Science Lecture Series
The Science Lecture Series features prominent speakers in physics, marine science, chemistry, and the general sciences. Intended for an academically diverse audience the Lecture Series connects cadet coursework to more advanced STEM studies in the Marine & Environmental science curricula.
The series is generously sponsored through the Environmental Studies Endowment Non-Appropriated Fund (NAF). This forum enables scientific researchers and academicians to present their latest studies in their particular field.
The public is welcome to attend. No reservations required.
Upcoming Lecture Series
Science: when it is meaningful and how to increase its impact
Thursday, April 17th, 2025 8 – 9 PM
McAllister Hall Auditorium U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Dr. Matthew Richardson
Abstract
A good scientist can always argue for the importance of their research, but not all research has meaning or impact beyond a limited scope. Matthew Richardson will use examples from his career in the ecological sciences working with snakes, bears, insects, cannibals, urban farmers, young scholars, marginalized people, food crops, critically endangered plants, rare and sensitive ecosystems, prairies, forests, energy companies, and more to discuss: 1) how science can fail to have much meaning and impact; 2) when it successfully has meaning and impact; and 3) ways scientists and non-scientists can work together to improve the discipline.
Bio
Dr. Matthew Richardson is a proud uncle of a cadet in Alfa Company. He previously held positions at the University of the District of Columbia, Smithsonian Institution, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he held roles as a research scientist, educator, and director of research. He was selected as a 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar to Barbados and volunteers with a non-profit to protect endangered plants. Some of his broad research interests include finding solutions to conserve or restore species, natural communities, and ecosystem services while improving human health, promoting inclusion and social equity, and advancing sustainability. He holds undergraduate degrees (BA, BS) in Biology and Entomology from the University of Delaware and graduate degrees (MS, PhD) in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Outside of work, Dr. Richardson enjoys running, reading, cooking, hiking, camping, and spending time with family.
New Energy Technologies for a Green Planet
Wednesday, March 26th, 2025
8 – 9 PM: McAllister Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Dr. Daniel Prober
Departments of Applied Physics, Physics, and Electrical Engineering, Yale University
Abstract
The challenges faced in our global climate have become important and recognized issues in many areas, including national policy. The availability of new technologies and changed use patterns will facilitate significant improvement in the future outlook. We outline some of the new approaches undertaken in building design at Yale, in transportation – including the Elon Musk Hyperloop, magnetic levitation, and hydrogen-fueled cars, and in renewables. Demonstrations of these will be given, with some useful demo handouts.
Bio:
Dr. Prober is a Professor of Applied Physics and Physics and Electrical Engineering at Yale. His main research interests are in nanosystems, superconductivity, quantum noise and ultrasensitive photon detectors. Dr. Prober is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and has received two NASA research invention awards and two Fulbright Fellowships. He has also received a number of IBM Faculty Awards, and recently was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the IEEE, for Research in the Field of Applied Superconductivity.
His teaching ranges from a graduate course on superconductivity to seminars on ‘Science of Modern Technology and Public Policy’ and ‘Energy, Technology and Public Policy’. These are primarily for non-science majors. He has graduated over 40 PhD and MS students at Yale, who have gone to a large variety of technical and academic positions.
Dr. Prober’s website is http://proberlab.yale.edu/. See also http://appliedphysics.yale.edu/daniel-e-prober.
Protecting Pollinators from Pesticides
Thursday, February 13, 2025
8 – 9 PM: McAllister Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Dr. Mia Park
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Abstract
Globally, pollinators are in decline with ramifications for both human-dominated and natural landscapes. The key factors driving these declines include a combination of habitat loss, disease, and pesticides. This talk narrows in on threats posed by pesticides, notably neonicotinoids. Introduced in the 1990s, neonicotinoids are now the most widely used insecticides in the world. Highly toxic to bees and aquatic insects, neonicotinoids are now pervasive in our waterways and soils. We will discuss how and where neonicotinoids are used, and their impacts to bees and other wildlife. The presentation will end with solutions that range from individual action to policy change.
