographic
Institution
CORPORATIONS
Acquaculture SC
American Chemical
Society Petroleum
Institute
American Museum of
Natural History
Anheuser-Busch
Aquaculture Center of
the Florida Keys, Inc.
Aquavations
Corporation
Atladis U.S.A., Inc.
Bermuda Biological
Station for Research,
Inc.
Bonefish & Tarpon
Unlimited, Inc.
Brogan & Partners
Brookhaven National
Laboratory
ChevronTexaco*
Citigroup*
Copper Development
Association
Doubletree Hotels
EAS Engineering, Inc.
Ecotox
Environmental
Defense Fund
ExxonMobil
Corporation*
Fidelity Charitable
Gift Fund*
Fisherama, Inc.
Florida Crystals
Corporation
General Oceanics, Inc.
Greater Miami Jewish
Federation
Gulf States Marine
Fisheries
Hydroqual Inc.
Illinois Institute of
Technology
International Creative
Management, Inc.
International Copper
Research Association
International Lead
Zinc Research
Organization, Inc.
Key Biscayne Travel
Luminex Corporation
M.S.P. Electric, Inc.
Mad Venture, Inc.
Miami Museum of
Science & Space
Transit Planetarium
National Research
Defense Council
The Nature
Conservancy
Nova Southeastern
University
Oceanographic
Consultants
Office Interiors of
Florida
Padron Cigars
Prime Properties
Realty, Inc.
Prince William Sound
Oil Spill Recovery
Institute
Prince William Sound
Science Center
Qualified Alarms, Inc.
Raytheon Company
Resources for the
Future
Roffer’s Ocean Fishing
Forecasting Service,
Inc.
Royal Caribbean
Cruises, Ltd.
Sanctuary Friends of
the Florida Keys
Science Applications
International
Corporation
SeaSpace
Shell International
Exploration &
Production, Inc.
Southern Wine &
Spirits America, Inc.
Stanford Development
Company, Ltd.
Tyco International,
Ltd.
University of North
Carolina Wilmington
Universities Space
Research Association
FOUNDATIONS
The Applebaum
Foundation, Inc.
The Cove Point
Foundation
Dow Corning
Foundation*
ExxonMobil
Foundation*
Jefferson Lee Ford III
Memorial Foundation,
Inc.
Henry Foundation,
Inc.
Herbert W. Hoover
Foundation
The Korein
Foundation
McCrea Foundation
Gordon & Betty
Moore Foundation
Mostyn Foundation,
Inc.
The Curtis & Edith
Munson Foundation
Alex G. Nason
Foundation, Inc.
National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation
Ocean Research &
Education Foundation
David & Lucile
Packard Foundation
The Pew Charitable
Trusts*
The George B. Storer
Foundation, Inc.
Texas Instruments
Foundation*
The G. Unger Vetlesen
Foundation
* Matching gift
organization
The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
also extends its sincere appreciation to all those volunteers
who have contributed so much of their time and efforts
to the school and those organizations who also provided
matching gifts.
Honor roll information has been carefully reviewed;
nevertheless, errors or omissions may occur. If your
name does not appear or is listed incorrectly, please
accept our apologies. Inquiries or corrections should be
directed to University Advancement, (305) 284-8673.
Vallierre
Deleveaux
Bristol
Denlinger
Melicie
Desflots
Aida Diaz
Isabel Diaz
Mara Diaz
David Die
Pedro DiNezio
Anthony
DiSilvestro
Pedro Diu
Nezio
Jacqueline
Dixon
Timothy H.
