Greenland nutrient concentrations and Arctic-based water’s influence on distribution

Thursday, October 17^th, 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.

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The Challenges of Importing Qualitative Data into a GIS Capable Electronic System

Wednesday, September 25^th, 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.

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Wait…there’s tankers there?!

Wednesday, September 18^th, 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.

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Balancing Act: Strategies for Effective Urban Deer Population Control

Wednesday, September 4^th, 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.