is an oceanographer, mathematical ecologist, and artist in Glasgow.
Certain species of the phytoplankton Pseudo-nitzschia (PN) produce a potent neurotoxin, domoic acid (DA), that bioaccumulates in shellfish, and can cause severe illness and death in humans. Past outbreaks have caused fisheries closures and millions of dollars of losses to crab and clam harvesters, and contributed to the death of many species of marine mammals. … Read more
Climate change pushes on coastal and estuarine regions by a lot of pathways simultaneously, and it is surprisingly hard to untangle and prioritise these. As just one example from the US Pacific Northwest: should we expect future water temperatures to go up or down? Up makes sense, because of atmospheric warming. Down also makes sense, … Read more
The Cascadia model from the Univ of Washington Coastal Modeling Group is a realistic 3D model, implemented in ROMS, of the North American Pacific Northwest coast from mid-Oregon to mid-Vancouver Island, including the inland waters of the Salish Sea. It was developed as part of the NSF/NOAA PNWTOX (Pacific Northwest Toxins) project, based on previous … Read more