FSU Department of Oceanography
Newsletter
No. 30 Spring/Summer 2006
Inside this issue:
St. Laurent studies turbulence in the China Sea
Staff: Alan Michels Joins the Instrument Shop
Around the OSB
Professional Activities
Travel
Alumni
Degrees Conferred
Honors
A View from the Bridge Under the Chair's Desk
St. Laurent studies turbulence in the China Sea
Last year, Lou St. Laurent (right) spent 15 days in the South China Sea collecting physical
measurements of waves and turbulence in the waters off Taiwan and China. Along with his research
group, Kevin Speer and Peter Lazarevich, he worked with his Taiwanese colleagues from the National
Taiwan University in Taipei and the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung on the research
vessel OR1. The group enjoyed working together, although the meals on board ship were often not
very palatable. They used several profiling systems for measuring turbulence in the ocean interior.
For profiling in coastal regions, a light-weight system deployed on a tether and controlled by a
winch was generally used. For deep-water measurements, they used a newly developed, heavy weight
system called the "DMP" (Deep Microstructure Profiler), which is not tethered to the ship.
The research group's near-future work includes research cruises to the Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge off the Azores, and the East Pacific Rise. The group will return to the South China Sea in April of 2007.
The research group used a newly developed heavy-weight system for deep water
measurements called the "DMP" (Deep Microstructure Profiler), an autonomous sampling system with no tether
to the ship. It was designed for FSU by Rockland Scientific of Victoria, British Columbia and is a
state-of-the-art instrument system.
Peter Lazarevich uses the winch to control a light-weight profiling system for
measuring turbulence in the ocean interior along the coastal region.
The food served on the ship was often not very palatable, so Lou and Peter would find
other meal accommodations. A typical meal on the ship.
Lou St. Laurent enjoying the hospitality of Taiwanese society at the fish
market.
Staff
Alan Michels Joins the Instrument Shop
Alan Michels has been with the Department of Oceanography for 3 years, however, you may not
have seen him around until recently. That's because until December when he accepted the position of
engineer with the Instrument Shop, he worked at the FSU Marine Lab growing algae and copepods for
Nancy Marcus.
Alan has a knack for fixing anything mechanical including an ancient ice maker and water fountains so old they no longer have parts made for them. You may have noticed the elegant new lighting in the display cases on the third and fourth floors - that is Alan's doing. (It turned out to be more work than he expected due to the ancient electrical wiring.)
Have you noticed a theme to this story yet? The building is ancient and in desperate need of repairs.
In his spare time, Alan enjoys restoring antique motorcycles. He rides a BMW motorcycle and is currently restoring an antique side-car motorcycle. He also practices tai chi chuan and runs in the occasional 5K race to stay in shape.
Alan loves botany and received his BS in Environmental Science from FSU in 2001.
Before moving to Tallahassee, Alan lived in Fort Lauderdale and worked for Tracor Marine as a ship husbandry technician. He was responsible for producing ship-repair equipment for the Navy, developing hydraulic tools so ships could make repairs while at sea.
Other jobs on Alan's diverse resume include: range officer at a public shooting range, mechanic, and welder. His experience makes him a perfect fit for the department. He enjoys fixing and restoring antique machines and the department has plenty of those here to keep him happy for quite awhile.
Around the OSB
Welcome
The Department of Oceanography would like to welcome our newest faculty member, Eric Chassignet. Chassignet will be a full professor in physical oceanography and will become director of the Center for Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Studies (COAPS) upon the retirement of Jim O'Brien. His wife, Lucia Bunge, will be a postdoc.
Congratulations
The Hanse Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany, have awarded Joel Kostka a sabbatical fellowship to support his research for one year from August 2006 to August 2007. The title of his fellowship project is "The Biogeochemistry and Microbiology of Nitrogen Removal from Permeable Sediments." He will collaborate with other fellows at the Hanse Institute as well as scientists from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Oldenburg in Germany. The fellowship will support part of his salary and all of the living expenses for his family during their one-year stay in Germany.
