Kimberly Yates, Ph.D.
Dr. Kimberly Yates is a senior research oceanographer at the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Center for Coastal and Marine Science (SPCMSC).
Dr. Yates is also a member of the U.S. Interagency Work Group on Ocean Acidification (IWG-OA), the Executive and founding Steering Committees of the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN), and served as Co-Chair of the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry – Ocean Acidification Subcommittee (OCB-OA). She specializes in integrated science studies that examine how changes in coastal ecosystem processes may impact or mitigate risks from coastal hazards, using a whole system perspective that considers the interactions and linkages among chemistry, biology and the physical environment. Much of her recent work has focused on how coral reef seafloor erosion changes risks from sea level rise, waves and storms; impacts on coral reefs and estuaries from coastal and ocean acidification; and identifying and characterizing coastal climate change refuges.
Professional Experience
Senior Research Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL 2007 – Present
Research Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL 1998 – 2007
Research Assistant, University of South Florida, Department of Geology 1989 – 1997
Education and Certifications
University of South Florida (USF), Honors Program & Geology, B.A., 1992
University of South Florida, Geology (Biogeochemistry), Ph.D., 1996
Affiliations and Memberships*
Executive Committee Member and Steering Committee Member, Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network, 2015-present
Committee Member, Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification, National Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee, 2009-present
Co-Chair, Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program – Ocean Acidification Subcommittee, 2011-2016
Committee Member, Gulf of Mexico Coastal Acidification Network, 2016-present
Science and Products
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Big Pine Key to Marquesas Key, Florida-100 Years From 2011 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
Multibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in December 2017, February and March 2018 at Looe Key, the Florida Keys
Seafloor Elevation Change From 2017 to 2018 at a Subsection of Crocker Reef, Florida Keys-Impacts From Hurricane Irma
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-75 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-50 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-25 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-100 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
Multibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in March 2018 at Crocker Reef, the Florida Keys
Multibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in October and December 2017 at Crocker Reef, the Florida Keys
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-100 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-25 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-75 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
Integrating science and resource management in Tampa Bay, Florida
Productivity of a coral reef using boundary layer and enclosure methods
Management case study: Tampa Bay, Florida
Monitoring and assessment of ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean-A scoping paper
Effects of ocean acidification and sea-level rise on coral reefs
Coral reefs and ocean acidification
Topobathymetric data for Tampa Bay, Florida
USGS Tampa Bay Pilot Study
Diurnal variation of oxygen and carbonate system parameters in Tampa Bay and Florida Bay
CO32- concentration and pCO2 thresholds for calcification and dissolution on the Molokai reef flat, Hawaii
Northern Florida reef tract benthic metabolism scaled by remote sensing
Diurnal variation in rates of calcification and carbonate sediment dissolution in Florida Bay
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 64
Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Big Pine Key to Marquesas Key, Florida-100 Years From 2011 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation for several sites along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL) including the shallow seafloor along Key West, FL. USGS staffMultibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in December 2017, February and March 2018 at Looe Key, the Florida Keys
The U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC), collected multibeam bathymetry data at Looe Key in the Florida Keys during 3 separate survey legs, December 2017, February 2018 and March 2018, as a part of the Ecosystem Processes impacting Coastal Change project (EPIC) in an effort to assess sediment accumulation within the survey area. This USGS data releSeafloor Elevation Change From 2017 to 2018 at a Subsection of Crocker Reef, Florida Keys-Impacts From Hurricane Irma
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify bathymetric changes at a subsection of Crocker Reef near Islamorada, Florida, within a 6.1 square-kilometer area following the landfall of Hurricane Irma in September 2017. USGS staff used USGS multibeam data collected between October 10 and December 8, 2017 (Fredericks and others, 201Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-75 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL). USGS staff used historical bathymetric point data from the 1930's (National OcProjected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-50 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL). USGS staff used historical bathymetric point data from the 1930's (National OcProjected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-25 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL). USGS staff used historical bathymetric point data from the 1930's (National OcProjected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-100 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL). USGS staff used historical bathymetric point data from the 1930's (National OcMultibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in March 2018 at Crocker Reef, the Florida Keys
The U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC), collected multibeam bathymetry data at Crocker Reef in the Florida Keys, March 2018 as a part of the Ecosystem Processes Impacting Coastal Change project (EPIC) in an effort to asses sediment accumulation within the survey area. This USGS data release includes the resulting processed elevation point data (xyMultibeam Bathymetry Data Collected in October and December 2017 at Crocker Reef, the Florida Keys
The U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC), collected multibeam bathymetry data at Crocker Reef in the Florida Keys, October and December 2017, as a part of the Ecosystem Processes Impacting Coastal Change project (EPIC) in an effort to asses sediment accumulation within the survey area. This USGS data release includes the resulting processed elevatioProjected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-100 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation for several sites along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL), including the shallow seafloor along the coast of Miami, FL.Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-25 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation for several sites along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL), including the shallow seafloor along the coast of Miami, FL.Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Deerfield Beach to Homestead, Florida-75 Years From 2014 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Erosion
