Speaker Biographies

Workshop on Synthesizing the Nitrogen Removal Capacity of Oyster Habitats via Denitrification

Invited Speaker: Dr. Mark Brush, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Talk Title: Modeling oyster-mediated nitrogen and particulate removal

Dr. Brush is an Associate Professor of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester Point, VA, part of the College of William & Mary. Dr. Brush received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island in 2002, and has been at VIMS since 2002 as a postdoctoral fellow, research scientist, and faculty member. His lab focuses on the ecology of coastal marine ecosystems, including estuaries and lagoons, through both field-based ecological investigations and synthetic ecosystem simulation modeling. Recent projects have focused on modeling the response of coastal ecosystems to nutrient enrichment and climate change, predicting changes in watershed nutrient loading as a function of land use and climate, and modeling nutrient/particulate removal and associated water quality benefits resulting from large-scale oyster restoration and shellfish culture. A key aspect of Brush’s research involves development of reduced complexity, readily accessible modeling tools that can be delivered online for direct use by stakeholders including resource managers, planners, educators, and other researchers. Brush teaches courses in interdisciplinary coastal field research, estuarine ecology, and ecosystem modeling. He has served as President of the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society and is currently a Member-at-Large for the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Sea Research, Biogeochemistry, and Estuaries and Coasts.

Invited Speaker: Dr. Nate Merrill, US EPA
Talk Title: An Economic Perspective on Nutrient Credits for Shellfish Denitrification

Dr. Nate Merrill is an environmental economist at US EPA’s Atlantic Ecology Division. His current research focuses on the costs and benefits of improvements in coastal water quality. Currently, his research is focused on the economic efficiency of water quality improving infrastructure, both green and grey, to address coastal nutrient loading. Some of the benefits of water quality improvements can be seen in people’s recreational opportunities and experiences. Through surveys, modeling, and on-site observations, these benefits can be valued, informing policy makers on the size, in monetary terms, of protecting and improving the natural resources in the coastal zone. Nate received his Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI, and a B.A. from Bates College in Lewiston, ME.

Invited Speaker: Nick Ray, Boston University
Talk Title: Sediment denitrification in oyster habitats: a meta-analysis and future research directions

Nick Ray is a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in the Fulweiler Lab at Boston University. His dissertation research focuses on how oysters and different oyster habitats regulate the biogeochemistry and ecology of New England estuaries. Specific projects include investigating the impact of oysters on sediment nitrogen cycling in different habitats (e.g. aquaculture, restored reefs) and across systems (e.g. Narragansett Bay, Duxbury Bay), defining the greenhouse gas footprint of oyster aquaculture, and quantifying oyster food resource availability and use. Nick joined the lab in summer 2015 after working in academic programs for the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, where he previously earned both his BS (2011) and MS (2014) degrees. After his undergraduate work and during his MS, Nick worked for Maryland Sea Grant on water quality and bioremediation related research in both rural and urban areas of the Chesapeake Bay. His MS thesis work focused on the nutrient remediation potential of integrating algal culture with an already existing oyster aquaculture facility.

Invited Speaker: Dr. Julie Rose, NOAA
Talk Title: Navigating eutrophic waters from great science to strong policy: oysters, nutrient management, and nitrogen trading.

Dr. Julie Rose is a Research Ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), based in Milford, Connecticut. Her work resides at the intersection of shellfish aquaculture science and policy, and supports a variety of stakeholders in the aquaculture community, including regulators, industry members, policymakers, and extension agents. Julie received a national NOAA Administrator’s Award in 2017, with colleague Suzanne Bricker, for innovative research and service as experts, leading to the approved use of oysters as a means of mitigating nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay. She received the NOAA Judith Brennan-Hoskins Memorial Award for excellence in research in 2016. Julie obtained her Ph.D. in Marine Environmental Biology from the University of Southern California, and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation to conduct research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She served as the Science Coordinator for the Long Island Sound Study for several years prior to joining NOAA in 2011. Her current research projects are focused on quantifying nutrient reduction and habitat provisioning services by shellfish aquaculture operations in the United States.

Invited Speakers: Julie Reichert-Nguyen and Dr. Jeffrey Cornwell
Talk Title: Denitrification as a Best Management Practice (BMP) in the Chesapeake Bay: Management and Scientific Considerations

Julie Reichert-Nguyen is the Fisheries Scientist at the Oyster Recovery Partnership and the lead coordinator of the Oyster Best Management Practice (BMP) Expert Panel. She supports this Panel in assessing the nutrient reduction effectiveness of oyster practices, including aquaculture and restoration, which led to the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership’s approval of the first shellfish-associated BMPs. These oyster BMPs can now be selected by coastal jurisdictions to help achieve nutrient reduction water quality goals established by the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL; pollutant clean-up plan). Prior to her current position, she participated in a 4-year research participation program at U.S. EPA Headquarters in Washington D.C. with the TMDL Clean Water Act program. She has 15 years of experience in researching and evaluating human impacts on water quality, aquatic habitats, and natural resources. She earned a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Windsor Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Wayne State University.

Dr. Jeffrey Cornwell is a Research Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Benthic nitrogen cycling has been a central part of his research program over the last several decades, with studies on sediment denitrification, wetland denitrification, and oyster-associated denitrification in bottom restoration and aquaculture, water column aquaculture, and reef balls. Other research interests have included the geochemistry of arctic lakes, iron sulfide mineral formation/oxidation in sediments/wetlands, the chemistry of dredged sediments, and redox processes in estuaries. He has supervised 7 Ph.D. and 16 M.S. students and currently is the chair of the Chesapeake Bay oyster best management practices panel.