Dixon
Mark Donelan
Deanna
Donohoue
Daniel
Doolittle
Phaedra
Doukakis
Courtney
Drayer
Will Drennan
Katherine
Drew
Eliseo Duarte
Sue Ebanks
Gregor P. Eberli
K. Michelle
Edwards
Nelson
M.Ehrhardt
Ian Enochs
Margaret Evans
Robert Evans
Sarah Fain
Desiderio
Fajardo
Charles Farmer
Nicholas
Farmer
Jack W. Fell
Christian
Ferdinand
Aaron Feuer
Lynne A. Fieber
Jerome Fiechter
Richard Findley
Rana A. Fine
Elizabeth Fish
Mark Fitchett
Mary Fitts
Joseph Fleischer
Lora Fleming
Carlos Fonseca
Roberto Fonseca
William Forsee
Elizabeth Forteza
Mariana Framinan
Garin Freitas
Sarah Frias-Torres
Jennifer Fritz
Norma Gamez
Photo Credit: PEW Institute of Ocean Science
37
Photo Credit: Harold Wanless
Marella Bradway
Larry E. Brand
Marilyn Brandt
Norman Breuer
Jodi Brewster
Frances Bringas
Gutierrez
Ayeisha Brinson
Kenneth Broad
James W. Brown.
John E. M. Brown
John W. Brown
Michael G.Brown
Otis B. Brown
Stacy Brown
Elizabeth A. Bruce
Alan Buck
Lucia Bunge
Matt Buoniconti
Robert Burgman
Hector Bustos
Enrique Cabral-Cano
Victor Cabrera
Maria Elena Calderin
Mariela Calderin
Ann Campbell
Thomas Capo
Stephen Carlson
Annabelle Carney
Jean Carpenter
Hector (Nick)
Carrasco
Michael Caruso
Gustavo Carvalho
Tania Gil Duarte Casal
Guy Cascella
Guilherme Castelao
Fernando Cavalin
Sigfrido F. Celestino
Perapon (Peter)
Chaibongsai
Janet Chaleff
Yeon Chang
Mareva Chanson
Betrand Chapron
Eric P. Chassignet
Shuyi S.Chen
Wenhao Chen
Laurent M.Cherubin
Toshio (Mike) Chin
Angela Clark
Amy Clement
Penny Cohen
Manuel Collazo
Arnout Colpaert
Angela Compton
Wade Cooper
Thiago Correa
Robert Cowen
David Cox
Douglas Crawford
Maria Criales
Francisco Cruz
Donald D. Cucchiara
Lillian Custals
Marie Cuvelier
Evan D’Alessandro
Carol Daniels
Harry A. DeFerrari
Brooke Gintert
Art Gleason
Peter W. Glynn
Polita Glynn
Sarah Goff-Tlemsani
Rafael Gonzalez
Vanessa Gonzalez
Kristen Goodrich
Kelly Goodwin
Noel Gourmelen
Chenglin Gan
Lillian Garcia
Rigoberto Garcia
Zulema Garraffo
Ana Gaspar
Marcus Gatto
Felimon Gayanilo
Chelle Gentemann
Donald W Gentile
Janet Genz
Robert Gerdes
Virendra Ghate
Rebekah Gibble
Patrick D Gibbs
Kelly Gibson
Brian Giebel
John Gifford
Philip Gillette
Robert N. Ginsburg
Photo Credit: Colin O’Dowd
Vera Agostini
Layaan Al-Kharusi
Bruce A. Albrecht
Rebecca Albright
Maria-Lourdes Aldana
Brenton Alexander
Ramon Alfonso
Marcia Almeida
Falk Amelung
Matthew Amster
Michael Anderson
Miriam Andres
Bachir Annane
Sandrine Apelbaum
Lemnuel Aragones
Efrian Aranda
Rafael Araujo
Fredi Arthur
Elliot Atlas
Zachary Atlas
Ellsworth Augustus
Jerald S. Ault
Elizabeth Babcock
Donald Bacoat
Gregor Baechle
Andrew Baker
Michael Scott Baker
Tiffen Baker
Andrew Bakun
Rolando Balotro
Mayleen Baluja
Inkweon Bang