In the News
An op-ed article written by Jeff Chanton entitled, "Scientists See a Solution to Global Warming," was published on February 18, 2006 in the Tampa Tribune. The article explained Chanton's research on the use of biocovers in landfills to reduce methane emissions, one of the most hazardous of the greenhouse gases.
Thorsten Dittmar's research on mangroves and their importance to the global ocean's biosphere was the focus of a recent American Geophysical Union (AGU) news release. A synopsis of his paper "Mangroves Importance and Decline Studied" published in the current issue of Global Biogeochemical Cycles, a publication of the AGU, was picked up and featured on several science-news websites.
Markus Huettel, coordinator of the international European research project, COSA, Coastal Sands as Bio-catalytic Filters, organized the final workshop of the project in Bremen, Germany on December 19-21, 2005. The COSA work continues with manuscript writing.
Representing the Department
Bill Dewar attended the CORE (Consortium for Oceanographic Re-search and Education) Board of Governors meeting in Washington, DC on March 7-9, 2006.
Fellowship Award
Rachel Younge is one of 35 new or current graduate students to receive an FSU Fellowship for 2006. The fellowship provides a stipend, a tuition waiver, and a health insurance supplement so students can devote their full attention to their academic studies.
Professional Activities
New Grants
William Dewar
National Science Foundation
$734,812 (2004-2009)
"Collaborative Research: CLIMODE"
Thorsten Dittmar and Markus Huettel
FSU Research Foundation Equipment and Infrastructure Enhancement Grant
$44,178 (2005-2006)
"Funding request for the purchase of an organic carbon/nitrogen analyzer for liquid and
solid environmental samples"
William Landing
National Science Foundation
$320,229 (2006-2008)
"Trace element analysis of aerosol and seawater samples collected on the A16N, P02, and P16S
CLIVAR cruises"
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
$24,900 (2006-2007)
"Apalachicola NERRS nutrient project"
University of West Florida
$70,585 (2005-2007)
"Atmospheric deposition of mercury and trace metals to the Pensacola Bay watershed"
Steve Morey and James O'Brien
DeepStar Consortium
$75,000 (April 2006-Sept. 2006)
"Development of a model of strong currents near the Sigsbee Escarpment"
Florida DEP
$45,000 (2006-2007)
"Analysis of the variability of Apalachicola Bay water properties in response to variations
in the Apalachicola River discharge rate"
Invited Presentations
William Burnett
"Biogeochemical significance of submarine groundwater discharge"
Research Institute for Humanity & Nature, Kyoto, Japan
October 19, 2005
"Assessing groundwater discharge via radon and radium isotopes"
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
December 8, 2005
"Tracing groundwater discharges off the Kona coast of Hawaii via natural radioisotopes" and
"Exchange in the Yellow River estuary/Bohai Sea system via radium isotopes"
AGU-ASLO/Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI
February 19-24, 2006
William Dewar
"Slow nonhydrostatic flow and balanced energetics"
AGU-ASLO/Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI
February 19-24, 2006
Markus Huettel
"Spatial and temporal patterns of sediment-water exchange processes in nearshore environments"
18th Biennial Conference of the Estuarine Research Federation, Norfolk, Virginia
October 16-20, 2005
"Fluid and particle transport at the shallow sea floor"
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute, FSU
December 5, 2005
Joel Kostka
"Working group on microbial community analysis"
U.S. DOE-NABIR Field Research Center Workshop, Oak Ridge, TN, Invited to Chair Session as
Working Group Leader
October 2005
"Microbial Fe(III) reduction: Coupling biogeochemistry with microbiology to determine process
controls in aquatic sediments"
231st American Chemical Society National Meeting, Division of Geochemistry, Atlanta, GA
March 2006
"Microbial diversity and activity in permeable sands of coastal marine ecosystems"
Biology Department., University of South Carolina
March 2006
Publications
Dulaiova, H., R. Peterson, W.C. Burnett, and D. Lane-Smith, 2005. A multi-detector continuous monitor for assessment of 222Rn in the coastal ocean. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 263(2), 361-365.
Dittmar, T., N. Hertkorn, G. Kattner, and R.J. Lara, 2006. Mangroves, a major source of dissolved organic carbon to the oceans. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20, GB1012.
