cgurbisz
Main profile
As a coastal systems ecologist, my research broadly investigates the restoration and resilience of coastal and estuarine ecosystems with a focus on foundation species, such as seagrass and salt marshes. My goal is to better understand the processes that trigger ecosystem recovery and bolster ecological stability and resilience and improve predictions about how coastal ecosystems will respond to changing external stressors, such as nutrient pollution and climate change.
The focus of my SESYNC project is salt marsh loss and resilience in response to sea level rise along the US East Coast. In collaboration with Drs. Karen McGlathery and Patricia Wiberg (University of Virginia), I am using spatial and ecological datasets generated by the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network and other agencies to investigate whether rates of marsh loss have changed through time and develop empirical relationships between those changes and measurable ecological variables. The overall goal is that these synthetic analyses will broaden our understanding of the processes controlling marsh loss and resilience, thereby enhancing our ability to preserve them in the future.
Prior to joining SESYNC, my dissertation research at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science focused on the recovery and resilience of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the upper Chesapeake Bay. I also worked for several years as the program manager of an NSF-funded Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) and as an environmental educator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
| Resources | |
|---|---|
| Interactive Effects of Physical and Biogeochemical Feedback Processes in a Large Submersed Plant Bed |
Apr 24, 2017 Article published in Estuaries and Coasts. |
| Resilience indicators support valuation of estuarine ecosystem restoration under climate change |
Apr 18, 2017 Article published in Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. |