Publications

The Sahara in North Africa and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in Asia are the primary sources of mobilized dust in the atmosphere, with regional or global airborne transport estimated at 2 to 5 billion tonnes per year. Annual Asian dust plumes take about 7 to 10 d to cross the Pacific Ocean, and often reach the northwest USA between late February and May. In contrast, the peak season...

Hurricane Matthew, the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the 2016 hurricane season, made land-fall south of McClellanville, S.C., around 1500 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on October 8, 2016. Hurricane Matthew affected the States of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina along the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Numerous barrier islands were breached, and the erosion of beaches...

Coastal systems in the Gulf of Mexico are threatened by reduced sediment supply, storm impacts and relative sea-level rise (RSLR). The geologic record provides insight into geomorphic evolution thresholds to these forcing mechanisms to help predict future barrier evolution in response to climate change. This study synthesizes ∼2100 km of geophysical data, 700 + sediment cores, and 62...

An estimated 2.7 million septic systems in Florida, USA are potential ground and surface water contaminant sources that may affect environmental and human health. This study examined the spatial distribution of septic systems, coastal surface water contamination, and related environmental factors of coastal Florida watersheds at the 8-digit hydrologic unit code level. Hydrology, in situ...

Remotely sensed data can be used to model the fractional cover of green vegetation (GV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and soil in natural and agricultural ecosystems. NPV and soil cover are difficult to estimate accurately since absorption by lignin, cellulose, and other organic molecules cannot be resolved by broadband multispectral data. A new generation of satellite...

The US Coastal Research Program (USCRP) was founded in 2016 through a grassroots initiative of scientists, researchers, and practitioners to address nearshore coastal research priorities of greatest relevance to coastal communities and build a skilled US coastal workforce. The USCRP supports academic research to address challenges identified through thematic workshops and pair academic...

The U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP) was created to develop, coordinate, and enable a National science plan to address growing needs of coastal communities. Researchers from federal agencies, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations work together to identify priorities that support coastal stakeholders in activities such as emergency response, resource management...

Air pollution has been identified as one of the most challenging health issues in urban areas worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and respiratory disease over a long-term period in Shiraz, one of the largest cities in Iran. Methods: hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases (asthma, pneumonia...

Personnel at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, Delaware, collected surf zone injury (SZI) data for eight summer seasons from 2010 through 2017. Data include, but are not limited to, time of injury, gender, age, and activity. More than 2000 SZI events, including 196 spinal injuries and 6 fatalities, occurred at the five most populated beaches along the 25 miles of Atlantic-fronting coast. SZI...

Coastal storms have consequences for human lives and infrastructure but also create important early successional habitats for myriad species. For example, storm-induced overwash creates nesting habitat for shorebirds like piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). We examined how piping plover habitat extent and location changed on barrier islands in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia after...

Active coral restoration typically involves two interventions: crossing gametes to facilitate sexual larval propagation; and fragmenting, growing, and outplanting adult colonies to enhance asexual propagation. From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of these efforts is to establish self‐sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations that have sufficient genetic and phenotypic...

Culturable eubacterial isolates were collected at various altitudes in Earth’s atmosphere to include ~1.5 m above ground in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, ~10.0 m above sea level over the mid-Atlantic ridge (~15oN), ~ 20 km above ground over the continental United States, ~20 km above sea level over the Pacific Ocean near southern California and from the atmosphere of Carlsbad Cavern...