Julie Bernier
I have worked at the USGS - St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center since receiving my M.S. in Geology from the University of Utah in 2003. My research interests include applying sedimentologic, stratigraphic, remote sensing, and geophysical techniques to better understand coastal wetland and barrier-island change at historic to geologic time scales.
Science and Products
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF) Capabilities
As part of the Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux project, we use innovative technology and integrate a variety of techniques to characterize barrier island environments, reconstruct their past history, and predict their future vulnerability.
Barrier Island Sensitivity to Changes in Sediment Supply
Observations and models show that maintaining barrier islands requires a balance between sea-level rise and sediment supply. However, most estimates of sediment supply are not based on modern conditions, which could result in less accurate predictions of sediment fluxes. We explore how natural and human alterations impact modern sediment fluxes, or changes, on barrier islands – research that...
Storm-Related Barrier Island Morphological Evolution
Storms quickly and dramatically alter barrier island environments by changing adjacent seafloor morphology, eroding beaches, scarping or leveling dunes, and sometimes creating new inlets. Measuring the magnitude of barrier island sediment movement during and after storms allows us to track rates of beach recovery, dune growth, and inlet-related alterations to barrier island sediment supply....
Historical Wetland Loss - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
Analysis of historical satellite imagery and previously interpreted land-classification datasets identified more than 4,600 km2 of low-lying wetlands in coastal Louisiana that converted to open water between 1932 and 2004.
Wetland Subsidence and Erosion - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
The magnitudes of subsidence and erosion at the wetland-loss core sites were estimated by comparing marsh-surface elevations, water depths, and vertical displacements of stratigraphic contacts that were correlated between short sediment cores.
Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
Research (2000 - 2011) at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center focused on better understanding the physical processes and human activities that contributed to historical wetland loss in coastal Louisiana and the spatial and temporal trends of that loss.
Induced Subsidence Related to Hydrocarbon Production - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
One of the primary goals of this project was to test the hypothesis that long-term, large-volume hydrocarbon production along the Gulf Coast resulted in land-surface subsidence, reactivation of deep-seated faults, and wetland loss in Texas and Louisiana.
Historical Accommodation Formation - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
Bathymetric data acquired at the Madison Bay, Point au Chien, Bully Camp, Leeville, Fourchon, Caminada, and Sabine National Wildlife Refuge study areas provided average one-dimensional accommodation distances at those sites. These results were integrated with the two-dimensional extent of historical wetland loss from 1956 to 2004 to estimate the total 3D (volume) accommodation space that...
Natural Subsidence and Sea-Level Rise - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
Geologic proxies may shed light on long-term environmental trends and stability of the Louisiana coastal marsh. The combined processes of accretion, sea-level rise and subsidence influence wetland elevation and determine marsh stability.
Photo Gallery - Subsidence and Wetland Loss Related to Fluid Energy Production, Gulf Coast Basin
Gallery of photos taken during fieldwork.
Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux (CSAF)
Sediments are the foundation of coastal systems, including barrier islands. Their behavior is driven by not only sediment availability, but also sediment exchanges between barrier island environments. We collect geophysical, remote sensing, and sediment data to estimate these parameters, which are integrated with models to improve prediction of coastal response to extreme storms and sea-level...
Geology and Sediment Availability - Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Sediment supply is a critical control on barrier island vulnerability and resilience over a variety of time scales (e.g., storms to sea level rise). Past work at Fire Island and elsewhere has demonstrated a link between inner shelf sediment availability and barrier island evolution over geologic and historical time scales. However, there have been few opportunities to explore nearshore...
Louisiana Coastal Zone sediment characterization; Comparison of sediment grain sizes for samples collected in 2008 and 2015–2016 from the western Chenier plain to the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana—Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) Program
Repeated sampling and grain-size analysis of surficial sediments along the sandy shorelines of Louisiana is necessary to characterize coastal-zone sediment properties and evaluate sediment transport patterns within the nearshore environments. In 2008, and again in 2015 and 2016, sediment grab samples were collected along the shorelines of the...
Bosse, Stephen T.; Flocks, James G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Georgiou, Ioannis Y.; Kulp, Mark A.; Brown, Michael
Application of sediment end-member analysis for understanding sediment fluxes, northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
We analyzed grain-size distributions (GSDs) from a time-series of sediment samples to evaluate sediment transport following anthropogenic sand-berm emplacement at the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana. End-member analysis (EMA) was applied to compare the end-member (EM) GSD of a known sediment source to GSDs from surrounding environments and...
Bernier, Julie C.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Buster, Noreen A.; Flocks, James G.
Sediment data from vibracores collected in 2016 from Fire Island, New York
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a long-term coastal morphologic-change study at Fire Island, New York, prior to and after Hurricane Sandy impacted the area in October 2012. The Fire Island Coastal Change project objectives include understanding the morphologic evolution of the barrier island system on a...
Buster, Noreen A.; Bernier, Julie C.; Brenner, Owen T.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Tuten, Thomas M.; Miselis, Jennifer L. Analysis of multi-decadal wetland changes, and cumulative impact of multiple storms 1984 to 2017
Land-cover classification analysis using Landsat satellite imagery acquired between 1984 and 2017 quantified short- (post-Hurricane Sandy) and long-term wetland-change trends along the Maryland and Virginia coasts between Metompkin Bay, VA and Ocean City, MD. Although there are limited options for upland migration of wetlands in the study area,...
Douglas, Steven H.; Bernier, Julie C.; Smith, Kathryn
Nearshore single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015, Dauphin Island, Alabama
Dauphin Island, Alabama, is a barrier island located in the northern Gulf of Mexico that supports local residences, tourism, commercial infrastructure, and historic Fort Gaines. During the past decade, Dauphin Island was affected by several major hurricanes—Hurricanes Ivan (2004), Katrina (2005), and Isaac (2012)—and storms, along with sea-level...
DeWitt, Nancy T.; Stalk, Chelsea A.; Flocks, James G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Fredericks, Jake J.; Tuten, Thomas M.
Barrier-island and estuarine-wetland physical-change assessment after Hurricane Sandy
IntroductionThe Nation’s eastern coast is fringed by beaches, dunes, barrier islands, wetlands, and bluffs. These natural coastal barriers provide critical benefits and services, and can mitigate the impact of storms, erosion, and sea-level rise on our coastal communities. Waves and storm surge resulting from Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall...
Plant, Nathaniel G.; Smith, Kathryn; Passeri, Davina; Smith, Christopher G.; Bernier, Julie C.
Ground penetrating radar and differential global positioning system data collected in April 2016 from Fire Island, New York
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a long-term coastal morphologic-change study at Fire Island, New York, prior to and after Hurricane Sandy impacted the area in October 2012. The Fire Island Coastal Change project objectives include understanding the morphologic evolution of the barrier island system on a variety of time...
Forde, Arnell S.; Bernier, Julie C.; Miselis, Jennifer L. Archive of sediment physical properties and grain-size data for sediment samples collected offshore of Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia:
This data release serves as an archive of sediment physical properties and grain-size data for surficial samples collected offshore of Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia, for comparison with surficial estuarine and subaerial sedimentological samples collected and assessed following Hurricane Sandy (Ellis and others, 2015; Smith and others,...
Ellis, Alisha M.; Wheaton, Cathryn J.; Smith, Christopher G. Single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015 nearshore Dauphin Island, Alabama
Dauphin Island, Alabama is a barrier island located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico that supports local residences, tourism, commercial infrastructure, and the historical Fort Gaines. During the past decade, Dauphin Island has been impacted by several major hurricanes (Ivan, 2004; Katrina, 2005; Isaac, 2012). Storms, along with sea level rise,...
DeWitt, Nancy T.; Stalk, Chelsea A.; Flocks, James G.; Bernier, Julie C.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Fredericks, Jake J.; Tuten, Thomas
Sediment data collected in 2014 and 2015 from around Breton and Gosier Islands, Breton National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana
Breton Island, located at the southern end of the Chandeleur Islands, supports one of Louisiana’s largest historical brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) nesting colonies. Although the brown pelican was delisted as an endangered species in 2009, nesting areas are threatened by continued land loss and are extremely vulnerable to storm impacts....
Bernier, Julie C.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Tuten, Thomas M. ; Stalk, Chelsea A. ; Flocks, James G.
Coastal single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015 from the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
As part of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring Program, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a single-beam bathymetry survey around the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in June 2015. The goal of the program is...
Stalk, Chelsea A.; DeWitt, Nancy T.; Bernier, Julie C.; Kindinger, Jack G.; Flocks, James G.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Locker, Stanley D.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Tuten, Thomas M. Archive of sediment data collected in 2014 and 2015 from around Breton and Gosier Islands, Breton National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana
Breton Island, located at the southern end of the Chandeleur Islands, supports one of Louisiana’s largest historical brown pelican nesting colonies. Although the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) was delisted as an endangered species in 2009, nesting areas are threatened by continued land loss and are extremely vulnerable to storm impacts....
Bernier, Julie C.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Tuten, Thomas M. ; Stalk, Chelsea A. ; Flocks, James G.
SPCMSC scientists publish paper documenting recent historical evolution of the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
SPCMSC geologist Julie Bernier, with co-authors Jennifer Miselis and Nathaniel Plant, published a paper, "Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana," documenting recent historical evolution (since 1984) of this barrier-island system based on analysis of Landsat satellite imagery.
SPCMSC scientist interviewed for story about using Landsat to study coastal wetlands
SPCMSC geologist Julie Bernier was interviewed for an outreach story, "Keeping an Eye on Vulnerable Coastal Wetlands," that was released by the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
SPCMSC scientists to present at the State of the Coast 2021 conference
SPCMSC geologists are giving presentations on research of recent geomorphologic changes at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, at the virtual State of the Coast 2021 conference held June 2–4, 2021.
Geologist Julie Bernier presents findings from the Gulf Coast Subsidence Project at the Louisiana Coastal Neotectonics Workshop
SPCMSC geologist Julie Bernier was invited to present findings from the Gulf Coast Subsidence Project at the Louisiana Coastal Neotectonics workshop, June 3–5, 2020, organized by The Water Institute of the Gulf.
SPCMSC scientists to present at Coastal Sediments '19 conference
SPCMSC scientists Julie Bernier, Noreen Buster, Kara Doran, Karen Morgan, and Tim Nelson will present their research at the Coastal Sediments '19 conference, May 27–31, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Research Geologist Jennifer Miselis, co-author with Bernier and Buster, will also be attending.
USGS scientists publish study documenting recent wetland-changes along Maryland and Virginia coastline
New study analyzed Landsat satellite imagery to document historical and recent (post-Hurricane Sandy) wetland changes that occurred along the Maryland and Virginia coastlines since 1984.
Julie Bernier to serve as panelist at the 2018 State of the Coast Conference
Julie Bernier (SPCMSC geologist) was invited to serve as a panelist for the session "Extraction Related Subsidence and the Potential for Uplift" at the 2018 State of the Coast Conference.