Neil Kamal Ganju, PhD
My research spans the multiple disciplines that converge in estuarine systems. Research projects include numerical model development, field observations of hydrodynamics and water quality, wetland and coastal vulnerability assessments, geomorphic change, and eutrophication.
In 2001, I began working for the USGS at the California Water Science Center, on the San Francisco Bay Sediment Transport Project with Dr. David Schoellhamer. In 2008 I moved to the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center and began multiple projects throughout the northeast US. The Estuarine Processes, Hazards, and Ecosystems project, started in 2015, details the past and ongoing studies we are involved with.
Professional Experience
2010-present: Research Oceanographer, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
2008-2010: Hydraulic Engineer, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
2001-2008: Hydraulic Engineer, California Water Science Center
Education and Certifications
I studied civil engineering at the University of Michigan (BSCE), the University of Florida (MSCE), and the University of California-Davis (Ph.D.).
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Filter Total Items: 74
Wetland data layers derived from Barnegat Bay Little Egg Harbor hydrodynamic model Wetland data layers derived from Barnegat Bay Little Egg Harbor hydrodynamic model
As part of the Hurricane Sandy Science Plan, the U.S. Geological Survey is expanding National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards and forecast products to coastal wetlands. The intent is to provide federal, state, and local managers with tools to estimate the vulnerability of coastal wetlands to various factors and to evaluate their ecosystem service potential. For this purpose, the...
Water samples in support of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, 2014-15, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2014-048-FA Water samples in support of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, 2014-15, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2014-048-FA
U.S. Geological Survey scientist and technical support staff measured oceanographic, water quality, seabed elevation change, and meteorological parameters in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, during the period of August 13, 2014 to July 14, 2015 as part of the Estuarine Physical Response (EPR) to Storms project (GS2-2D) supported by the Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy...
Exposure potential of salt marsh units in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to environmental health stressors Exposure potential of salt marsh units in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to environmental health stressors
Natural and anthropogenic contaminants, pathogens, and viruses are found in soils and sediments throughout the United States. Enhanced dispersion and concentration of these environmental health stressors in coastal regions can result from sea level rise and storm-derived disturbances. The combination of existing environmental health stressors and those mobilized by natural or...
Mean tidal range in salt marsh units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey Mean tidal range in salt marsh units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
This dataset displays the spatial variation mean tidal range (i.e. Mean Range of Tides, MN) in the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (EBFNWR), which spans over Great Bay, Little Egg Harbor, and Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, USA. MN was calculated as the difference in height between mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW) using the VDatum (v3.5) software (http://vdatum.noaa...
Conceptual salt marsh units for wetland synthesis: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey Conceptual salt marsh units for wetland synthesis: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
The salt marsh complex of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (EBFNWR), which spans over Great Bay, Little Egg Harbor, and Barnegat Bay (New Jersey, USA), was delineated to smaller, conceptual marsh units by geoprocessing of surface elevation data. Flow accumulation based on the relative elevation of each location is used to determine the ridge lines that separate each marsh...
Oceanographic and Water Quality Measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, 2014 - 2015 Oceanographic and Water Quality Measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, 2014 - 2015
This web page provides access to oceanographic, meteorological, and water quality observations made at fourteen locations in Chincoteague Bay as part of the Estuarine Physical Response to Storms (EPR) program. The primary objective was to measure the physical response of the system to storm events, and identify processes that may affect estuarine resilience. Bottom landing platforms with
Filter Total Items: 118
Sediment transport-based metrics of wetland stability Sediment transport-based metrics of wetland stability
Despite the importance of sediment availability on wetland stability, vulnerability assessments seldom consider spatiotemporal variability of sediment transport. Models predict that the maximum rate of sea level rise a marsh can survive is proportional to suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and accretion. In contrast, we find that SSC and accretion are higher in an unstable marsh than...
Authors
Neil K. Ganju, Matthew L. Kirwan, Patrick J. Dickhudt, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Donald R. Cahoon, Kevin D. Kroeger
Summary of oceanographic measurements for characterizing light attenuation and sediment resuspension in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary, New Jersey, 2013 Summary of oceanographic measurements for characterizing light attenuation and sediment resuspension in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary, New Jersey, 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, measured suspended-sediment concentrations, currents, waves, light attenuation, and a variety of other water-quality parameters in the summer of 2013 in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. These measurements quantified light attenuation and sediment resuspension in three...
Authors
Patrick J. Dickhudt, Neil K. Ganju, Ellyn T. Montgomery
Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, in 2013 Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, in 2013
Suspended-sediment transport is a critical element controlling the geomorphology of tidal wetland complexes. Wetlands rely on organic material and inorganic sediment deposition to maintain their elevation relative to sea level. The U.S. Geological Survey performed observational deployments to measure suspended-sediment concentration and water flow rates in the tidal channels of the...
Authors
Ellyn T. Montgomery, Neil K. Ganju, Patrick J. Dickhudt, Jonathan Borden, Marinna A. Martini, Sandra M. Brosnahan
Modeling future scenarios of light attenuation and potential seagrass success in a eutrophic estuary Modeling future scenarios of light attenuation and potential seagrass success in a eutrophic estuary
Estuarine eutrophication has led to numerous ecological changes, including loss of seagrass beds. One potential cause of these losses is a reduction in light availability due to increased attenuation by phytoplankton. Future sea level rise will also tend to reduce light penetration and modify seagrass habitat. In the present study, we integrate a spectral irradiance model into a...
Authors
Pilar del Barrio, Neil K. Ganju, Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Melanie Hayn, Andres Garcia, Robert W. Howarth
Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime
We measured metabolism rates in a shallow, nitrogen-enriched coastal marine ecosystem on Cape Cod (MA, USA) during seven summers using an open-water diel oxygen method. We compared two basins, one directly receiving most of the nitrogen (N) load (“Snug Harbor”) and another further removed from the N load and better flushed (“Outer Harbor”). Both dissolved oxygen and pH varied greatly...
Authors
Robert W. Howarth, Melanie Hayn, Roxanne M. Marino, Neil Ganju, Kenneth H. Foreman, Karen McGlathery, Anne E. Giblin, Peter Berg, Jeffrey D. Walker
Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy
On 28–30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding along portions of the northeast coast of the United States and cut new inlets across barrier islands in New Jersey and New York. About 30% of the 20 highest daily maximum water levels observed between 2007 and 2013 in Barnegat and Great South Bay occurred in 5 months following Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy provided a rare...
Authors
Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Bradford Butman, Neil K. Ganju
Non-USGS Publications**
Defne, Z., N. K. Ganju, and A. Aretxabaleta
(2016), Estimating time-dependent
connectivity in marine systems, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2015GL066888.
(2016), Estimating time-dependent
connectivity in marine systems, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2015GL066888.
Ganju, N. K., Brush, M. J., Rashleigh, B., Aretxabaleta, A. L., del Barrio, P., Grear, J. S., ... & Vaudrey, J. M., 2015, Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling, Estuaries and Coasts, 1-22.
Ganju, N.K., Jaffe, B.E., and Schoellhamer, D.H., 2011, Discontinuous hindcast simulations of estuarine bathymetric change: a case study from Suisun Bay, California. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 93, 142-150.
Ganju, N.K., and Schoellhamer, D.H., 2006, Annual sediment flux estimates in a tidal strait using surrogate measurements. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 69, 165-178.
Ganju, N.K., Schoellhamer, D.H., and Jaffe, B.E., 2009, Hindcasting of decadal-timescale estuarine bathymetric change with a tidal-timescale model. Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, 114, F04019, doi:10.1029/2008JF001191.
Ganju, N.K., Schoellhamer, D.H., Warner, J.C., Barad, M.F., and Schladow, S.G., 2004, Tidal oscillation of sediment between a river and a bay: a conceptual model. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 60(1), 81-90.
Ganju, N.K., and Sherwood, C.R., 2010, Effect of roughness formulation on the performance of a coupled wave, hydrodynamic, and sediment transport model. Ocean Modelling, 33, 299-313.
Gartner, J.W., and Ganju, N.K., 2007, Correcting acoustic Doppler current profiler discharge measurement bias from moving-bed conditions without global positioning during the 2004 Glen Canyon Dam controlled flood on the Colorado River. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 5, 156-162.
Leonardi, N., Ganju, N.K. and Fagherazzi, S., 2016. A linear relationship between wave power and erosion determines salt-marsh resilience to violent storms and hurricanes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(1), pp.64-68.
Kirincich, A. R., Lentz, S. J., Farrar, J. T., and Ganju, N. K., 2013, The Spatial Structure of Tidal and Mean Circulation over the Inner Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 43(9).
Miselis, J.L., Andrews, B.D., Nicholson, R.S., Defne, Z., Ganju, N.K. and Navoy, A., 2015. Evolution of mid-Atlantic coastal and back-barrier estuary environments in response to a hurricane: Implications for barrier-estuary connectivity. Estuaries and Coasts, pp.1-19.
Oestreich, W. K., Ganju, N. K., Pohlman, J. W., and Suttles, S. E., 2016. Colored dissolved organic matter in shallow estuaries: relationships between carbon sources and light attenuation, Biogeosciences, 13, 583-595, doi:10.5194/bg-13-583-2016.
