Sampling seawater every 4 hours for a period of 72 hours required the team to work during the early hours of the day. Left to right: Chris Gallagher (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Kim Yates (St.
Nancy Prouty
Research Oceanographer with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
As a Research Oceanographer, Nancy is the Lead Principal Investigator (PI) on federally funded studies evaluating the impact of groundwater and land-based pollution on coral reef ecosystems, ensuring the protection of critical marine resources that support American fisheries, tourism, and coastal economies. She has designed and implemented field experiments to assess geochemical factors affecting coral reefs, delivering actionable data to support sustainable coastal management and economic growth.
Nancy is also lead PI on a multi-agency deep-sea coral paleo-ecology project, advancing knowledge with potential applications for marine resource management.
Past Professional Experience:
Science Program Coordinator Advisor, Schmidt Ocean Institute, Palo Alto, CA (July 2010–Nov. 2010)
- Served as liaison between scientists and the Institute to ensure research priorities aligned with technological advancements and national interests.
- Participated in complex planning efforts integrating marine science, engineering, and operations to enhance U.S. leadership in ocean research and innovation.
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, United States Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA (2007–2009)
- Led a two-year federally funded research initiative investigating sedimentation impacts on coral reef health, contributing to efforts that protect vital U.S. marine assets and economic sectors.
- Partnered with multiple federal agencies and research institutions to generate data that supports practical, science-based decision-making.
Cooperative Institute for Climate and Ocean Research Postdoctoral Scholar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA (2004–2007)
- Spearheaded a multidisciplinary initiative to develop advanced tools for assessing coral reef resilience, providing insights beneficial to fisheries management and coastal industries.
- Conducted research on environmental stressors affecting marine ecosystems, supporting efforts that prioritize both conservation and economic prosperity.
University Instructor, University of California, Berkeley, CA (Summer 2004)
- Designed and taught an innovative, student-focused curriculum on oceanography, equipping future scientists and industry leaders with critical knowledge in marine sciences.
Graduate Research Environmental Fellow, Department of Energy (DOE), Stanford University (2000–2004)
- Led an international coral reef research project, supporting U.S. scientific leadership and global partnerships in marine research.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 13
Nutrient Loading and Coral Health at Ofu, American Samoa
Declining water quality poses a significant and persistent threat to coral reefs worldwide, contributing to their widespread degradation. Identifying the specific impacts of water quality stressors is challenging due to the complex interplay of various physical and biological factors affecting reef health. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) plays a crucial role in transporting nutrients into...
Developing a USGS Digital Coral Growth Archive using Rotating X-Ray Computerized Tomography - The ACTS Project
The Archival Computed Tomography Scanning Project (ACTS) currently develops the USGS Coral Core Archive, housed at the Pacific and St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Centers, that contains approximately 500 coral reef cores from U.S. jurisdictions worldwide. This archive, is one of the largest coral archives in the world and provides historical context for coral-reef science studies...
Coral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
Ecosystems: EXPRESS
The continental shelf and slope offshore California, Oregon, and Washington are home to deep-sea corals, chemosynthetic communities, and other sensitive habitats that could be impacted by the development of energy and mineral resources. The EXPRESS (Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems) campaign will map and characterize these special areas to help guide ocean management...
Hazards: EXPRESS
Marine geohazards including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis lie offshore of densely populated areas of California, Oregon, and Washington. One goal of EXPRESS is to improve assessments of these hazards.
Land-use Histories
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, we are developing new and unique oceanographic and environmental archives from coral skeleton records to better understand the compounding effects of land-use and environmental change on coral reef health.
EXPRESS: Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems
EXPRESS is a multi-year, multi-institution cooperative research campaign in deep sea areas of California, Oregon, and Washington, including the continental shelf and slope. EXPRESS data and information are intended to guide wise use of living marine resources and habitats, inform ocean energy and mineral resource decisions, and improve offshore hazard assessments.
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory, Organic Geochemistry Laboratory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
Resources: EXPRESS
Along the U.S. west coast, the Pacific Ocean, ocean floor, and winds above contain potentially vast energy and mineral resources. Developing these resources safely and wisely requires detailed information for each area of interest. One goal of EXPRESS is to inform ocean energy and mineral resource decisions.
USGS Role in DEEP SEARCH: Deep Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral, Canyon, and Cold-seep Habitats
USGS scientists are collaborating with multiple agencies to provide the esssential foundation for understanding these deep-sea environments.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Gulf of America
DISCOVRE: Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems
DISCOVRE ( DIversity, Systematics and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) is an integrated, multidisciplinary, international effort investigating the unique and fragile deep-sea coral environments from the microscopic level to the ecosystem level.
