Reef Reconnaissance and Restoration

Monitoring Off the Beaten Path

Since the ANERR Reserve is a small research team in a remote area, I found myself doing a little bit of everything, from sea turtle monitoring...

Piling Dance

...to installing dataloggers mid-bay on pilings.

Community Outreach

One thing that I've always been very passionate about as a scientist is the importance of putting what we learn in context and sharing it with the community.

Calibrating

I was privileged to have the experience and education to understand what the technical data I collected said about the Apalachicola system, and where it fit into the complex relationships in the bay, but not everyone who relied on the ecosystem had the benefit of that knowledge...

The Apalachicola System

...the Apalachicola Bay oyster reefs were a fascinating concert of natural relationships, and I made it part of my role at the reserve to help share those relationships with stakeholders and community members who hadn't gotten the luxury of studying ecology for four years.

Graduate School at Scripps Oceanography

When I started graduate school at Scripps Institution of Oceanography I tried to focus on those same principles. I wanted to study marine science, and the complex relationships of restoration ecology, but still be working to assist and amplify communities that depend on a healthy marine ecosystem.

Remedial Kelp Reefs

My graduate work focused on acoustic ecology in remediated kelp beds, and how better monitoring practices could help us understand the differences in artificial and natural rock reefs. Better understanding might help us rebuild stronger kelp ecosystems, and stronger ecosystems directly benefit those communities that rely on them, as well as create a protective buffer for other resources.

Point Loma Rock Reef Photomosaics

One of my favorite things about ecology is that once you start looking at one aspect of an ecosystem you have to take into account the influence of all the other factors at play as well. Looking at kelp reefs might also mean looking at invertebrate assemblages on intertidal rock...

R/V Ron Brown Research Cruise

...or looking at the temperature and chemical properties of water way offshore, where deep sea nutrients haven't yet mixed into the California Current upwelling.

Transects, New and Old

After graduate school I worked with the SONGS Mitigation Monitoring Program to track the growth of kelp, fish, and invertebrates on mitigation reefs off of Dana Point, California. This project had been going for years, and it was a great longitudinal dataset for how new kelp reefs are colonized, and what stages are most important for success, as well as what can be repaired on damaged reefs.

The SONGS Program

The reefs we were monitoring and helping to manage were meant to help make up for kelp reefs that had been destroyed by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in the 80s and 90s. Though the station only ran for a few years, it pulled in seawater laden with vital plankton to cool the reactor, then expelled hot turbid water that killed adjacent kelp. Serious ecosystem damage resulted that cascaded to every aspect of the local area, but the remediation reefs were slowly bringing it back.

Reef Remediation Back Home

With everything I learned about ecosystem interactions and restoration, I had to bring it back to my home. At the end of my SONGS contract I accepted a position working with artificial reefs at FWC. As part of my role I maintain the FARD (Florida Artificial Reef Database) award reef grants, and complete dive assessments for deployed reefs all over Florida.

A Day In the Office

While I sometimes miss the vertical dimension of California kelp on my dives, I'm excited to be doing what I love, and contributing to the vibrant and interconnected marine ecosystems in Florida. (Photo credit Keith Mille, FWC)