Explore upcoming seminars:
Microsoft Teams links will be added on this page as they become available.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) in-person in Conference Room B, 600 4th St S., St. Petersburg. FL. 33701 and virtually on Teams (Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/2927493908907988?p=LLY6SRGKTzJl88nEH8
Meeting ID: 292 749 390 890 798 8
Passcode: PY7Lt9tv
Dr. Hallie Fischman
Seminar: Innovative Approaches for Sand Dune Revegetation
Abstract: Coastal sand dunes are increasingly exposed to severe and frequent disturbances, underscoring the need for restoration strategies that rapidly re‑establish vegetation, accelerate dune building, and sustain ecosystem services. To identify approaches that most effectively jump‑start dune recovery, we conducted a series of manipulative field experiments in Northeast Florida testing how planting density, species composition, and nutrient amendments influence the rate of dune revegetation. We found that higher planting densities, the inclusion of pioneer species, and targeted nutrient additions substantially increased vegetation establishment compared to traditional restoration designs. These strategic planting configurations initiated self‑reinforcing feedbacks between plant growth and sediment capture, promoting accretion and greater resistance to storm‑driven erosion.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 3:30 – 4:30 pm (online Teams link: https://bit.ly/4hVY0pq)
Science and Technology (STG) Building, Room 115, 200 6th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Dr. Isabela Le Bras, Woods Hole Oceanography Institution
Seminar: Boundary current ventilation in the Irminger Sea
Abstract: The subpolar North Atlantic is a hot spot for anthropogenic carbon and oxygen uptake. However, climate models are unable to reproduce the observed global patterns of oxygen and carbon change, hindered both by a dearth of year-round observations of dissolved gases and an incomplete understanding of the dynamics that govern ventilation, i.e. dissolved gas pathways into the interior ocean. Here we use two years of densely spaced moored oxygen observations in the western Irminger Sea (2020-2022) to quantify the seasonal changes in boundary current oxygen content and associate them with ventilation processes. We find that the oxygen transport variability is dominated by a deep subpolar mode water, which has its origins in the subtropical North Atlantic and forms near the boundary. While some of these waters are within the boundary current’s winter mixed layer and are oxygenated by direct air-sea exchange, the denser portion appears to be oxygenated by along isopycnal exchange with mixed layer waters just offshore of the boundary current. An analysis of BGC Argo floats in the region largely corroborates this view, though there are many gaps and exciting directions for future measurements and research.
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