Updates

VCR/LTER graduate student Ian Reeves will receive the Jaia Syvitski Student Modeler Award for 2020, and will be giving a keynote presentation at the CSDMS meeting. The award is given by the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) at their annual meeting in Boulder CO, May 19-21, 2020 and recognizes outstanding achievement in surface modeling, with a focus on how modelling is used to address scientific and societal challenges. Entries were judged on the basis of ingenuity, applicability, and contribution toward the advancement of geoscience modeling.

VCR/LTER researchers Matt Kirwan and Keryn Gedan have been featured in several recent articles and videos regarding “Ghost Forests,” the dead trees that remain when a previously-forested area is flooded with salt water. Links to the pieces are:

• Time Magazine: https://time.com/5694648/ghost-forests-climate-change/
• New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/08/climate/ghost-forests.html?fbclid=IwAR1rRbsKuF6BCP1MkPkY2A9yKPkgEIJqhTy60epqJYdSiMffORIxKwWc8fw

Long-time VCR/LTER Investigator Iris Anderson has received the 2019 Odum Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF). The award named jointly in honor of William E. Odum III (former lead investigator of the VCR/LTER), his father Eugene P. Odum and his uncle Howard T. Odum “recognizes the lifetime achievements of an outstanding estuarine scientist whose sustained accomplishments have made important contributions to our understanding of estuaries and coastal ecosystems” and is awarded only once every 2 years.

The award text states:

“Dr. Iris Anderson stands out as a trailblazer and leader in the fields of shallow-water estuarine and coastal ecosystem biogeochemistry and ecology, outstanding mentor and role model, very appropriately filling the mold of the Odum family legacy. In addition to her numerous accomplishments in these research, teaching, and outreach areas, the impacts of Iris’ work are all the more significant given her non-traditional path. She navigated a PhD program as the only woman in her class, paused her education to raise a family, and found a passageway back to gaining her doctorate and an outstanding record of professional achievements, having most recently served as Dean of Graduate studies at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (College of William & Mary). Iris’ career serves as a strong reminder to the CERF community that scientific excellence can be enhanced and informed by non-linear trajectories.

In addition, Iris has been inspirational for many young scientists. She frequently engages students in detailed conversations about their research and freely offers both advice and encouragement. Her research has evolved over time to keep pace with cutting-edge techniques and topics of broad interest to estuarine ecologists. She has a long history of working with a diverse cadre of scientists and students on a broad range of both scientific and applied topics that have clarified our understanding of complex biogeochemical processes in freshwater and marine habitats. This is reflected in her excellent first author high-impact publications and syntheses, and also in the many groundbreaking, highly cited, interdisciplinary publications that she has shared as co-author with a long and impressive list of students, technicians, and colleagues.

Iris has been a tireless contributor to the broader field of estuarine and coastal science and CERF in particular as a co-Editor of Estuaries and Coasts, and she continues to serve a very active, broad-based role in the review and editorial process.

Lastly, despite her long and rewarding career path, we note that Iris is far from “being done” as a solid contributor and pacesetter in estuarine and coastal science. She continues to be a tireless, creative, interactive, giving, and distinguished researcher, teacher, and role model, worthy of this year’s Odum Award.”

VCRLTER investigator Matt Kirwan has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Matt received his NSF CAREER award in 2017 from the Geomorphology and Land-use Dynamics Program and is on the faculty of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.    For details see: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-announces-recipients-presidential-early-career-award-scientists-engineers/

Artist Christopher Luna-Mega has transformed VCR/LTER Tide Data into a vision-and-sound experience. In his sonification, Christopher translated the data into music for a piano, with visuals to show the keys being pressed, the dates and dynamic graphs of the tide heights. You can see it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGWPYkcweg&t=22s