Connecting Land Use to Submarine Discharge Loads and Coral Reef Health Within the Coastal Zones of Maui Project Overview: The goal of this project was to measure the impact of various types of land use practices on the quality of coastal groundwater, nearshore marine water, and coral reef health on Maui. Using a wide range of techniques, we determined the sources of nitrogen, groundwater flowpaths, quantified submarine groundwater discharge and nutrient loading, measured… Read More
Linking land use to coastal water quality and reef ecology in American Samoa Objectives: In order to understand how land use and anthropogenic activities are currently impacting coral reef communities in American Samoa, I led a research team to the island of Tutuila during July of 2015. Using a diverse set of interdisciplinary methods, we gathered a wide range of samples including ground and coastal surface water samples,… Read More
2015 Dissertation: Ecophysiological Responses of Macroalgae to Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Hawaiʻi Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a ubiquitous process that delivers significant amounts of nutrients and other solutes to coastal ecosystems worldwide. Although the quality and quantity of SGD has been characterized at many sites, the biological implications of this process remain poorly understood. The objective of this work was to compare the physiological response of macroalgae… Read More