On February 7, 2023, NCCOS-supported researchers under the Coastal Hypoxia Research Program presented their findings at the virtual San Diego Estuaries Research Symposium. The symposium was designed to bring together the science and management communities and provide a forum to discuss research occurring in San Diego’s estuaries related to their dynamical connection to beaches and oceans, innovative techniques for monitoring stress of these ecosystems including hypoxia, and restoration approaches to increase coastal resilience.

Hosted by the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (TRNERR), this symposium was the second in a series intended to improve research communications to coastal managers.

The first symposium was held in 2019 as an all-day in-person session with 40 attendees. In 2023, the symposium was moved to a virtual platform, had 97 attendees, and was recorded. Providing a virtual component allows for greater attendance and easy recording of the meeting, highlighting the value of hybrid meetings going forward as a way to communicate science, as well as the demand for this type of engagement. Alternately, the in-person component provides the opportunity for more interactive discussions.

The NCCOS-supported project – led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego in collaboration with the TRNERR – is investigating the processes that lead to hypoxia in San Diego’s low-inflow estuaries and identifying its ecological impacts to help inform effective management of these estuaries.

For more information, contact Kimberly.Puglise@noaa.gov.

The Presentations:

• Welcome, introduction, and Tribal land acknowledgment
  Kristen Goodrich, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
• Scripps coastal mapping program and applications
  Adam Young, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Mouth morphodynamics and impacts in intermittently closed estuaries
  Alex Simpson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Benthic responses to mouth closure and hypoxia in Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, with comparison to Tijuana Estuary
  Lisa Levin, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Oysters as biosensors, the Habitat Heartbeats Project
  Luke Miller, San Diego State University
• Real-time monitoring of sediment and sewage contamination in the Tijuana River and Estuary.
  Trent Biggs, San Diego State University
• How do estuarine outflows interact with surf zone breaking waves and spread in the coastal ocean?
  Sarah Giddings, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Monitoring habitat change in the Tijuana Estuary
  Kellie Uyeda, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve