The University of British Columbia

I am a physical oceanographer interested in using observations to study coastal ocean circulation.  In particular, I am interested in the dynamics and mixing of river plumes, and in the circulation of semi-enclosed systems (ie the Strait of Georgia or Prince William Sound.  

My postdoctoral work at UBC is focused on the near-surface dynamics of the lower Strait of Georgia.  In particular, I am intersted in combining HF radar velocity measurments with ship-of-opportunity observations to learn more about the dynamics of the Fraser River plume.  The research is part of the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR).  In fact this is a continuation of my PhD work, which was to use ship-of-opportunity data to study mixing in the Fraser River plume, and to study how the plume impacts phytoplankton biomass.

I am also intersted in the physical oceanography of Prince William Sound, which I studied while I was an oceanographer at the Prince William Sound Science Center in Cordova, AK.  I was involved in numerous projects in and around Prince William Sound:

In July 2009, I took part in a multi-PI model validation exercise in Prince William Sound called Sound Predictions 2009 (as I explain here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqWaoXYBt0).  We literally threw everything we could at the ocean - three ctds, 44 drifting buoys, one in-line thermosalinograph, three near-shore moorings, one glider, one ROV, bottle chemistry, zoop net tows, HF radar, and at least three numerical models.  My part of this project was to contribute hydrographic and drifiting buoy data.  From this data I wrote a paper called, "Disruption of a cyclonic eddy circulation by wind stress in Prince William Sound, Alaska," to be published in the upcoming special supplemental issue of Continental Shelf Research titled Coastal Ocean Observing Systems: Retrospective Reanalysis and Real-Time Forecasting.

The second major project was to maintain a series of moorings deployed in the major straits connecting Prince William Sound to the Gulf of Alaska.  I then processed the data and used it to study the seasonality in the water exchange between the two systems.  This work was published, but the remaining task was to understand the tidal and synoptic time scale events - which is something of a work in progress!

Finally, with the help of Dave Musgrave at UAF, a database of CTD and XBT profiles taken in PWS was assembled.  We then wrote a paper to describe the seasonal surface water properties of PWS, and to quantify the energy required to mix the upper water column with application to oil spill response.