Seeking the Seeps
From June 12 to July 3, 2019, the USGS sailed onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor with several other partners, seeking methane seeps along the seafloor of several underwater canyons off the coast of Oregon and Washington. On this cruise, USGS scientists will seek to understand how much methane is coming out of these seeps, how it travels through the water column, and its ultimate fate in...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Communications and Publishing, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Subduction Zone Science
IMMeRSS- Seafloor Methane Seep Environments
Cold seeps, which are locations where chemicals -- including methane and other hydrocarbons, brine, hydrogen sulfide, and sometimes carbon dioxide--leak from the seafloor, occur worldwide on both passive and tectonically-active continental margins. Cold seeps are distinguished from hydrothermal vents, which are warm-temperature seeps associated with mid-ocean spreading centers.
Field work team samples seawater at dusk
Sampling seawater every 4 hours for a period of 72 hours required the team to work during the early hours of the day. Left to right: Chris Gallagher (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Kim Yates (St.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 13
Nutrient Loading and Coral Health at Ofu, American Samoa
Declining water quality poses a significant and persistent threat to coral reefs worldwide, contributing to their widespread degradation. Identifying the specific impacts of water quality stressors is challenging due to the complex interplay of various physical and biological factors affecting reef health. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) plays a crucial role in transporting nutrients into...
Developing a USGS Digital Coral Growth Archive using Rotating X-Ray Computerized Tomography - The ACTS Project
The Archival Computed Tomography Scanning Project (ACTS) currently develops the USGS Coral Core Archive, housed at the Pacific and St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Centers, that contains approximately 500 coral reef cores from U.S. jurisdictions worldwide. This archive, is one of the largest coral archives in the world and provides historical context for coral-reef science studies...
Coral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
Ecosystems: EXPRESS
The continental shelf and slope offshore California, Oregon, and Washington are home to deep-sea corals, chemosynthetic communities, and other sensitive habitats that could be impacted by the development of energy and mineral resources. The EXPRESS (Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems) campaign will map and characterize these special areas to help guide ocean management...
Hazards: EXPRESS
Marine geohazards including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis lie offshore of densely populated areas of California, Oregon, and Washington. One goal of EXPRESS is to improve assessments of these hazards.
Land-use Histories
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, we are developing new and unique oceanographic and environmental archives from coral skeleton records to better understand the compounding effects of land-use and environmental change on coral reef health.
EXPRESS: Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems
EXPRESS is a multi-year, multi-institution cooperative research campaign in deep sea areas of California, Oregon, and Washington, including the continental shelf and slope. EXPRESS data and information are intended to guide wise use of living marine resources and habitats, inform ocean energy and mineral resource decisions, and improve offshore hazard assessments.
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 3-D CT Core Imaging Laboratory, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory, Organic Geochemistry Laboratory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
Resources: EXPRESS
Along the U.S. west coast, the Pacific Ocean, ocean floor, and winds above contain potentially vast energy and mineral resources. Developing these resources safely and wisely requires detailed information for each area of interest. One goal of EXPRESS is to inform ocean energy and mineral resource decisions.
USGS Role in DEEP SEARCH: Deep Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral, Canyon, and Cold-seep Habitats
USGS scientists are collaborating with multiple agencies to provide the esssential foundation for understanding these deep-sea environments.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Gulf of America
DISCOVRE: Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems
DISCOVRE ( DIversity, Systematics and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) is an integrated, multidisciplinary, international effort investigating the unique and fragile deep-sea coral environments from the microscopic level to the ecosystem level.
Seeking the Seeps
From June 12 to July 3, 2019, the USGS sailed onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor with several other partners, seeking methane seeps along the seafloor of several underwater canyons off the coast of Oregon and Washington. On this cruise, USGS scientists will seek to understand how much methane is coming out of these seeps, how it travels through the water column, and its ultimate fate in...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Communications and Publishing, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Subduction Zone Science
IMMeRSS- Seafloor Methane Seep Environments
Cold seeps, which are locations where chemicals -- including methane and other hydrocarbons, brine, hydrogen sulfide, and sometimes carbon dioxide--leak from the seafloor, occur worldwide on both passive and tectonically-active continental margins. Cold seeps are distinguished from hydrothermal vents, which are warm-temperature seeps associated with mid-ocean spreading centers.
Field work team samples seawater at dusk
Sampling seawater every 4 hours for a period of 72 hours required the team to work during the early hours of the day. Left to right: Chris Gallagher (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Kim Yates (St.
Sampling seawater every 4 hours for a period of 72 hours required the team to work during the early hours of the day. Left to right: Chris Gallagher (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Kim Yates (St.