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation for several sites along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL), including the shallow seafloor along the coast of Miami, FL. - Multimedia
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Integrating science and resource management in Tampa Bay, Florida
Tampa Bay is recognized internationally for its remarkable progress towards recovery since it was pronounced "dead" in the late 1970s. Due to significant efforts by local governments, industries and private citizens throughout the watershed, water clarity in Tampa Bay is now equal to what it was in 1950, when population in the watershed was less than one-quarter of what it is today. Seagrass extenAuthorsKimberly K. Yates, Holly Greening, Gerold MorrisonProductivity of a coral reef using boundary layer and enclosure methods
The metabolism of Cayo Enrique Reef, Puerto Rico, was studied using in situ methods during March 2009. Benthic O2 fluxes were used to calculate net community production using both the boundary layer gradient and enclosure techniques. The boundary layer O2 gradient and the drag coefficients were used to calculate productivity ranging from −12.3 to 13.7 mmol O2 m−2 h−1. Productivity measurements froAuthorsW. R. McGillis, C. Langdon, B. Loose, Kimberly K. Yates, J. CorredorManagement case study: Tampa Bay, Florida
Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, is a shallow, subtropical estuary that experienced severe cultural eutrophication between the 1940s and 1980s, a period when the human population of its watershed quadrupled. In response, citizen action led to the formation of a public- and private-sector partnership (the Tampa Bay Estuary Program), which adopted a number of management objectives to support the restorationAuthorsGerold Morrison, Holly Greening, Kimberly K. YatesMonitoring and assessment of ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean-A scoping paper
Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is absorbed at the ocean surface by reacting with seawater to form a weak, naturally occurring acid called carbonic acid. As atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, the concentration of carbonic acid in seawater also increases, causing a decrease in ocean pH and carbonate mineral saturation states, a process known as ocean acidification. The oceans have absorbeAuthorsLisa L. Robbins, Kimberly K. Yates, Richard Feely, Victoria FabryEffects of ocean acidification and sea-level rise on coral reefs
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are developing comprehensive records of historical and modern coral reef growth and calcification rates relative to changing seawater chemistry resulting from increasing atmospheric CO2 from the pre-industrial period to the present. These records will provide the scientific foundation for predicting future impacts of ocean acidification and sea-level rise oAuthorsK. K. Yates, R.P. MoyerCoral reefs and ocean acidification
Coral reefs were one of the first ecosystems to be recognized as vulnerable to ocean acidification. To date, most scientific investigations into the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs have been related to the reefs’ unique ability to produce voluminous amounts of calcium carbonate. It has been estimated that the main reef-building organisms, corals and calcifying macroalgae, will calcifAuthorsJoan A. Kleypas, Kimberly K YatesTopobathymetric data for Tampa Bay, Florida
Topobathymetric data (“topobathy”) are a merged rendering of both topography (land elevation) and bathymetry (water depth) to provide a single product useful for inundation mapping and a variety of other applications. These data were developed using one topographic and two bathymetric datasets collected at different dates. Topography was obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National EAuthorsDean J. Tyler, David G. Zawada, A. Nayegandi, John Brock, M. P. Crane, Kimberly K. Yates, Kathryn E. L. SmithUSGS Tampa Bay Pilot Study
Many of the nation's estuaries have been environmentally stressed since the turn of the 20th century and will continue to be impacted in the future. Tampa Bay, one the Gulf of Mexico's largest estuaries, exemplifies the threats that our estuaries face (EPA Report 2001, Tampa Bay Estuary Program-Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (TBEP-CCMP)). More than 2 million people live in the TampAuthorsK. K. Yates, T. M. Cronin, M. Crane, M. Hansen, A. Nayeghandi, P. Swarzenski, T. Edgar, G. R. Brooks, B. Suthard, A. Hine, S. Locker, D. A. Willard, D. Hastings, B. Flower, D. Hollander, R.A. Larson, K. SmithDiurnal variation of oxygen and carbonate system parameters in Tampa Bay and Florida Bay
Oxygen and carbonate system parameters were measured, in situ, over diurnal cycles in Tampa Bay and Florida Bay, Florida. All system parameters showed distinct diurnal trends in Tampa Bay with an average range of diurnal variation of 39.1 μmol kg− 1 for total alkalinity, 165.1 μmol kg− 1 for total CO2, 0.22 for pH, 0.093 mmol L− 1 for dissolved oxygen, and 218.1 μatm for pCO2. Average range of diuAuthorsK. K. Yates, C. Dufore, N. Smiley, C. Jackson, R. B. HalleyCO32- concentration and pCO2 thresholds for calcification and dissolution on the Molokai reef flat, Hawaii
The severity of the impact of elevated atmospheric pCO2 to coral reef ecosystems depends, in part, on how sea-water pCO2 affects the balance between calcification and dissolution of carbonate sediments. Presently, there are insufficient published data that relate concentrations of pCO 2 and CO32- to in situ rates of reef calcification in natural settings to accurately predict the impact of elevateAuthorsK. K. Yates, R. B. HalleyNorthern Florida reef tract benthic metabolism scaled by remote sensing
Holistic rates of excess organic carbon production (E) and calcification for a 0.5 km2 segment of the backreef platform of the northern Florida reef tract (NFRT) were estimated by combining biotope mapping using remote sensing with community metabolic rates determined with a benthic incubation system. The use of ASTER multispectral satellite imaging for the spatial scaling of benthic metabolic proAuthorsJ. C. Brock, K. K. Yates, R. B. Halley, I. B. Kuffner, C. W. Wright, B.G. HatcherDiurnal variation in rates of calcification and carbonate sediment dissolution in Florida Bay
Water quality and criculation in Florida Bay (a shallow, subtropical estuary in south Florida) are highly dependent upon the development and evolution of carbonate mud banks distributed throughout the Bay. Predicting the effect of natural and anthropogenic perturbations on carbonate sedimentation requires an understanding of annual, seasonal, and daily variations in the biogenic and inorganic procAuthorsK. K. Yates, R. B. Halley - Software
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government