Koch, B.P. and T. Dittmar, 2006. From mass to structure: An aromaticity index for high-resolution mass data of natural organic matter. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 20, 926-932.
Huettel, M., C. Wild, S. Gonelli, 2006. Mucus trap in coral reefs: Formation and temporal evolution of particle aggregates caused by coral mucus. Marine Ecology - Progress Series, 307, 69-84.
Franke, U., L. Polerecky, E. Precht, M. Huettel, 2006. Wave tank study of particulate organic matter degradation in permeable sediments. Limnology and Oceanography, 51(2), 1084-1096.
Koretsky, C., P. Van Cappellen, T. DiChristina, J.E. Kostka, C. Lowe, C. Moore, A. Roychoudhury, E. Voillier, 2005. Salt marsh pore water geochemistry does not correlate with microbial community structure. Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science, 62, 233-251.
Brown, M.T., W.M. Landing, and C.I. Measures, 2005. Dissolved and particulate Fe in the western and central North Pacific: Results from the 2002 IOC Cruise. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 6(10), 1-20.
Miller, C.B., J.A. Crain, N.H. Marcus, 2005. Seasonal variation of male-type antennular setation in female Calanus finmarchicus. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 301, 217-229.
Richmond, C., N.H. Marcus, C. Sedlacek, G.A. Miller, C. Oppert, 2006. Hypoxia and seasonal temperature: Short-term effects and long-term implications for Acartia tonsa Dana. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 328, 177-196.
Sturges, W., 2005. Deep exchange between the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. pp 263-278, in, Circulation of the Gulf of Mexico. Monograph 161, American Geophysical Union, W. Sturges and Alexis Lugo-Fernandez, eds, 360 pp + CD appendix.
Travel
David Thistle, as part of his Department of Energy-sponsored research on the effects of sequestering industrial carbon dioxide on the animals of the deep-sea floor, participated in two research cruises. In December, former student Kevin Carman and Thistle joined colleagues from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in deploying ~100 liters of liquid carbon dioxide on the seafloor at 3600 m depth off central California. In January, they sampled the area exposed to the plume of carbon dioxide-rich water that they created and a control area. In additional to their usual procedures, they collected samples for graduate student Erin Easton's molecular studies on the biogeographic ranges of deep-sea species. Her results will be important in gauging the amount of extinction that will occur if carbon dioxide sequestration on the deep-sea floor ever becomes a reality.
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In February, William Landing's research group went on their fourth, and final, Climate Variability (CLIVAR) Repeat Hydrography Cruise, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal is to measure the "invasion" of anthropogenic CO2 into the oceans. They are measuring iron in aerosol dust, Cliff Buck, and dissolved iron speciation in the water, Paul Hansard. Left: Paul gets a "haircut" from Cliff and Bill during the equator crossing ceremony.
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Bill Burnett (above top), Isaac Santos (in cave), and Ricky Peterson (#16 in boat, right) spent a week in February studying groundwater discharge along the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, working in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Hawaii.
Alumni News
Where are they now?
Steve Wolfe (MS 1987)
My experience [at FSU] was probably different than most since I returned as an older, married grad student at the decrepit age of 33. I had spent a year working on FSU's oceanographic research vessel Tursiops immediately after my undergrad years. I also worked in mariculture research, construction of dry submarines, decompression chambers, and diving bells, and immediately before my acceptance at FSU Oceanography a governmental environmental laboratory. My funding source dried up a month before I started, and I ended up working my way through my graduate years with non-FSU contract work from MMS and USFWS.
Atypical as I might have been, I valued the camaraderie among the students, everyone's shared focus and shared gripes. Cruises are, of course, always highlights among one's memories.
Sailing, takes me away...
My wife, Lori, and I took mid-career 'sabbaticals' and took a couple of years to complete construction of our sailboat and spend some time cruising Florida and the Bahamas. I gave up my position as Administrator of the Florida Department of Environmental Protections Central Biology Laboratory to do this. It was a great job, but you have to take your opportunities when you can.