Bio
Dr. Mia Park is the new Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM) Specialist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, where she promotes systems-based, farm practices that minimize risk of pesticide to pollinators and other beneficial insects. She has over a decade of research experience, studying the impacts of human land management on bees and aquatic invertebrates. Dr. Park received a Master’s degree on effects of invasive wetland plants on macroinvertebrates and later a Ph.D. on pesticide and land use effects on wild bees in orchards at Cornell University. Before moving to Connecticut, she did her Postdoctoral Research at North Dakota State University and studied benefits of pollinator plantings on bee health in urban and rural landscapes. She also taught as a professor in the Integrated Studies Program at University of North Dakota. Dr. Park is passionate about insects and the use of sound science to inform their conservation.
Marine Forecasting Products and Services from your National Weather Service: Helping the US Coast Guard to Keep Mariners Safe
Monday, January 27, 2025, 8 – 9 PM
Yeaton Hall 129
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Frank Nocera, Dr. Michael Folmer, and Dr. Christopher Landsea
Senior Meteorologist, National Weather Service, Taunton MA
Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service, NOAA
Chief, Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, National Hurricane Center, NOAA
Abstract
The US Coast Guard – by design – has no weather forecasters within its ranks. Instead, a national-level Memorandum of Agreement between USCG and the National Weather Service calls for NWS to be the providers of weather prediction information including decision support services to USCG. This presentation covers how NWS assists the USCG at the local, national, and international levels. Frank Nocera will lead us off with a description of local Weather Forecast Office products for the New England coastal waters. Michael Folmer will next discuss what the Ocean Prediction Center provides for the mid-latitude Offshore Zones and High Seas. Lastly, Christopher Landsea will provide an overview of what the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch issues for the Gulf of Mexico (now “America”), Caribbean Sea, and tropical North Atlantic. All three presenters will focus on how the NWS is moving toward impact-based decision support services in order for core governmental partners – like USCG – best perform their life-saving mission.
Bio
Frank Nocera is a Warning Coordination Meteorologist whose primary focus is to serve as the principal interface between the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) and the customers of WFO products and services, which includes the USCG as a core partner. In addition, Mr. Nocera leads the office Impact Based Decision Support (IDSS) program and conducts a region wide preparedness planning and citizen education effort, through various federal, state and city agencies, including the general public as well. He received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY-Albany in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology. Mr. Nocera issues watches & warnings for hazardous weather in Southern New England including forecasts for the following sectors: aviation, marine, fire weather & surf/rip currents.
Michael Folmer is the new Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the Ocean Prediction Center in College Park, MD. He has been forecasting for OPC for over 5 years and prior to that, was the Satellite Liaison for GOES-R/JPSS at OPC, the Weather Prediction Center, National Hurricane Center Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, and the NESDIS Satellite Analysis Branch. Although he has a tropical meteorology background, satellite and mid-latitude weather have become his main focus.
Christopher W. Landsea, Ph.D., serves as the chief of the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. The branch generates wind and wave forecasts for the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, tropical North Atlantic Ocean, and tropical northeastern Pacific Ocean. The TAFB supports the Hurricane Specialist Unit at NHC by providing tropical cyclone position and intensity estimates based on the Dvorak technique. Dr. Landsea received his Bachelor’s Degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of California Los Angeles (1987) and his Master’s Degree and Doctorate in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University (1991, 1994). His graduate work was undertaken with Dr. Bill Gray, one of the world’s leading experts on hurricanes and tropical meteorology. Dr. Landsea’s main expertise is in seasonal forecasting of hurricanes, in hurricane climate variability and change, and in testing applied research projects for possible use in weather forecasting.
