Jacqueline Grebmeier, Research Professor, UMCES-Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, will present, "Biological time series observations in the Pacific Arctic: A key to understanding ecosystem change," as part of the Appalachian Laboratory's Visting Scholar Seminar Series. The seminar will take place in room 109 of the Appalachian Laboratory.
Abstract: The Pacific Arctic region is experiencing major reductions in seasonal sea ice and increases in sea surface temperatures. A key question is how the marine ecosystem will respond to these rapid environmental shifts. Variations in upper-ocean water hydrography, stratification, light penetration, planktonic production, pelagic-benthic coupling and sediment carbon cycling are all influenced by sea ice and temperature changes. To evaluate these responses, the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) was initiated in 2010 as a change detection array for the identification and consistent monitoring of biophysical responses to environmental change in the Arctic. The ecological trends approach embedded in DBO sampling is facilitated by repeated sampling each year through multiple international occupations of agreed-to transect lines, along with more continuous data collections obtained through mooring and satellite observations. This presentation will provide an overview of key results observed during multiple cruises that have been part of the DBO effort. In particular, biological changes in the northern Bering Sea resulting from the dramatic reduction in winter sea ice and warming seawater since 2018 are being linked to changes in the sediment-based prey for diving seaducks, walruses, gray whales, and bottom-feeding fish.
Short Biography: Jacqueline Grebmeier is a Research Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL). She received an undergraduate degree (B.A.) in Zoology from the University of California, Davis in 1977, a Master’s (M.S.) degree in Biology from Stanford University in 1979, and a second M.S. degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in 1983. She received a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1987. Following an appointment as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Southern California from 1987-1988, she affiliated with the University of Tennessee in 1989 until she began her current position at CBL in 2008. Her oceanographic research interests are related to pelagic-benthic coupling, benthic carbon cycling, and benthic faunal population structure in relation to ecosystem structure in polar marine systems. She has participated in more than 55 field research cruises, primarily in the Arctic. She served as project director and chief scientist for the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Office of Naval Research supported Shelf-Basin Interactions field research program in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas from 1999-2007. In addition, she was involved in the Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic (RUSALCA), supported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Chukchi Sea Offshore Monitoring in Drilling Area (COMIDA) program, supported by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bering Sea Program, supported by NSF and the North Pacific Research Board, and the internationally coordinated Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) in the Arctic, supported by multiple agencies in the US and international collaborators in the Pacific Arctic Group. She has served on multiple advisory and review committees to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS)/Polar Research Board, NSF, NOAA, BOEM, and Fish and Wildlife Service, along with international boards. She was appointed by President Clinton to the US Arctic Research Commission from 2000-2003 and she served as the US delegate and one of four Vice-Presidents to the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) from 2006-2014. She has led the international DBO program since 2010 in the Pacific Arctic, which is a network of international collaborators who study ecosystem change and associated drivers in the Arctic. She has received multiple awards, including the Alaska Ocean Leadership Award from the Alaska SeaLife Center in 2015, the IASC Medal in 2015, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences President’s Award for Excellence in Application of Science in 2017, and she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018.
