Publications

Prior to 2014, local utilities and State agencies monitored for cyanotoxins and taste-and-odor (T&O) compounds and reported occasional detections in three water-supply reservoirs in Wake County, North Carolina. Comparable data for cyanotoxins and T&O compounds were lacking for other water-supply reservoirs in the Triangle area of North Carolina. This report assesses whether cyanotoxins...

Stable isotopes (SI) and fatty acid (FA) biomarkers can provide insights regarding trophic pathways and habitats associated with contaminant bioaccumulation. We assessed relationships between SI and FA biomarkers and published data on concentrations of two pesticides [dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and degradation products (DDX) and bifenthrin] in juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus...

ABSTRACT: In the 1980s, a mass die-off of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum occurred on Florida and Caribbean coral reefs. D. antillarum populations largely did not recover, and in 2022, remaining populations experienced another mass mortality event. A ciliate most similar to Philaster apodigitiformis was identified as the causative agent of the 2022 event, which was named D

Climate change is reshaping coastal wetlands worldwide, driving ecosystem shifts like mangrove poleward expansion into saltmarshes in tropical-temperate transitional zones. Though warming is recognized as the primary driver, a lack of detailed field studies limits our ability to predict mangrove responses to rapid climate warming.Here, we characterized how mangroves vary across a...

OBJECTIVE We examined the association of arsenic in federally regulated community water systems (CWSs) and unregulated private wells with type 2 diabetes (T2D) incidence in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS), a prospective study of American Indian communities, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a prospective study of racially and ethnically diverse urban U.S...

Communities throughout Massachusetts face the potential effects of climate change, ranging from more extreme rainfall to more pronounced and frequent droughts. Understanding the effects of climate change on hydrology is important to State and community officials to evaluate the potential effects on infrastructure and water systems. To better understand the effects of climate change on...

Managing coastal wetlands is one of the most promising activities to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and it also contributes to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. One of the options is through blue carbon projects, in which mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass are managed to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, other...

Understanding the response of coastal barriers to future changes in rates of sea level rise, sediment availability, and storm intensity/frequency is essential for coastal planning, including socioeconomic and ecological management. Identifying drivers of past changes in barrier morphology, as well as barrier sensitivity to these forces, is necessary to accomplish this. Using remote...

Measuring genetic diversity of wild species using DNA-based data remains resource intensive and time consuming for nearly all species. However, genetic assessments are needed for global conservation commitments, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, and for governments and managers to evaluate conservation progress, as well as prioritizing species and populations to preserve...

As thermal stress and disease outbreaks decimate coral reefs throughout the tropics, there is growing evidence that higher latitude marine environments may provide crucial refuges for many at-risk, temperature-sensitive coral species. However, our understanding of how coral populations expand into new areas and sustain themselves over time is constrained by the limited scope of modern...

The report on an approach for gender and social vulnerability assessment is a supporting tool – or a guiding note – to assist the MRC to conduct the gender and vulnerability assessment in the Lower Mekong Basin. While the approach focuses on floods, droughts, and extreme storm events for the MRC’s future application, the overall gender and vulnerability framework described in this report...

The deep sea is the largest biome on earth, but one of the least studied despite its critical role in global carbon cycling and climate buffering. Deep-sea organisms largely rely on particulate organic matter from the surface ocean for energy – these organisms in turn play critical roles in energy transport, transformation, storage, and sequestration of carbon. Within the deep sea...