Browsing by Author "Campbell, Lisa"

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PCMHAB: Expanding Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation in the Gulf of Mexico with Operational Support and Training for the Imaging FlowCytobot Network
Oceanography; TAMU; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14641/416; DOC-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The overarching goals of this project were to foster the technology transfer of the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) to an increased number of end-users and extend a network of IFCBs in the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast for improved detection and management of harmful algal bloom (HAB) events that threaten human and ecosystem health. The transfer of the mature IFCB technology required training end-users, advances in analysis and information tools, and an expanded network of IFCBs in the hands of different types of users. We accomplished these goals first by deploying a second IFCB on the Texas coast at Surfside Beach at the US Coast Guard station in Freeport, TX. Next, we developed an improved information support system to enable end-users to utilize IFCB observations for HAB management decisions and an improved automated image classification for HAB taxa using a convolutional neural network approach. Training of end-users on field operation and routine maintenance, use of the information support system, and use of the improved classifier design user interface was accomplished in a series of workshops held by PIs at TAMU, at McLane Laboratories and at the 2017 and 2019 US Symposia on Harmful Algae in the US. Finally, we continued to build partnerships between researchers and resource managers to promote access and sustainability toward operational use of IFCB technology with outreach activities. The outcome of this project is a model for scaling up IFCB networks in other regions of the US. The PIs have helped colleagues who have established IFCB field deployments in Texas and at several sites around the US. Products from this award include 8 publications in peer reviewed journals, 36 invited and contributed presentations at national and international venues, Github repository for data analysis code, and 4 websites for information and access to the TOAST data and data products.
RAPID: Hurricane Impact on Phytoplankton Community Dynamics and Metabolic Response
Oceanography; TAMU; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14641/416; National Science Foundation
Hurricane Harvey is the strongest hurricane to hit the Texas coast in decades and the resulting tidal surges, flooding and terrestrial runoff have had a severe impact on the coastal ocean. The effects on the phytoplankton, the first link in the food chain, may be unprecedented. To determine how the phytoplankton community will respond to such drastic changes in salinity, nutrient inputs, and potential toxins, immediate and continuous sampling is the only way to fully capture the effects and to identify when conditions return to "normal". An automated, continuous phytoplankton imaging instrument that is deployed on the Texas coast records images of the phytoplankton and permits calculation of the abundance of different species. Together with molecular information on the genes that have been "turned on", or expressed, outcomes of this project will help determine the responses of individual types of phytoplankton. Extreme storms are expected to increase in frequency with future climate change, so the responses identified now will be valuable in predicting how such events will affect these primary producers, which in turn support most of the food webs in marine ecosystems, in the future. High temporal resolution observations from the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) have revealed that hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico cause drastic changes in the phytoplankton community structure. The objectives of this RAPID project are: 1) to characterize the dynamics of the phytoplankton species in relation to the environmental variables along the Texas coast; 2) to assess the short and long-term changes in the phytoplankton community; and 3) to identify the strategies of the phytoplankton community for resource acquisition. To accomplish these objectives, this project will utilize IFCB time series to follow phytoplankton community structure during the recovery period from Hurricane Harvey. In addition, two RAPID response cruises (in late September and early October) to sample at 5 sites along a transect from Galveston to Port Aransas, TX. At each station, CTD profiles and water samples from surface and the chlorophyll maximum will be collected for nutrients, carbonate chemistry, and RNA sequencing for metatranscriptomic analysis. Metatranscriptomics can provide an indication of the metabolic strategies employed and functional relationships within the plankton community in response to changes in the environment. The advantage of a metatranscriptomic approach is that the entire molecular response to the environment is captured. So, while the response of phytoplankton to increased nutrient inputs from floodwater runoff is targeted, the responses to other environmental stresses (toxics, hypoxia, acidification) are also captured. Analyses of this time series using multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), and network analysis, a powerful technique for identifying potential interactions among taxa, will provide insights on the environmental factors and metabolic responses structuring the community during the aftermath of the hurricane.
REU Site: Ocean Observing Technology for Emerging Ocean Scientists
Geochemical & Environmental Research Gro; TAMU; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14641/416; National Science Foundation
A new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site will be located at Texas A&M University's campus in College Station, TX. The Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) and the Department of Oceanography will host 10 REU students for 10 weeks each summer, and the program will focus on innovative ocean observing technologies. Students will have access to a suite of ocean data acquisition technologies incorporated in TAMU's offshore buoy system, glider technology, remote real-time measurements from moored instrumentation, shipboard field surveys with CTD profiling and water sampling. A group project to develop and deploy a glider mission in the Gulf of Mexico onboard a research vessel will promote team building. Training modules on sensors, data analysis, graphical representation of oceanographic data, data management, and science writing will be provided. Students will participate in weekly REU seminars, and at the program end, they will demonstrate their communication skills with a final written report and a seminar presentation at the GERG REU Student Research Symposium. Although the program is open to students who are US citizens or permanent residents attending any university, local recruitment efforts will be coordinated with faculty in the NSF-funded Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program which supports mentoring of STEM majors across TAMU branch campuses (Kingsville, Corpus Christi, Prairie View and West Texas).
Supplement request for PCMHAB: Expanding Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation in the Gulf of Mexico with Operational Support and Training for the Imaging FlowCytobot Network
Oceanography; TAMU; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14641/416; DOC-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The network of Imaging FlowCytobots (IFCBs) has provided early warning for harmful algal blooms (HABs) along the Texas coast since 2007. The IFCB combines flow cytometry and imaging technology to collect a high resolution (hourly) time series of the phytoplankton dynamics and their response to environmental changes. One extremely valuable product of this decade-long time series of phytoplankton abundance has been the successful early warning of eight HAB events. An automated image classification and notification (email alerts to state managers [Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]) system has been developed based on the IFCB data stream. The lack of any phytoplankton abundance information at this crucial, central Texas coastal station has rendered the early warning system less useful for HAB detection and early warning. The goal of this supplemental funds request is to replace equipment lost or damaged during Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, and to obtain an IFCB instrument that will permit an uninterrupted time series for the Texas IFCB network. The IFCB in Port Aransas was deployed on the pier of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and had been in operation since September 2007. The pier was destroyed when a drilling ship broke free of its moorings during the storm and eventually crashed into the pier. IFCB. The loss of the continuous data collection by the IFCB has directly impacted several ongoing projects. The result is a data gap in our time series and loss of HAB early warning capability. The second IFCB deployment site at Surfside Beach, TX was established to expand the HAB early warning network and to look at the coastal connectivity between the Port Aransas and Surfside sites. Models of coastal currents and current velocity/direction data obtained from the Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS) are combined with IFCB data at both locations to determine the connectedness of the two sites to improve early warning of HABs. Gaps in data at the two sites severely impact the effectiveness of the early warning network for HABs. A new IFCB will permit immediate restoration of the time series if a deployed instrument requires maintenance or is damaged at Port Aransas or Surfside Beach deployments.