Wendy Banta
Patria Viva Banzon
Ana Bardales
Warner Baringer
Ruben Barreiro
Thomas Barry
Grant Basham
Dieter Bauer
Lisa Beal
Keir Becker
Mustapha Ben-Taout
Daniel Benetti
George Berberian
Robert Berg
Francisco Beron-Vera
Anne Katherine Berry
Dinah Berry
John Berry
Johann Besserer
Ranjeet Bhagooli
Aric Bickel
Gretchen Bielmyer
Joseph Bishop
Patricia Blackwelder
Jay Blaire
Jonathan Blanchard
Yanira Blanco-Oliveras
Catherine Bliss
Francine Bobroff
Darek Bogucki
Christopher Boland
Jessica Bolson
Boone-Rankin
Lizett Bowen
Emily Bowlin
Albert Boyd
Laura Bracken
Faculty, Staff, Student Listing 2006
Photo Credit: EVan D’Alessandro
36
Hans C. Graber
Malcolm J. Graham
Mark J. Graham
Taylor Graham
Charlene Grall
Lewis Gramer
Mark Grasmueck
David Grasso
Marilyn Greene
Mayda Greer
Silvia Gremes-Cordero
Annalisa Griffa
Jennifer Grimm
Martin Grosell
Samuel H.Gruber
Scott A Guhin
Cedric Guigand
Lisa E. Gundlach
Rafael Gutierrez
Thomas Hahn
George R. Halliwell Jr.
Vicki M. Halliwell
Neil Hammerschlag
Dennis Hansell
James Happell
Christopher G.
A. Harrison
Corinne Hartin
Sidney Hartley
Martha Hauff
Brian Haus
Angelique C. Haza
Amit Hazra
Guo Qing He
Genevieve Healy
Elizabeth Henshaw
Silvia Hernandez
Cinthia Herrera
Gary L.Hitchcock
Gena Hockensmith
Ronald Hoenig
Julie Hollenbeck
Akos Horvath
Fen Huang
Xiaolan Huang
Alice Hudder
Klaus Huebert
Tony Hynes
Denis Ilias
Mehmet Ilicak
Katerie
“Katie”Inderbitzen
Gay A.Ingram
Mohamed Iskandarani
Miguel Angel Izaguirre
Kelly Jackson
Benjamin Jaimes de
la Cruz
Michael L.Jankulak
Da Hai Jeong
Ieng Jo
William E. Johns
Lindsey Johnson
Lyza Johnston
David Jones
Robert L. Jones
David C Kadko
Heesook Kang
Atul Kapur
Mandy Karnauskas
David Katz
Edward Kearns
Christopher Kelble
Patrick Kelly
David Kerstetter
Erica L. Key
Kay Kilpatrick
Sang Wan Kim
James Klaus
Kristin Kleisner
Veronique Koch
Johnathan Kool
Vassiliki Kourafalou
Lindsey
(Katherine)Kramer
Philip Kramer
Ajoy Kumar
Ivy Kupec
Tammy Laberge
MacDonald
Marcelo Lago
Shawn Lake
Kathryn LambWozniak
Mairi Bryn Lamont
Peter Lane
Chris Langdon
Monica Lara
Michael Larkin
Kevin D Leaman
Ayn Lee Sing
Sang-Ki Lee
Thomas N. Lee
Justin Lerner
David Letson
Roger Lhermitte
Angel Li
Qian Li
Diego Lirman
Jenny Litz
Leopoldo Llinas
Joel Llopiz
Katherine Loftus
Marva Loi
Joecelis Lopez
Sandra Lopez
Jose Lorenzo
James Lovin
Carla Lovinsky
Alexander Lowag
Joe Lucas
Noelle Lucey
Yanxin Luo
Jiangang Luo
Susan MacMahon
Marcello Magaldi
Edward Mager
Sharanya J. Majumdar
Elizabeth Maldonado
Paul Mallas
Damianos Mantsis
Derek Manzello
Brian Mapes
Carolyn Margolin
Arthur J. Mariano
Jorge Martinez-Pedraja
Jose Martinez
Benjamin Mason
Juan Mate
Joseph Mathews
Jeremy Mathis
Silvia Matt
Walter (Chip) Maxwell
