After the Storm: Examining Post-Catastrophe Impacts to Mississippi Estuaries
Mark Woodrey, Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve & Sam Walker, University of South Carolina
15 Sep 2006
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Coastal Resiliency Information System in the Southeast (CRISIS) program was established by the Office of Research and Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina. Nearly 20 research projects were funded in an effort to assess the impact of these storms in the southeastern U.S. and to establish baseline data for future academic and policy initiatives. Projects examined a wide spectrum of topics, including those representing the physical, social, and health sciences. University of South Carolina's Baruch Institute proposed an examination of the storms' impacts to estuarine environments along the Mississippi coast that included sampling and assessment of water quality and vegetation communities. Also, the project team strengthened an existing collaboration with the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Mississippi by proposing to work within this pristine coastal environment and by designing an effective template for other reserves to address post-catastrophe issues.
This presentation will comprise two main elements. The first part will address the research plan and initial results from the Baruch Institute's collaborative CRISIS project with the Grand Bay NERR. The second portion of the presentation will include subsequent efforts within Grand Bay NERR and future expectations for the ongoing collaboration. Implications for other coastal communities will be discussed.
Samuel Walker
Mr. Walker served as project manager for the Baruch Institute’s CRISIS research effort, overseeing the principal planning, sampling, and documentation phases of the project. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography and environmental systems from the University of Maryland, and a master of science in public health (MSPH) from University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, where he is completing his doctoral degree in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. His professional interests include ecosystem modeling, impacts of invasive species, sustainability, and carbon cycle dynamics. He has previously worked in the private sector and has expertise in remote sensing, geographic information systems, and field sampling design.
Mark Woodrey
Dr. Woodrey was a co-principal investigator on the Baruch Institute’s CRISIS research project, primarily responsible for coordinating the field data collection effort at the Grand Bay NERR. He received his bachelor and master of science degrees in zoology from the Ohio State University, and completed his doctorate at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1995, where he studied the migration ecology of songbirds along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, he is a research biologist with the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center and serves as the research coordinator for the Grand Bay NERR. His professional interest focuses on the conservation biology of coastal ecosystems, including the development and implementation of long-term monitoring programs, modeling human-related impacts on coastal ecosystems, using birds to promote the conservation of coastal habitats, and understanding the socio-economics of ecotourism.