Past Lecture Series
Greenland nutrient concentrations and Arctic-based water’s influence on distribution
Thursday, October 17th, 2024
8 – 9 PM: Dimick Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
LCDR Matthew Brigham
USCGA Marine Science
Nutrient concentrations of nitrate, phosphate, and silicate throughout the world’s oceans are utilized by several marine microorganisms in processes like growth and photosynthesis. The understanding of these nutrients’ distributions throughout the water column is integral to evaluating the effects on biological productivity at the primary producer level in the marine food web. Nutrient transport and utilization rates by phytoplankton are linked to the movement of water masses with similar temperature and salinity properties. Increased freshwater discharge due to the rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet and sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean over recent decades has influenced these water masses’ distributions and in turn, impacted the distribution of nutrients throughout the water column. To evaluate these effects, this study was conducted to evaluate the mean nutrient distribution on the southeast Greenland continental shelf and define interannual variability in nutrient distributions from available data between 1991 to 2018. This discussion will examine the differences between biological availability of one nutrient against the others by evaluating the differences between recorded measurements and the globally accepted stochiometric relationships for N:P, N:Si, and Si:P of 16, 1.07, and 15, respectively, drawing conclusions about why these differences may exist and how polar water transport may play a role. This study is the first of its kind in the area and was conducted as a thesis during the completion of LCDR Brigham’s Master’s degree.
Bio:
Hailing from southern Maryland originally, LCDR Brigham is a 2015 graduate from the Coast Guard Academy where he earned a B.S. degree in Marine and Environmental Sciences. After graduation, he first served as Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10) home ported in Seattle, Washington, where he made two Operation Deep Freeze patrols to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This mission supported the National Science Foundation by conducting ice breaking operations to create a navigable route for cargo vessels to resupply McMurdo Station. In summer 2017, LCDR Brigham was assigned to Apra Harbor, Guam as Executive Officer of USCGC Assateague (WPB 1336). He led the decommissioning of Assateague in October 2017 and concurrent crew change over to USCGC Kiska (WPB 1337) following a relocation of home port to Guam, where he served as Executive Officer until 2019. Remaining in Guam, LCDR Brigham transferred to USCGC Sequoia (WLB 215) as Executive Officer. In 2021, he was selected for the Coast Guard’s Advanced Education program in Oceanography, and in 2023, earned a M.S. degree in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. LCDR Brigham has been an instructor of Marine Science at the Coast Guard Academy since Fall 2023.
Ready for deployment: The journey of a Coast Guard crisis leader
Wednesday, October 9th, 2024
8 – 9 PM: Dimick Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
CAPT Lushan Hannah, USCG, Retired
USCG PACAREA
The Coast Guard all-hazards emergency management program takes a comprehensive approach to preparing for, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating a wide range of emergencies and disasters, both natural and man-made. The Coast Guard has a proud track record of being ready to address all types of hazards, from hurricanes and oil spills to terrorist attacks and maritime accidents. The journey from junior officer to senior crisis leader requires perseverance, adaptability, and dedication. Each step along an all-hazards emergency management career path brings new challenges and opportunities for personal and professional growth. This lecture discusses insights from various responses throughout Captain (Ret.) Hannah’s 26-year career, mostly at Sectors and with the National Strike Force. It will also include parting words of wisdom for the next generation of Coast Guard crisis leaders.
Bio:
Captain (Ret.) Lushan Hannah is the owner and sole proprietor of Convergence Solutions LLC, which specializes in business continuity, safety, security, emergency management, and crisis leadership. His final assignment on active duty was as the Chief of the Preparedness Division at Coast Guard Pacific Area (PACAREA), where he led a team responsible for establishing and maintaining operational planning for all Coast Guard missions, international engagement, and incident response objectives across six continents, 71 countries, and more than 74 million square miles of ocean — from the U.S. Western States to Asia, and from the Arctic to Antarctica.
His 26-year Coast Guard career included operational experience in Southern California, New Orleans, and throughout the Pacific Rim, where he had the privilege of building partnerships with public and private sector teams to bolster maritime security, clean up pollution, conduct search and rescue, and respond to natural disasters.
He holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the University of Maryland – University College, a Master of Public Health in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Michigan and Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. A native of Virginia, he is married to the former Gina Lewis and has two daughters, Bradleigh and Blake.
