Environmental Science (EVS) 616
Field Practicum in Coastal Science
A Coastal Institute IGERT Project Class
Summer 2008

Class Syllabus (.pdf)

Last updated 6/24/08 15:36

Week of May 19

Fish Monitoring in Narragansett Bay

Monday, 8 a.m. to mid-afternoon
Depart from Wickford Shipyard at 8 a.m. sharp
(map, directions).
No heels, no sandals, no shorts. Bring warm layers and rain gear as necessary. Bring rubber gloves and lunch. Bottled water provided.
Fish trawl at Fox Island and Whale Rock aboard Cap'n Bert

Readings to be completed before going out on the water, in the order listed:
Introduction to fish monitoring

Oviatt, C. S. Olsen, M. Andrews, J. Collie, T. Lynch and K. Raposa. 2003. A century of fishing and fish fluctuations in Narragansett Bay. Reviews in Fisheries Science 11:221-242.

Look up the species discussed in the introductory reading so that you will know what you're looking at during the monitoring:
Bigelow, H.B. and W.C. Schroeder. 1953. Fisheries of the Gulf of Maine. Fish. Bull. Fish. Wildlife Ser. 53:577p.

Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. MERL Conference Room
Data analysis and discussion

Write-up is due by Wednesday at noon

Week of May 27
(Monday, May 26
Memorial Day Holiday)

Oxygen Monitoring in Narragansett Bay

Tuesday, 8 a.m. to late afternoon
Depart from Wickford Shipyard (directions)
CTD survey for hypoxia in Greenwich Bay aboard Cap'n Bert

Readings to be completed before going out on the water, in the order listed:
Introduction to oxygen monitoring

Bergondo, D.L., D.R. Kester, H.E. Stoffel and W.L. Woods. 2005. Time-series observations during the low sub-surface oxygen events in Narragansett Bay during summer 2001. Marine Chemistry 97:90-103.

RIDEM. 2003. The Greenwich Bay fish kill - August 2003: causes, impacts, and responses. 32 pp.

Deacutis, C.F., D. Murray, W. Prell, E. Saarman, and L. Korhun. 2006. Hypoxia in the upper half of Narragansett Bay, RI, during August 2001 and 2002. Northeast Naturalist 13 (Special Issue 4):173-198.

Optional background reading:
Oviatt and Gold. 2005. Nitrate in coastal waters. Ch 8 in Addiscott, T.M. (ed) Nitrate, Agriculture and the Environment.

Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., MERL Conference Room
Data analysis and discussion

Write-up is due by Thursday at noon

Week of June 2

Baltimore Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site
www.beslter.org
Exploring Human Dimensions: A Major Challenge for Ecosystem Scientists

Monday, 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., MERL Conference Room
Trainee-led discussion of literature with faculty

Monday 1 p.m. , meet at T.F. Green Airport for flight to Baltimore
3:00 pm SW #1577 to BWI, arriving 4:15 pm.
7:05 Red Sox vs. Orioles at Camden Yards; dinner at the game.

Tuesday
Watershed studies tour with Peter Groffman
Dinner in Fells Point neighborhood

Wednesday
Visit stream restoration site
Visit Parks & People Foundation
Lunch with UMBC IGERT students
Depart after lunch for the airport.
3:45 pm SW # 2647 to PVD, arriving 4:55 pm.

Check out the photos from the 2006 trip

Readings:

Essential Background (not necessary to summarize):
What is an LTER?
Excerpts from the Baltimore LTER proposal
The three central questions of the Baltimore LTER
Pickett, S.T.A., et al. 2008. Beyond urban legends: An emerging framework of urban ecology, as illustrated by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. BioScience 58:139-150.
Overview of Stream and Watershed Studies (new this year; 06's need to read also)

Readings to prepare for discussion:

Group 1 (Nicole & Carrie):
Kaye, J.P., et al. 2006. A distinct urban biogeochemistry? TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution 21:192-199.

Groffman, P.M., et al. 2004. Nitrogen fluxes and retention in urban watershed ecosystems. Ecosystems 7:393-403.

Group 2 (Nate & Kim):
Cook, W.M., et al. 2004. Learning to roll with the punches: adaptive experimentation in human-dominated systems. Front Ecol Environ 2:467-474.

Grimm, N.B., et al. 2000. Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems. BioScience 50:571-583.

Group 3 (Art & Q):
Overview of social sciences aspects of the BESLTER

Week of June 9

Surveys and Social Modeling

Tuesday, 9 a.m. to noon, CIK Sun Room
Introduction to experimental economics
Tuesday, noon to 4 p.m., CIK 026
Introduction to GIS and GPS; data collection

Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., CIK 026
Presentations and discussion of GIS data analyses
Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., CIK Sun Room
Focus groups, surveys

Readings:
Johnston, R.J., et al. 2002. Combining economic and ecological indicators to prioritize salt marsh restoration actions. Amer. J. Agr. Econ. 84:1362-1370.

Wetlands expert survey

Opaluch, J.J., et al. 1993. Evaluating impacts from noxious facilities: Including public preferences in current siting mechanisms. J. Environ. Econom. Management 24:41-59.

Week of June 16

CRMC Conference
Climate Change and Rhode Island's Coast: Where Will Tomorrow's Shoreline Be?

Monday, 9 a.m. to ?
Conference Preparation

Tuesday, 8 a.m. to ?
Assist with all aspects of the conference