Rosencranz, J.A., Ganju, N.K., Ambrose, R.F., Brosnahan, S.M., Dickhudt, P.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., MacDonald, G.M., Takekawa, J.Y, and Thorne, K.M., 2015, Balanced sediment fluxes in southern California’s Mediterranean-climate zone salt marshes, Estuaries and Coasts, DOI 10.1007/s12237-015-0056-y.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Filter Total Items: 74
Wetland data layers derived from Barnegat Bay Little Egg Harbor hydrodynamic model Wetland data layers derived from Barnegat Bay Little Egg Harbor hydrodynamic model
As part of the Hurricane Sandy Science Plan, the U.S. Geological Survey is expanding National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards and forecast products to coastal wetlands. The intent is to provide federal, state, and local managers with tools to estimate the vulnerability of coastal wetlands to various factors and to evaluate their ecosystem service potential. For this purpose, the...
Water samples in support of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, 2014-15, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2014-048-FA Water samples in support of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, 2014-15, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2014-048-FA
U.S. Geological Survey scientist and technical support staff measured oceanographic, water quality, seabed elevation change, and meteorological parameters in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland and Virginia, during the period of August 13, 2014 to July 14, 2015 as part of the Estuarine Physical Response (EPR) to Storms project (GS2-2D) supported by the Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy...
Exposure potential of salt marsh units in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to environmental health stressors Exposure potential of salt marsh units in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to environmental health stressors
Natural and anthropogenic contaminants, pathogens, and viruses are found in soils and sediments throughout the United States. Enhanced dispersion and concentration of these environmental health stressors in coastal regions can result from sea level rise and storm-derived disturbances. The combination of existing environmental health stressors and those mobilized by natural or...
Mean tidal range in salt marsh units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey Mean tidal range in salt marsh units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
This dataset displays the spatial variation mean tidal range (i.e. Mean Range of Tides, MN) in the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (EBFNWR), which spans over Great Bay, Little Egg Harbor, and Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, USA. MN was calculated as the difference in height between mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW) using the VDatum (v3.5) software (http://vdatum.noaa...
Conceptual salt marsh units for wetland synthesis: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey Conceptual salt marsh units for wetland synthesis: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
The salt marsh complex of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (EBFNWR), which spans over Great Bay, Little Egg Harbor, and Barnegat Bay (New Jersey, USA), was delineated to smaller, conceptual marsh units by geoprocessing of surface elevation data. Flow accumulation based on the relative elevation of each location is used to determine the ridge lines that separate each marsh...
Oceanographic and Water Quality Measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, 2014 - 2015 Oceanographic and Water Quality Measurements in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, 2014 - 2015
This web page provides access to oceanographic, meteorological, and water quality observations made at fourteen locations in Chincoteague Bay as part of the Estuarine Physical Response to Storms (EPR) program. The primary objective was to measure the physical response of the system to storm events, and identify processes that may affect estuarine resilience. Bottom landing platforms with
Filter Total Items: 118
Sediment transport-based metrics of wetland stability Sediment transport-based metrics of wetland stability
Despite the importance of sediment availability on wetland stability, vulnerability assessments seldom consider spatiotemporal variability of sediment transport. Models predict that the maximum rate of sea level rise a marsh can survive is proportional to suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and accretion. In contrast, we find that SSC and accretion are higher in an unstable marsh than...
Authors
Neil K. Ganju, Matthew L. Kirwan, Patrick J. Dickhudt, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Donald R. Cahoon, Kevin D. Kroeger
Summary of oceanographic measurements for characterizing light attenuation and sediment resuspension in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary, New Jersey, 2013 Summary of oceanographic measurements for characterizing light attenuation and sediment resuspension in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary, New Jersey, 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, measured suspended-sediment concentrations, currents, waves, light attenuation, and a variety of other water-quality parameters in the summer of 2013 in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. These measurements quantified light attenuation and sediment resuspension in three...
Authors
Patrick J. Dickhudt, Neil K. Ganju, Ellyn T. Montgomery
Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, in 2013 Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements in Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, in 2013
Suspended-sediment transport is a critical element controlling the geomorphology of tidal wetland complexes. Wetlands rely on organic material and inorganic sediment deposition to maintain their elevation relative to sea level. The U.S. Geological Survey performed observational deployments to measure suspended-sediment concentration and water flow rates in the tidal channels of the...