Patricia May-Archuleta
Ashley McCrea
M. Danielle
McDonald
Melany McFadden
Michael McGauley
Florizel McKenzie
Greta McKenzie
Miguel McKinney
Tim McLean
John McManus
Donald F. McNeill
Ralph Mead
Nelson Melo
Sarah K. Meltzoff
Ciani Mendez
Wilson Mendoza
Yudannia Mendoza
Avis Miller
Kimberly Miller
Frank J. Millero
Peter Minnett
Christos Mitas
Amy Miyake
Heike Moehlig
Helena Molina-Urena
Jonathan Molina
Maria Monsalve
Mary Montes
Christopher Mooers
Yumin Moon
Cynthia A. Moore
Fernando Moreno
Tanos (Tony) Elfouhaily (1968-2006)
On July 26, 2006, the Rosenstiel School lost
one of its brightest members. Tony’s sudden
passing, so early in his life, was a tragedy to all
of us at the Rosenstiel School and the science
community, at large.
Tony was born in Lebanon, where he received
the Baccalauréat-C degree in physics and general
sciences from Sacré-Coeur school. He then
received the DEUG-A (B.Sc.) degree from
Université Paris-XIII and his DEA (M. Sc.) and
Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from Université
Paris-VII for his work on remote sensing of the
ocean.
Following his doctoral studies, Tony carried out
a postdoc at NASA Goddard and the Applied
Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins
University. This was followed by two years as
senior staff physicist at APL. During his years
at APL, Tony worked on a variety of problems
related to electromagnetic scattering and
nonlinear wave theory. Tony then returned to
France as a researcher at the Centre National
de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in the
field of remote sensing and turbulence in
fluid mechanics of nonlinear media. In 2004,
he joined the Rosenstiel School as associate
professor of applied marine physics. p
Elizabeth Wheaton
Samantha Whitcraft
Sean White
Jesse Wicker
Karen Wilkening
Jorge F. Willemsen
Debra Willey
Dean Williams
Elizabeth J. Williams
Neil Williams
Kathleen Willis
Paul T Willis
Herman Wirshing
Christopher Wood
Sarah Woods
Alexandra Worden
Xinglong Wu
Xiangdong Xia
Hua Xie
Xiaobiao Xu
Tokuo Yamamoto
Huiqin Yang
Fengchao Yao
Qi Yao
Aletta Yniguez
Lauren Zamora
Javier Zavala-Garay
Chidong Zhang
Fei Zhang
Jun Zhang
Wei Zhao
Xue Zheng
Xiaorong Zhu
Rod G. Zika
Ian Zink
Paquita Zuidema
Natalia Zurcher
Photo Credit: Jerry Ault
Greta Swart
Peter K. Swart
Goshka Szczodrak
Liana TalaueMcManus
Adele S. Tallman
Cheryl Tatum
Barrie F. Taylor
Josi Taylor
Paul Teare
Veronica Tejeda
Gary Thomas
Lynette Tilden
Jayme Timberlake
Tina Ting
Megan Tinsley
Maria Tobon
Joseph Tomoleoni
Flavia Tonioli
Zafer Top
Bonnie Townsend
John Michael Trapp
Raphael Tremblay
Daniel Trimarco
Michael Tubman
Raymond Turner
Douglas Tyrrell Sr.
Douglas Tyrrell Jr.
