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Jessica Jacobs

Jessica uses subfossil coral skeleton to study changes in sea-surface temperature over the Holocene. Her research aims to better constrain natural climate variability to help predict what future climate may look like in the tropics and subtropics.

During my time with the USGS I have focused on ecosystem change in coastal environments. I have experience with benthic foraminifera indentification, geochemical analyses using ICP-OES and a Picarro water isotope analyzer, and microsampling of modern and subfossil coral cores. Prior to the USGS, I conducted environmental monitoring in southeast Florida with a focus on surface and groundwater.

Professional Experience

  • 2022-Present: Physical Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

  • 2017-2022: Researcher, Cherokee Nation System Solutions contracted to the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

  • 2010-2015: Environmental Scientist, Ecology & Environment, Inc.

Education and Certifications

  • M.S., Environmental Science & Policy, University of South Florida, St.Petersburg, Florida

  • B.A., Geological Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida

Science and Products

Sr/Ca, Oxygen Isotope, and Linear Extension Data for Five Holocene Orbicella faveolata Corals from Dry Tortugas and Marquesas Keys, Florida, USA

This data release contains new, 40–70-year long sub-annual strontium-to-calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) records and linear extension measurements from five mid-to-late Holocene, Orbicella faveolata corals from the Dry Tortugas National Park (DT) and Marquesas Keys (MK), Florida (FL). U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers used these Sr/Ca data to calculate sea-surface temperature (SST) using...
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Sediment Core Microfossil Data Collected from the Coastal Marsh of Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mississippi, USA

To aid in geologic studies of sediment transport and environmental change of a coastal marsh, 1-centimeter (cm) foraminiferal subsamples were taken from seven sediment push cores collected in the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR), Mississippi (MS), in October 2016. The push cores were collected along two, shore-perpendicular transects at 5, 15, 25, and 50 meters (m)...
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
No results found.

Identifying and constraining marsh-type transitions in response to increasing erosion over the past century

Marsh environments, characterized by their flora and fauna, change laterally in response to shoreline erosion, water levels and inundation, and anthropogenic activities. The Grand Bay coastal system (USA) has undergone multiple large-scale geomorphic and hydrologic changes resulting in altered sediment supply, depositional patterns, and degraded barrier islands, leaving wetland salt...
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Kathryn Smith, Jessica A. Jacobs
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
link
Cartoon image of a sediment core, coral slab x-ray, clam shell, and a foramnifera

APPROACH (APplying Proxy-based Reconstruction Of Atlantic Climate CHange)

USGS scientists use marine geological archives to investigate how ocean temperature, salinity and circulation patterns changed over the past few centuries to millennia. This is done by analyzing the geochemical and physical clues about past environments that are preserved in fossil coral skeletons, clam shells, foraminifera and marine sediments.
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
link

APPROACH (APplying Proxy-based Reconstruction Of Atlantic Climate CHange)

USGS scientists use marine geological archives to investigate how ocean temperature, salinity and circulation patterns changed over the past few centuries to millennia. This is done by analyzing the geochemical and physical clues about past environments that are preserved in fossil coral skeletons, clam shells, foraminifera and marine sediments.
Learn More

Science and Products

Sr/Ca, Oxygen Isotope, and Linear Extension Data for Five Holocene Orbicella faveolata Corals from Dry Tortugas and Marquesas Keys, Florida, USA

This data release contains new, 40–70-year long sub-annual strontium-to-calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) records and linear extension measurements from five mid-to-late Holocene, Orbicella faveolata corals from the Dry Tortugas National Park (DT) and Marquesas Keys (MK), Florida (FL). U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers used these Sr/Ca data to calculate sea-surface temperature (SST) using...
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Sediment Core Microfossil Data Collected from the Coastal Marsh of Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mississippi, USA

To aid in geologic studies of sediment transport and environmental change of a coastal marsh, 1-centimeter (cm) foraminiferal subsamples were taken from seven sediment push cores collected in the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR), Mississippi (MS), in October 2016. The push cores were collected along two, shore-perpendicular transects at 5, 15, 25, and 50 meters (m)...
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
No results found.

Identifying and constraining marsh-type transitions in response to increasing erosion over the past century

Marsh environments, characterized by their flora and fauna, change laterally in response to shoreline erosion, water levels and inundation, and anthropogenic activities. The Grand Bay coastal system (USA) has undergone multiple large-scale geomorphic and hydrologic changes resulting in altered sediment supply, depositional patterns, and degraded barrier islands, leaving wetland salt...
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Kathryn Smith, Jessica A. Jacobs
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
link
Cartoon image of a sediment core, coral slab x-ray, clam shell, and a foramnifera

APPROACH (APplying Proxy-based Reconstruction Of Atlantic Climate CHange)

USGS scientists use marine geological archives to investigate how ocean temperature, salinity and circulation patterns changed over the past few centuries to millennia. This is done by analyzing the geochemical and physical clues about past environments that are preserved in fossil coral skeletons, clam shells, foraminifera and marine sediments.
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
link

APPROACH (APplying Proxy-based Reconstruction Of Atlantic Climate CHange)

USGS scientists use marine geological archives to investigate how ocean temperature, salinity and circulation patterns changed over the past few centuries to millennia. This is done by analyzing the geochemical and physical clues about past environments that are preserved in fossil coral skeletons, clam shells, foraminifera and marine sediments.
Learn More
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