VIMS Student Pursues Summer Internship at the White House

VIMS graduate student Ike Irby (right) gave his advisor Marjy Friedrichs (center) and VIMS Professor Carl Friedrichs (left) a tour of the White House when they stopped by Washington D.C. this summer.

by Erin Fryer -- Graduate student Isaac (Ike) Irby of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science recently returned from Washington D.C. where he spent his summer working with the nation’s top scientists within the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Irby, a Ph.D. student in William & Mary’s School of Marine Science at VIMS, was selected for the prestigious internship within the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) housed within OSTP. As a federal advisory committee, PCAST consists of leading scientists and engineers who make policy recommendations to President Obama in areas where understanding science, technology, and innovation is key.

“PCAST is constructed as an avenue for President Obama to gain advice from non-governmental scientists,” says Irby. “The group of 20 exemplary scientists helps strategize what the science agenda should be and what issues the President might want to focus on, as well as topics the President himself tasks the Council to examine.”

A graduate of Bowdoin College, Irby came to VIMS in 2012 to pursue his Master’s degree, which he later bypassed to complete his doctorate while simultaneously completing a Master’s of Public Policy at W&M. The joint degree is offered by the College’s Thomas Jefferson Program, which provides students with the intellectual tools needed to improve the quality of policymaking in the United States and abroad.

Irby’s graduate advisor, VIMS Research Associate Professor Marjorie Friedrichs, describes the joint degree program as being extremely demanding, and says Irby has had to juggle a heavy class load on W&M’s campus while keeping up with his classes and modeling research at VIMS. “While the program might not be for everyone, I’m hoping that Ike’s raising awareness at VIMS so that more students will take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

As an intern, Irby helped develop reports to advise President Obama on pertinent issues encompassing all aspects of science and technology. After arriving in the nation’s capitol, Irby put his background in marine science to use right away by helping to put together an oceans panel, which was established to inform PCAST advisors on current pressing issues in ocean science, including ocean acidification, sea-level rise, ocean-observing technologies, and the nation’s dwindling research fleet.

In addition to the oceans panel, Irby says he helped develop reports on issues such as combating antibiotic resistance, enhancing the role of education technology in training the nation’s middle-skill workforce, and the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Friedrichs says she was thrilled when she first learned Irby had been selected for the internship. “I knew this would be an amazing experience that will help shape his view of government and science policy throughout his future career,” she says.

While he enjoyed his summer in the White House and would jump at the opportunity to work with OSTP again, Irby says his long-term goal is to help developing countries formulate their own ocean policies. “I want to help them realize that the ocean transcends international boundaries, and that we have to work together,” he says.

Irby says he took away several memories—both professionally and personally—from his summer in the White House, including the Fourth of July fireworks display and concert on the White House lawn, and being asked by a secret service officer to fill an empty seat near the front of the room during a Presidential Address.

VIMS graduate student Ike Irby snaps a photo with Bill Nye during the first-ever White House Maker Faire.Professionally speaking, Irby says his favorite project from the summer was getting to take part in the first-ever White House Maker Faire. “This event brought in top innovators—young and old—from across the nation to showcase the great things Americans are making using science and technology,” he says. During the event, Irby even managed to snap a quick “selfie” with Bill Nye the Science Guy.“My time at OSTP reaffirmed my goal of pursuing national and international science advisory after the completion of my degrees,” says Irby. “The opportunity to work at the White House under a President who holds science and technology in such high regard was an incredibly motivating experience that will guide me headlong into future endeavors.”

“Ike’s background in ocean modeling and policy will open so many doors for him after he graduates,” says Friedrichs. “I can’t wait to see what path he chooses.”VIMS graduate student Ike Irby snaps a photo with Bill Nye during the first-ever White House Maker Faire.Professionally speaking, Irby says his favorite project from the summer was getting to take part in the first-ever White House Maker Faire. “This event brought in top innovators—young and old—from across the nation to showcase the great things Americans are making using science and technology,” he says. During the event, Irby even managed to snap a quick “selfie” with Bill Nye the Science Guy.“My time at OSTP reaffirmed my goal of pursuing national and international science advisory after the completion of my degrees,” says Irby. “The opportunity to work at the White House under a President who holds science and technology in such high regard was an incredibly motivating experience that will guide me headlong into future endeavors.”

“Ike’s background in ocean modeling and policy will open so many doors for him after he graduates,” says Friedrichs. “I can’t wait to see what path he chooses.”

Excerpted from: http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/irby_ostp.php

Dead Zone in Upper Bay Hasn't Shrunk, Now 5th Largest for Late-August

By Tamara Dietrich, tdietrich@dailypress.com

The dead zone bedeviling the upper Chesapeake Bay still hasn't shrunk in overall size and now is considered the fifth-largest in 30 years of record-keeping, experts say.

New data just released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources shows that the oxygen-starved portion of the bay was still 1.32 cubic miles in late August, although the portion that extends into Virginia's lower bay had shrunk a bit since early-August testing.

