[SEMCO] Research at the Reserve Starts This Thursday

[Muller, Joan (DCR)]

Research @ Reserve Coffee House at Waquoit Bay Reserve Kicks Off on Thursday, March 7th
Thursday, March 7th at 7:00 pm
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center
Meagan Eagle Gonneea, WHOI/MIT
"Below the Sand: Ocean and Groundwater Mixing Beneath Waquoit Bay "
As groundwater flows to the coast, it meets and mixes with seawater. Mixing between these two water bodies creates a dynamic region-the coastal aquifer - where nutrients are chemically and biologically transformed. The fate of nutrients from development is a key issue in coastal areas like Cape Cod so understanding the processes in this area is of great importance.  The mixing zone beneath Waquoit Bay was monitored for three years to observe how it changes with different seasons and responds to climate events such as the 2009-10 El Nino. Says Gonneea, "We are just beginning to appreciate how this region will respond to continued sea level rise and climate shifts."

Meagan Eagle Gonneea is a fifth year graduate student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography. Originally from a rural island in Alaska, she ended up in Falmouth by way of college in California and further studies in Mauritius, a country in the Indian Ocean.  Meagan currently holds a National Estuarine Research Reserve System Graduate Research Fellowship for her work at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve.
Each Thursday evening at 7:00PM during the first three weeks of March, a different scientist will discuss their research at the Waquoit Bay Reserve. In addition to explaining the research they're doing, they will include personal anecdotes on how they did the science and how they feel their research will make a difference to those sitting in the audience. This series was created to help expose community members to cutting edge science in a relaxed and informal way. The interactive coffee house format helps people feel equally comfortable asking questions and joining in the discussion or just sitting back and listening to the scientists' stories of their work.

Doors open at 6:45 pm with a chance to view the exhibits in the visitor center and sample some homemade sweets and coffee and tea. Participants are encouraged to bring their own mug as well as a flashlight for traveling from the parking lot.  Admission is free. For more information, call 508-457-0495 x 107 or 108. Waquoit Bay Reserve is located at 149 Waquoit Highway (route 28), Waquoit, Massachusetts.

March 14 features Dr. Kevin Kroeger, United States Geological Service, with "A Wetland Walks into a Market". The spring series will wrap up on March 21st with "Sky Eyes: Mapping Changes on Land from the Air"  a presentation by James Rassman, Stewardship Coordinator at Waquoit Bay Reserve and David Friscella, at WHOI.  For more information and a downloadable flyer, go to www.waquoitbayreserve.org<http://www.waquoitbayreserve.org>





Education Coordinator
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
149 Waquoit Hwy.
Box 3092
Waquoit, MA 02536
508-457-0495 x107
www.waquoitbayreserve.org

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