Congrats to former NOAA CCME Scholar Shan Guruvadoo!

Shan Guruvadoo was a Master's student at Bethune-Cookman University who graduated in May of 2019. As of May 2020, he has accepted a position as a Data Scientist at Channel Logistics, LLC dba Space-Eyes. Read more below about his position.

"My internship with NOAA Tides & Currents made me a good candidate for the position, and I enjoyed being in the CCME program during my time at Bethune-Cookman.

My job as a Data Scientist is to integrate machine learning into product features, such as ship detection within satellite imagery and anomaly detection in vessel traffic patterns. I build neural networks for deep learning, and support team members on development of the data pipeline."

The three sub-watersheds within the Nova canal watershed in relation to the Halifax River (image source: St. Johns River Water Management District)

The four living shorelines research projects will be assessed for potential impacts related to:

1. Sea Level Rise – effects in target areas, effects of proposed shorelines;
2. Impact on local economies – oyster industry, economic impact, water quality, flooding;
3. Mitigation – flooding, extreme weather events, erosion; and the
4. Intersection of these ecological and economic impacts.

Student activities

With guidance from NOAA CCME faculty and the use of the NOAA Restoration Atlas tool selected student participants will:

• Investigate local sites for living shoreline green infrastructure
• Investigate and identify current site-specific physical and social vulnerabilities of thetarget coastal communities
• Measure local ecological effects of living shoreline green infrastructure
• Assess potential socioeconomic effects of living shorelines in each location
• Analyze the effectiveness of living shorelines in mitigation of sea level rise, erosion,nutrient loading, extreme weather event impacts, and assess potential impacts on the localeconomy through modeling and data analysis.

Funded by the NOAA Educational Partnership Program (EPP/MSI), four NOAA CSC Centers bring together 29 University Partner Institutions across the country engage in NOAA mission science and create a divers NOAA mission enterprise workforce.

Goals of the CSC Education Webinar Series

• To expand cross communication and collaborations among the four CSC communities of practice
• To extend training and access to skills and opportunities that develop core competencies in NOAA mission relevant content and research to all CSC students
• To invite CSC student presenters to share their experience with all CSCs and NOAA community

TITLE: Re-immersion time for reduction of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus to ambient concentrations in Eastern Oysters

NOAA NERTO Mentor: John Jacobs, NCCOS/Oxford, NOAA NOS

Oyster aquaculture is an important industry in the State of Maryland. When oysters are grown in submerged cages fouling organisms attach to the cage and oysters, impacting water flow and feeding. To reduce fouling, farmers remove cages and oysters from the water for a desiccation period for up to 24 hours. This has been recognized to elevate levels of Vibrio spp., heterotrophic bacteria found in coastal waters world-wide.

Some species such as V. vulnificus cause illness in people associated with consumption of raw shellfish including gastroenteritis, and in more extreme cases, mortality. Oysters can depurate Vibrio, and a 14-day re-immersion period has been suggested as adequate to return to background levels. Currently, there have been no studies specific to Maryland waters that examine Vibrio levels following antifouling dry periods and re-immersion for various intervals.

To address this information gap, we initiated ISSC-sponsored research to determine the time needed to return V. vulnificus levels to background and to determine whether salinity, temperature, or intersite differences impact depuration rates. V. vulnificus levels were measured using the most-probable number enrichment protocol followed by real-time PCR to determine presence/absence. Preliminary data from one site suggests that a 7-10 day period is sufficient to reduce Vibrio vulnificus levels to background; data from other sites is being processed.