Stephen Uchino
Ilya
Udovydchenkov
Eric W. Uhlhorn
Kate Upton
Chris Uyeda
Krystal Valde
Gayl Van De Bogart
Jacobus Van de
Kreeke
John C. Van Leer
Jeff Van Wye
John Vanilla
Shauna Vargas
Meredith VaughanEverett
Clemence Veauvy
Victor Velas
Joelle Verhagen
Peter S. Vertes
Teresita Villamor
Maria Villanueva
Brigitte Vlaswinkel
Jeff Vogel
Daniel Voss
Nancy Voss
Robert Waara
Amanda Waite
Patrick J. Walsh
Susan Walsh
John Walter
John D.Wang
Mei Wang
David Wanless
Lynnette
Washington
Shimon Wdowinski
Ralf Weger
Aaron Welch
Rory Welsh
Robert Westcott
Photo Credit: Ayeisha Brinson
Rocio Rivera
Vicente Rodriguez
Cecilia Roig
Adrienne Romanski
Claes G. H. Rooth
Juan Rosado
Bruce R. Rosendahl
Michele M. Rowand
Angel Ruiz
Edward Ryan
Irina Rypina
Alberto Sabater
Anna Sade
Amel Saied
Frances E. Sampedro
Geoffrey Samuels
Christine Santora
Bruno Sardenberg
Steven Saul
Ivan Savelyev
Rafael Schiller
Michael C. Schmale
Gina Schmalzle
Cory Schroeder
Kathryn Schulzitski
Gloria Scorzetti
Cinda Scott
Kathryn Sellwood
Joseph Serafy
Xaymara Serrano
Jason Seuc
Monte Shalett
L. K. (Nick) Shay
Dilip Shinde
Akhiro Shiroza
Manoj Shivlani
Simona Simoncelli
Christopher
Sinigalliano
Laurence B. Smith
Ned Smith
Ryan H Smith.
Sharon L. Smith
Steven G. Smith
Thomas R. Snowdon
Richard Snyder
Brian Soden
Nitzan Soffer
Daniel Solis
Marlen Sotolongo
Joanie Splain
Su Sponaugle
Ashwanth Srinivasan
Elliott Stark
Aubri Steele
Andrew Stefanick
Kaitlin Steiger-Meister
Ashley “Loren”
Stephens
Mark Stephens
Daniel Stern
Lesley W. Stokes
Dustin Stommes
Megan Stone
Colleen Stovall
Kevin F Sullivan
Daniel O. Suman
Donatto Surratt
Dione Swanson
39
Photo Credit: Evan D’Alessandro
Nirva Morisseau-Leroy
Valerie Mueller
Doreen Murray
James H. Natland
Jose Navarrete
Karen J. Neher
Hien Ba Nguyen
Ilya Nikanorov
David Nolan
Barbara Noziere
Robyn O’Reilly
Remy Okazaki
Maria Olascoaga
Marjorie Oleksiak
Richard Oleson
Donald B. Olson
Refik Orhun
Peter Ortner
Derek Ortt
Batuhan Osmanoglu
H. Gote Ostlund
Sonia Otero
Robert Otto
Kimberly Outerbridge
Jean Overton
Tamay Ozgokmen
David Painemal
Kevin Palmer
Claire Paris-Limouzy
James Parker
Andrew Parks
Mariana Pedroso
Ge Peng
Anthony (Tony) Perez
Hartmut Peters
Nicholas Peters
Larry C. Peterson
Maaike Petrie
Denis Pierrot
Ellen Pikitch
Dora Pilz
Lisa Pitman
Noah Planavsky
Guillermo Podesta
Abigail Porter
David Powell
Joseph Prospero
Jennifer Rahn
Ramos Rafael
Roberta Rand
Eugene Rankey
Eric Rappin
Grant Tucker Rawson
Douglass Ray
Leah Ray
Pallav Ray
Michael Rebozo
Jessica Redman
Stacey Reeder
Lisa Regensburg
Denair T. Reid
R. Pamela Reid
Patrick Rice
William Richards
David Richardson
Daniel Riemer
Rick Riera-Gomez
Emily Riley
Scott Ritter
Faculty, Staff, Student Listing 2006
Photo Credit: Dan Afzal
38
University of Miami
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Fla. 33149
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu