Ten student undergraduate scholars, most with the NOAA Educational Partnership Program and Hollings Scholarship Program, are interning this summer with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) in Silver Spring, MD, Oxford, MD, Beaufort, NC, and Charleston, SC. Their internship programs culminated with presentations by each scholar of their summer research at the Science and Education Symposium held by the NOAA Office of Education.

Four of the NOAA Educational Partnership Program student scholars interning with NCCOS . Credit NOAA Office of Education

The students are learning new scientific and technical skills related to NCCOS research areas of climate impacts, coastal ecosystem management, coastal pollution, and harmful algal blooms. NCCOS research areas tie into the NOAA goals for healthy oceans, resilient coastal communities, and climate adaptation and mitigation.

Student scholars and their respective projects with NCCOS:

Kirby Bartlett (California State University Monterey Bay): Characterizing Spatial Factors that Influence Coral Density in Puerto Rico

Kaitlyn Bretz (University of South Carolina Columbia): Analysis of the New Ecological Paradigm: Evidence from the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Betheny Cobb(University of South Alabama):Maximizing Ocean Space: Co-Siting for Open Ocean Aquaculture

Maria Cogliando (The City College of New York): Prioritizing Resilient Wetlands in the Choptank River Complex

Tricia Light (Scripps College, Claremont, CA):The Waiting Game: Measuring the Decomposition of Organic Carbon Sequestered By Salt Marsh Sediment

Katherine Okada (University of Maryland, College Park): Oysters as a component of nutrient reduction strategies in Chesapeake Bay supporting the NCCOS National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment

Valentina Rappa (The City College of New York): Finding Harmful Algae in Florida and Lake Erie with High Resolution Satellites

Jessica Richter (Eckerd College): Validation of a Benthic Habitat Map Using in situBenthic habitat Data Collected through the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) at Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Char'Mane Robinson (California State University Monterey Bay): A Statistical and Spatial Analysis of Chemical Contaminants in Cocos Lagoon, Guam

Ellen Regina Skelton (University of North Carolina Wilmington): The Response of the Deep-water Coral Lophelia pertusa to Ocean Acidification: A Comparison of the Gulf of Mexico and California Populations

Maya Spaur (University of Maryland College Park): Ecosystem Services Assessment Using Bioextraction for Removal of Nitrogen for Estuarine Water Quality Improvement in Choptank Habitat Focus Area

Caroline Vill (American University, Washington DC): Phylogenetics of Gorgonian Octocorals in the Gulf of Mexico Mesophotic Zone, and the Implications for the Restoration from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Congratulations to all the student scholarsfor their outstanding achievements!

For more information, contact Terry McTigue.