St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Scientists from the St. Petersburg Coastal Marine Science Center and the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center copresent the Alabama Barrier Island Restoration Assessment on the DOI Internal Gulf Restoration weekly meeting.

As Hurricane Zeta approached the US Gulf Coast, the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Team produced a series of forecasts for impacts on the beach. The model forecasts the probability of collision, overwash and inundation (pCOI) along sandy beaches of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Forecasts were updated daily based on wave and storm surge forecasts from NOAA. 

SPCMSC Research scientists Christina Kellogg and James Evans are working with Valerie Paul, director of the Smithsonian Marine Station in Ft. Pierce, Florida, to conduct an experiment to determine if SCTLD is caused by a pathogenic microbe and if so, which kind. 

Publication of "Sensitivity of Storm Response to Antecedent Topography in the XBeach Model" in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering: Beach-Dune System Morphodynamics Special Issue.

Dr. Christina Kellogg (SPCMSC Research Microbiologist) was interviewed about her deep-sea research for a new episode of the podcast The Deep Blue: On My Doorstep. Kellogg’s episode kicks off the second series of this new podcast that debuted during Australia’s National Science Week in August 2020. 

Thanks to the creativity and dedication of various internship programs and Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center mentors, students across the country were still able to gain valuable skills and experience crucial to the advancement of their education and journey to becoming a scientist.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Oct. 28 reflecting a new coastal change forecast for Zeta's impacts on Gulf Coast sandy shorelines.

Ilsa Kuffner, Marine Biologist with the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, will lead a team along with collaborators from Ohio State University (OSU) to the Florida Keys to finish a study on the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. They will visit the Dry Tortugas National Park, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and Biscayne National Park to conduct their research.

As Hurricane Delta approached the US Gulf Coast, the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Team produced a series of forecasts for impacts on the beach. The model forecasts the probability of collision, overwash and inundation (pCOI) along the beach. Forecasts were updated daily based on wave and storm surge forecasts from NOAA.

Editor’s note: This story updates and replaces a story published October 8, reflecting a new forecast that reduces the extent of Hurricane Delta’s impacts on central Gulf Coast sandy shorelines. 

To learn more about USGS’s role in providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Delta, visit www.usgs.gov/delta   

USGS Introduces a National Approach to Coastal Change Hazards (CCH) Science