Publications

Returning surface samples from Mars to Earth has been a major planetary science objective, with the potential for the detection of microbiological life and the possibility of improving our understanding of the origins of life. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency assembled a team to assess the level of risk that returned samples could contain...

Many birds are migratory, and this life history strategy allows for maximized access to seasonally abundant resources and favorable climates. However, migration exposes birds to threats and stressors, resulting in high mortality during migration. Anthropogenic landscape alterations and climate change have intensified threats, and mass mortality events linked to extreme weather are more...

Coral atoll islands are highly susceptible to flooding and overwash due to their low-lying nature and the impacts of climate change. This study presents the first long-term, high-resolution field dataset of wave runup on a coral atoll island, collected over 6 weeks using a shore-mounted LiDAR scanner. The LiDAR data captured swash dynamics on a steep coral rubble beach fronted by a...

A new oceanographic radar instrument package was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to measure storm waves and water levels in the nearshore, capable of being deployed rapidly and transmitting data in near real-time. To test the performance and accuracy of the sensor, multiple years of data were collected over various hydrodynamic conditions and compared to long-term...

High‐pressure, high‐temperature rock deformation experiments are essential for understanding deep Earth processes, but accurately measuring stress is challenging due to the inaccuracy introduced by seal friction within the apparatus and large inertia, which affects earthquake process measurements made far from the experimental fault. To overcome these limitations, we developed and...

Study region

Melanistic lesions, including non-raised black areas due to proliferations of melanocytes and melanomacrophages in the dermis and epidermis, as well as raised black areas consistent with melanoma, are described in brown bullhead (BBH) Ameiurus nebulosus from three water bodies in the northeastern United States and Quebec, Canada. First observed in the Vermont portion of Lake Memphremagog...

Environmental contaminants and non-native species introductions negatively affect aquatic ecosystem conservation. Mercury (Hg) accumulates within food webs where it can biomagnify to toxic concentrations, which can be affected by altered trophic relationships from non-native species. This study examined Hg concentrations (n samples = 655) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope (n = 746)

Mountains comprise ∼30% of the Earth's surface, but mercury (Hg) cycling in these regions remains understudied, particularly in the semi-arid western U.S. where strong climatic and ecological gradients in mountainous landscapes influence Hg deposition, retention, and bioaccumulation. In this study, we quantified growing season inputs, storage, and bioaccumulation of Hg along a ∼2,000 m...

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is a poorly constrained source of mercury (Hg) to Arctic ecosystems. We measured Hg concentrations and stable isotopes along an ice-to-ocean continuum to identify controls on GrIS Hg export. Early-season permafrost melt and rainfall produced high filtered total mercury (fTHg, ~17 pM) and monomethylmercury (MMHg, ~2 pM). As subglacial drainage evolved...

Replicating deep subsurface conditions remains a major challenge for advancing subterranean biotechnologies. Microbially enhanced coal bed methane production offers a promising approach to increase biogenic gas recovery from coal seams, yet experimental progress has been limited by the difficulty of simulating in situ conditions. A key question is whether nutrient amendments stimulate...

Introduction Lab-based coral reproduction is advancing restoration efforts to support coral populations injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Objectives This study aimed to answer foundational questions concerning coral spawning and larval settlement that need to be resolved for these mesophotic and deep-sea coral species before restoration efforts can be scaled up. Methods...