Authors
Ellyn T. Montgomery, Neil K. Ganju, Patrick J. Dickhudt, Jonathan Borden, Marinna A. Martini, Sandra M. Brosnahan
Modeling future scenarios of light attenuation and potential seagrass success in a eutrophic estuary Modeling future scenarios of light attenuation and potential seagrass success in a eutrophic estuary
Estuarine eutrophication has led to numerous ecological changes, including loss of seagrass beds. One potential cause of these losses is a reduction in light availability due to increased attenuation by phytoplankton. Future sea level rise will also tend to reduce light penetration and modify seagrass habitat. In the present study, we integrate a spectral irradiance model into a...
Authors
Pilar del Barrio, Neil K. Ganju, Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Melanie Hayn, Andres Garcia, Robert W. Howarth
Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime
We measured metabolism rates in a shallow, nitrogen-enriched coastal marine ecosystem on Cape Cod (MA, USA) during seven summers using an open-water diel oxygen method. We compared two basins, one directly receiving most of the nitrogen (N) load (“Snug Harbor”) and another further removed from the N load and better flushed (“Outer Harbor”). Both dissolved oxygen and pH varied greatly...
Authors
Robert W. Howarth, Melanie Hayn, Roxanne M. Marino, Neil Ganju, Kenneth H. Foreman, Karen McGlathery, Anne E. Giblin, Peter Berg, Jeffrey D. Walker
Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy
On 28–30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding along portions of the northeast coast of the United States and cut new inlets across barrier islands in New Jersey and New York. About 30% of the 20 highest daily maximum water levels observed between 2007 and 2013 in Barnegat and Great South Bay occurred in 5 months following Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy provided a rare...
Authors
Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Bradford Butman, Neil K. Ganju
Non-USGS Publications**
Defne, Z., N. K. Ganju, and A. Aretxabaleta
(2016), Estimating time-dependent
connectivity in marine systems, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2015GL066888.
(2016), Estimating time-dependent
connectivity in marine systems, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2015GL066888.
Ganju, N. K., Brush, M. J., Rashleigh, B., Aretxabaleta, A. L., del Barrio, P., Grear, J. S., ... & Vaudrey, J. M., 2015, Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling, Estuaries and Coasts, 1-22.
Ganju, N.K., Jaffe, B.E., and Schoellhamer, D.H., 2011, Discontinuous hindcast simulations of estuarine bathymetric change: a case study from Suisun Bay, California. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 93, 142-150.
Ganju, N.K., and Schoellhamer, D.H., 2006, Annual sediment flux estimates in a tidal strait using surrogate measurements. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 69, 165-178.
Ganju, N.K., Schoellhamer, D.H., and Jaffe, B.E., 2009, Hindcasting of decadal-timescale estuarine bathymetric change with a tidal-timescale model. Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, 114, F04019, doi:10.1029/2008JF001191.
Ganju, N.K., Schoellhamer, D.H., Warner, J.C., Barad, M.F., and Schladow, S.G., 2004, Tidal oscillation of sediment between a river and a bay: a conceptual model. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 60(1), 81-90.
Ganju, N.K., and Sherwood, C.R., 2010, Effect of roughness formulation on the performance of a coupled wave, hydrodynamic, and sediment transport model. Ocean Modelling, 33, 299-313.
Gartner, J.W., and Ganju, N.K., 2007, Correcting acoustic Doppler current profiler discharge measurement bias from moving-bed conditions without global positioning during the 2004 Glen Canyon Dam controlled flood on the Colorado River. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 5, 156-162.
Leonardi, N., Ganju, N.K. and Fagherazzi, S., 2016. A linear relationship between wave power and erosion determines salt-marsh resilience to violent storms and hurricanes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(1), pp.64-68.
Kirincich, A. R., Lentz, S. J., Farrar, J. T., and Ganju, N. K., 2013, The Spatial Structure of Tidal and Mean Circulation over the Inner Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 43(9).
Miselis, J.L., Andrews, B.D., Nicholson, R.S., Defne, Z., Ganju, N.K. and Navoy, A., 2015. Evolution of mid-Atlantic coastal and back-barrier estuary environments in response to a hurricane: Implications for barrier-estuary connectivity. Estuaries and Coasts, pp.1-19.
Oestreich, W. K., Ganju, N. K., Pohlman, J. W., and Suttles, S. E., 2016. Colored dissolved organic matter in shallow estuaries: relationships between carbon sources and light attenuation, Biogeosciences, 13, 583-595, doi:10.5194/bg-13-583-2016.
Rosencranz, J.A., Ganju, N.K., Ambrose, R.F., Brosnahan, S.M., Dickhudt, P.J., Guntenspergen, G.R., MacDonald, G.M., Takekawa, J.Y, and Thorne, K.M., 2015, Balanced sediment fluxes in southern California’s Mediterranean-climate zone salt marshes, Estuaries and Coasts, DOI 10.1007/s12237-015-0056-y.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.