New Opportunities
After a search in early 2005 for where and how we wanted to resume our careers, we eventually realized that the more we looked afield, the more we liked Tallahassee and our previous work in state government.
I've been fortunate to land a position as Liaison to Florida's new Oceans and Coastal Resources Council to work with them in carrying out their duties. Florida took a national lead in establishing the council last summer. This group is made up of 18 people, 15 scientists and marine experts plus the heads of three Florida agencies with coastal and oceans responsibilities, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The council is charged by the Florida Legislature with coordinating coastal and ocean research in Florida, establishing a prioritized annual research plan for the Legislature to use as a guide to state funding, establishing a publicly-available and annually-updated research review of ongoing and past research in Florida, and establishing a publicly-available and annually-updated resource inventory describing and mapping the resources and habitats of Florida's coasts and oceans. Only the scientists/experts on the council may vote or decide the contents of the annual research plan. The agency heads function as chairs and ex-officio members to provide the voting members with guidance on government and legislative mechanisms.
The first prioritized research plan went to the legislature February 1, 2006, and we are working with the Legislature on funding of the recommendations. The research plan priorities are expected to have a major effect on Florida's funding of research as well as affecting research funding by federal agencies. More information is available at www.dep.state.fl.us/oceanscouncil.
Gulf Alliance
I've also been involved in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance and its soon-to-be-released action plan. The alliance fosters Gulf-wide efforts among the five U.S. states and includes the Mexican states in the program. The expectation is that the alliance will help focus increased federal research money on the Gulf of Mexico in addition to fostering cooperation and coordination among the Gulf states.
These activities are farther from hands-on science than I've worked in the past, but the opportunity to affect this potentially dramatic change in how marine science in Florida is funded and carried out was hard to pass up. I may well return to my science "roots" later, but for now this is a learning experience with all the excitement and intrigue that anyone could ask for.
Degrees Conferred
Completed requirements for Ph.D.
Fall 2005
James Prater
"Metabolic Activity in Natural Systems: A Tracer Study of Carbon
Isotopes"
(CHANTON)
Jennifer Putland
"Ecology of Phytoplankton, Acartia tonsa, and Microzooplankton
in Apalachicola Bay, Florida"
(IVERSON)
Honors
James O'Brien was awarded the 2006 Uda Prize by the Japanese Oceanographic Society for his long-term contributions in supporting and educating young oceanographers from Japan. He is the first non-Japanese scientist to win the award which is named after the late professor Michitaka Uda.
O'Brien was also named the Florida Academy of Sciences 2006 Medalist of the Year which is presented to a Florida resident who has contributed to the promotion of scientific research and interest in the sciences.
A View from Under the Chair's Desk
So, Ms. Smith comes into my Chair's office, wakes me up, and tells me I need to write another column for the news letter. Of course, this is a bother, so I say "You know, last time you only used about of what I wrote. Why not just use some of what was left over." She got a strange look on her face, all kind of red and stuff, and said "We don't have enough SRAD to afford the law suit." I figure she knows what she is talking about, so I've had to try my hand once again. This time, we'll try to avoid the censors.
My good friend and mentor, the much-appreciated Emeritus Professor Wilton Sturges told me that some of the other chairs in Arts and Sciences might try to take advantage of l'il old me, me being a hillbilly and a new and shy chair and all. Now that I've been here for about 5.3846122 months (but hey, who's counting), I'm pleased to report what a great group all the chairs have proven to be. To a person, they've been supportive and pleasant without fail. I mean, whenever I play their favorite game "See who can hit the softest" with any of them, they always let me go first. Believe me, it's a big advantage. And somehow I think I'm earning their respect because I have yet to lose a single match.
By the way, I did meet Steve Wolfe, our featured graduate, recently. He has been centrally involved in Florida's efforts to organize a coastal observing system, something the state can use to help mitigate the effects of things like red tide and beach erosion. This is a good guy, one whose efforts are really helping to put FSU Oceanography on the map and who is performing an important service for the state. All you alums, be proud of this guy.
Keep those cards and letters coming in folks, and next time you win the lottery, don't forget about old Bill.
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