The Challenges of Importing Qualitative Data into a GIS Capable Electronic System
Wednesday, September 25th, 2024
8 – 9 PM: Dimick Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Ms. Lindsey Braden
USCG Bridge Program
USAIMS is the Coast Guard’s Office of Marine Transportation’s (CG-5PW) authoritative electronic system that provides transparency, data sharing and GIS visualization. Lindsey Braden, will discuss the challenges of the Coast Guard Bridge Program’s paradigm shift from decentralized “paper file” data sets into USAIMS and how past Coast Guard Academy GIS classes have played an integral role in the success of the transition.
Bio:
Ms. Braden has been a Coast Guard Bridge Program Analyst since 2021 where she oversaw the creation and release of the Bridges Tile within the Coast Guard’s Office of Marine Transportation System’s (CG-5PW) electronic system, USAIMS, and now serves as the program’s subject matter expert for USAIMS. Prior to her current position, Ms. Braden worked as an Environmental Protection Specialist for the Coast Guard’s Office of Environmental Management (CG-47). She has also held multiple positions within the Bridge Program over the course of her career including various positions at Coast Guard Headquarters, and in the Fifth and Eighth Districts. Ms. Braden graduated from Towson University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts and from Tulane University in 2008 with a Master’s Degree in social work and in public health. Ms. Braden is a proud U.S. Marine Corps spouse and lives in Alexandria, VA with her spouse Nate, son Garrett and twin son and daughter, Clayton and Scarlett. When not at work, Ms. Braden enjoys sewing and traveling with her family to the beach and Disney.
Wait…there’s tankers there?!
Wednesday, September 18th, 2024
8 – 9 PM: Dimick Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Ms. Amilynn Adams, Captain, NOAA (retired), Deputy Chief
Waterways Risk Assessment and Support Division, USCG Navigation Center
Come learn why wind energy lease areas were initially sited in sea areas that would have had significant impacts to the marine transportation system and how the USCG is driving spatial data science innovation to try and fix this problem. Join Amilynn Adams, a licensed mariner and spatial data scientist from the USCG Navigation Center on a journey of curiosity that led to the discovery of the age-old “garbage in/garbage out” computer science principle, and how this discovery resulted in even more questions and complexities.
Bio:
Amilynn Adams is a Marine Transportation System Specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Center. A self-described ship-driving spatial data nerd, she is an oceanographer by education and experience, a USCG-licensed master mariner, and a GIS hacker. She served 24 years in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, accumulating over 14 years of sea duty and holding three Commands at sea, sailing in every ocean except the Indian. She currently conducts big spatial data analysis and modeling in support of the USCG’s Marine Transportation System mission and is a key contributor (and instigator) driving the Coast Guard’s rapid adoption of GIS since June 2020.
Balancing Act: Strategies for Effective Urban Deer Population Control
Wednesday, September 4th, 2024
8 – 9 PM: Dimick Hall Auditorium
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Dr. Jay Boulanger
White Buffalo Inc
Abstract:
This lecture discusses the challenges and approaches to urban deer management in an increasingly urbanizing world. As human populations grow and expand into previously undeveloped areas, interactions and conflicts with deer are becoming more common. Urban wildlife managers face unique challenges compared to those in rural areas, including diverse stakeholder interests and the need to balance positive and negative impacts of deer on human communities. This lecture provides an overview of both lethal (e.g., sharpshooting) and non-lethal (e.g., surgical sterilization) methods that can be used as part of an integrated strategy to manage deer populations and mitigate deer-related problems.
Bio:
Dr. Jay Boulanger is a Certified Wildlife Biologist® who strives to strike a balance between the needs of humans and wildlife in urban landscapes. Jay received his Ph.D. in Wildlife Science from Cornell University and his dissertation and post-doctoral research focused on controlling suburban raccoon rabies via a novel vaccine bait station and overabundant deer populations via fertility control. He served as a tenured wildlife professor at the University of North Dakota where he conducted applied research and taught courses on mammalogy, large mammal ecology and management, and human dimensions of wildlife. Since 2020, Jay has served as president and head of research at White Buffalo Inc., a Connecticut-based non-profit research organization dedicated to conserving ecosystems through wildlife population control.
