Dr. Robert Atlas was a guest at the swearing-in ceremony for U.S. Representatives Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, and Lois Frankel at the Fort Lauderdale Federal Courthouse on January 23, 2015. Pictured at left (L to R) are Congresswoman Lois Frankel, Judge Beth Bloom Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, Dr. Fred Lippman, and Congresswoman Wilson. Pictured at right are Dr. Robert Atlas and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
PhOD personnel Ryan Smith, Grant Rawson, and Jay Hooper conducted a hydrographic survey along 27N in the Florida Straits aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith on January 12-13, 2015. The cruise was part of the Western Boundary Time Series project, which is designed to quantify Florida Current volume transport and water mass changes. This survey and others help to calibrate daily estimates of the Florida Current volume transport derived from a submarine telephone cable deployed across the Straits. Divers also exchanged a project pressure gauge on the west side of the 27N section.
Shannon Jones, Austin Flinn, and Chloe Fleming celebrated their graduation from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. All three worked with NOAA in south Florida as part of their graduate research. Austin Flinn also received funding for his degree from NOAA’s Environmental Partnership Program (EPP). Congratulations to all graduates!
On December 28, 2014 scientists with the PIRATA Northeast Extension cruise deployed drifters, collected CTD casts and deployed/recovered moorings. Aboard the UNOLS R/V Endeavor, the PNE project is a joint AOML and PMEL effort to expand the PIRATA array of tropical Atlantic ATLAS moorings into the northern and northeastern sectors of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean.
Ryan Smith, Robert Roddy, and Jay Hooper conducted a hydrographic survey along 27N in the Florida Straits aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith December 11-12, 2014. The cruise was performed as part of the Western Boundary Time Series project, which conducts regular surveys such as this to quantify Florida Current volume transport and water mass changes in the Straits of Florida. This survey and others also help to calibrate daily estimates of the Florida Current volume transport derived from a submarine telephone cable deployed across the Straits.
AOML coral scientists Renee Carlton participated in the Living Oceans Foundation Global Reef Expedition to the Solomon Islands from October 27, 2014 through November 25, 2014. Carlton collected seawater carbon dioxide data and coral cores for calcification analysis as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Living Oceans Foundation and AOML to obtain baseline ocean acidification-related data from remote coral reef locations across the Pacific Ocean.
On November 12, 2014, Dr. Thomas Carsey presented results from investigations his team has conducted in the waters off of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties for the Key Biscayne’s Citizen Science Project.
During the month of October, the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) finished redeploying their buoy, which is part of the Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS). The buoy was first deployed in October 2013 and needs to be returned to land each year for cleaning, repainting and instrumentation swap. The buoy was towed from its deployment site on October 14th and returned to position on October 29th. AOML’s Mike Jankulak worked remotely with CCMI personnel to update the buoy’s programming and develop procedures for instrument configuration. As of October 31st all data feeds from the buoy to AOML and NDBC has fully resumed.
On October 9th, researchers from AOML’s Environmental Microbiology Lab monitored and collected water samples in Maurice Gibb Memorial Park during the King Tide, the highest astronomical tide of the year.
Images of corals taken on September 17, 2014, at Cheeca Rocks, which is in the Florida Keys off of Islamorada.
