Ben Gutierrez, Ph.D
Science and Products
Sea-Level Rise Hazards and Decision Support
The Sea-Level Rise Hazards and Decision-Support project assesses present and future coastal vulnerability to provide actionable information for management of our Nation’s coasts. Through multidisciplinary research and collaborative partnerships with decision-makers, physical, biological, and social factors that describe landscape and habitat changes are incorporated in a...
Beach-dependent Shorebirds
Policy-makers, individuals from government agencies, and natural resource managers are under increasing pressure to manage changing coastal areas to meet social, economic, and natural resource demands, particularly under a regime of sea-level rise. Scientific knowledge of coastal processes and habitat-use can support decision-makers as they balance these often-conflicting human and ecological...
Empowering decision-makers: A dynamic web interface for running Bayesian networks
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are at the forefront of research that is critical for decision-making, particularly through the development of models (Bayesian networks, or BNs) that forecast coastal change. The utility of these tools outside the scientific community has been limited because they rely on expensive, technical software and a moderate understanding of statistical...
Smartphone technologies and Bayesian networks to assess shorebird habitat selection
Understanding patterns of habitat selection across a species’ geographic distribution can be critical for adequately managing populations and planning for habitat loss and related threats. However, studies of habitat selection can be time consuming and expensive over broad spatial scales, and a lack of standardized monitoring targets or methods...
Zeigler, Sara; Thieler, E. Robert; Gutierrez, Ben; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Hines, Megan K.; Fraser, James D.; Catlin, Daniel H.; Karpanty, Sarah M. Using a Bayesian network to predict barrier island geomorphologic characteristics
Quantifying geomorphic variability of coastal environments is important for understanding and describing the vulnerability of coastal topography, infrastructure, and ecosystems to future storms and sea level rise. Here we use a Bayesian network (BN) to test the importance of multiple interactions between barrier island geomorphic variables. This...
Gutierrez, Ben; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Thieler, E. Robert; Turecek, Aaron
Using a Bayesian Network to predict shore-line change vulnerability to sea-level rise for the coasts of the United States
Sea-level rise is an ongoing phenomenon that is expected to continue and is projected to have a wide range of effects on coastal environments and infrastructure during the 21st century and beyond. Consequently, there is a need to assemble relevant datasets and to develop modeling or other analytical approaches to evaluate the likelihood of...
Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Pendleton, Elizabeth A.; Thieler, E. Robert A Bayesian network approach to predicting nest presence of thefederally-threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus) using barrier island features
Sea-level rise and human development pose significant threats to shorebirds, particularly for species that utilize barrier island habitat. The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a federally-listed shorebird that nests on barrier islands and rapidly responds to changes in its physical environment, making it an excellent species with which to...
Gieder, Katherina D.; Karpanty, Sarah M.; Fraser, James D.; Catlin, Daniel H.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Turecek, Aaron M.; Thieler, E. Robert Effects of sea-level rise on barrier island groundwater system dynamics: ecohydrological implications
We used a numerical model to investigate how a barrier island groundwater system responds to increases of up to 60 cm in sea level. We found that a sea-level rise of 20 cm leads to substantial changes in the depth of the water table and the extent and depth of saltwater intrusion, which are key determinants in the establishment, distribution and...
Masterson, John P.; Fienen, Michael N.; Thieler, E. Robert; Gesch, Dean B.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Plant, Nathaniel G. Bridging groundwater models and decision support with a Bayesian network
Resource managers need to make decisions to plan for future environmental conditions, particularly sea level rise, in the face of substantial uncertainty. Many interacting processes factor in to the decisions they face. Advances in process models and the quantification of uncertainty have made models a valuable tool for this purpose. Long-...
Fienen, Michael N.; Masterson, John P.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Thieler, E. Robert
A Bayesian network to predict vulnerability to sea-level rise: data report
During the 21st century, sea-level rise is projected to have a wide range of effects on coastal environments, development, and infrastructure. Consequently, there has been an increased focus on developing modeling or other analytical approaches to evaluate potential impacts to inform coastal management. This report provides the data that were used...
Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Thieler, E. Robert A Bayesian network to predict coastal vulnerability to sea level rise
Sea level rise during the 21st century will have a wide range of effects on coastal environments, human development, and infrastructure in coastal areas. The broad range of complex factors influencing coastal systems contributes to large uncertainties in predicting long-term sea level rise impacts. Here we explore and demonstrate the capabilities...
Gutierrez, B.T.; Plant, N.G.; Thieler, E.R. Sea-level rise and coastal change: Causes and implications for the future of coasts and low-lying regions
No abstract available.
Williams, S. Jeffress; Gutierrez, Ben
Long-term oceanographic observations in Massachusetts Bay, 1989-2006
This data report presents long-term oceanographic observations made in western Massachusetts Bay at long-term site A (LT-A) (42 deg 22.6' N., 70 deg 47.0' W.; nominal water depth 32 meters) from December 1989 through February 2006 and long-term site B (LT-B) (42 deg 9.8' N., 70 deg 38.4' W.; nominal water depth 22 meters) from October 1997 through...
Butman, Bradford; Alexander, P. Soupy; Bothner, Michael H.; Borden, Jonathan; Casso, Michael A.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Hastings, Mary E.; Lightsom, Frances L.; Martini, Marinna A.; Montgomery, Ellyn T.; Rendigs, Richard R.; Strahle, William S. Geologic effects and coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise, erosion, and storms
A combination of natural and human factors are driving coastal change and making coastal regions and populations increasingly vulnerable. Sea level, a major agent of coastal erosion, has varied greatly from -120 m below present during glacial period low-stands to + 4 to 6 m above present during interglacial warm periods. Geologic and tide gauge...
Williams, S.J.; Gutierrez, B.T.; Thieler, E.R.; Pendleton, E.
Potential for shoreline changes due to sea-level rise along the U.S. mid-Atlantic region
Sea-level rise over the next century is expected to contribute significantly to physical changes along open-ocean shorelines. Predicting the form and magnitude of coastal changes is important for understanding the impacts to humans and the environment. Presently, the ability to predict coastal changes is limited by the scientific understanding of...
Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Williams, S. Jeffress; Thieler, E. Robert
Optimizing the Intern Experience: A Woods Hole Workshop
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff, including Center Chief, Rob Thieler, and Woods Hole Diversity Committee Member and Research Geologist, Ben Gutierrez, participated in the 2019 NSF sponsored diversity conference, Optimizing the Research Intern Experience to Build Inclusion and Diversity in the Geosciences Workforce.