The findings come from water samples taken every two weeks throughout the summer during science cruises along the bay's main stem. The effort is funded by Virginia and Maryland in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Program under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Local researchers say they're not surprised by the data, but caution against drawing broad conclusions before the summer is over.

"Given that the wet spring brought in above-normal nutrient loads, and the weather was less windy in August than in July, it makes sense that the larger-than-average dead zone that appeared in early August persisted throughout the month," said Marjy Friedrichs, a biologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester Point. Friedrichs studies dead zone phenomena.

Measurements of the dead zone in early August constituted the eighth-largest on record for that time period. But because Virginia's portion of the dead zone has receded a bit since then, she said she wouldn't describe this summer as a "record year" overall for bay dead zones.

Dead zones are caused when massive amounts of algae bloom and then decay, sucking up dissolved oxygen in a water column and suffocating marine life.

Algae blooms are fueled by nitrogen and phosphorus dumped into the estuary by stormwater runoff from fertilized cropland, suburban lawns and sewage overflows.

Forecasters funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had predicted bigger dead zones this summer after rains earlier in the year dumped about 20 percent more nitrogen into the bay, mostly from the Susquehanna and Potomac rivers.

But weather also plays a role in dead zones, and can quickly alter their formation and size. In July, for instance, researchers recorded the smallest dead zone in 30 years of sampling, mostly because Hurricane Arthur passing along the coast had churned up and oxygenated the water.

"The rapid changes in the size of the dead zone between monitoring cruises this summer highlight two properties of the dead zone we've been studying at VIMS," said Carl Friedrichs, chairman of the physical sciences department at VIMS. He is married to Marjy Friedrichs.

"First, weather patterns can cause very large changes in the size of the dead zone in both space and time. And second, the boat-based measurements performed once every two weeks lead to uncertainties in the estimated size of the dead zone.

"It may not make sense to focus too much on the results of a single cruise in a single state," he added. "It might make more sense to sum up the size of the dead zone over the entire bay and over the entire summer before concluding that it is larger or smaller than in past years."

Reposted from: http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-09-07/news/dp-nws-dead-zone-update-20140907_1_dead-zone-marine-science-chesapeake-bay-program

Virginia's Lower Bay Dodges the Record Dead Zone of the Upper Bay

A file photo shows a catch of dead fish and crabs that taken while trawling in the Chesapeake Bay. Oxygen-deprived dead zones, such as the one that hit the northern bay this summer, suffocate marine life. (Photo Courtesy VIMS/Daily Press)

By Tamara Dietrich, tdietrich@dailypress.com

The forecast for bigger dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay this summer finally bore out last month — at least for the upper bay.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported the eighth largest dead zone on record for early August, a 1.32-cubic-mile swath from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Potomac River with oxygen levels so low it was deadly to marine life.

Virginia's lower bay, meanwhile, has largely beat the odds and the forecast, compared to years past. The prediction was announced in June by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Oxygen loss that's severe enough to kill blue crabs is called hypoxia. When it's low enough to kill all aquatic animals short of the microscopic, it's called anoxia.

The lower bay is less prone to dead zones in part because of its proximity to the oxygen-rich Atlantic Ocean, which helps aerate its shallower waters.

Weather and other environmental factors can also help keep a dead zone from developing — storms and winds can whip up and oxygenate the water, and lower temperatures can impede algae growth.

In fact, the bay also recorded its smallest dead zone for July in 30 years of data collection largely because Hurricane Arthur passed along the coast, roiling and mixing the water column.

"We had no anoxia at all in Virginia so far this summer," said Carl Friedrichs, chairman of the physical sciences department of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point. "I would think that's perhaps because of Hurricane Arthur's effects."

Snapshots and the big picture

Every year in early summer, NOAA-funded researchers forecast dead zone activity for the bay based on the amount of nitrogen flushed into it from the Susquehanna and Potomac rivers.

Then twice a month throughout the summer scientists cruise the main stem of the bay to sample oxygen levels and compare them to forecast models. Data from early August is the most recent publicly available.

VIMS helps analyze and model the data, but Friedrichs said the samples can only offer temporary "snapshots" of the bay — "It varies a lot from month to month."

In fact, NOAA hasn't released its most recent data to indicate if there has been any change in last month's larger-than-average dead zone.

"Given the weather we've had lately," Friedrichs said, "I would guess that it's increased. But it also could have decreased."

Friedrichs and his wife, VIMS biologist Marjy Friedrichs, are honing forecast models that could one day help fill the data gaps between the bi-monthly bay surveys.

With NOAA funding, the two are working with NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Operational Forecast System to add the size and location of dead zones to its predictions. Predictions currently include tide levels, currents, salinity and temperature based on rapidly changing winds and air temperature.

But fuller short-term forecasts that include dead-zone data, they said, could one day be used by commercial fishermen and recreational anglers to help find the best fishing grounds each day, for instance, or warn them to pull crab pots to avoid hypoxic areas.

They could also be used to help pinpoint the cause of a dead zone, whether it be weather, which can't be managed, or nutrient input, which can.

A better understanding of dead zones could also lead to better fisheries management in the bay for key migratory species such a striped bass and blue crabs.

Friedrichs said they hope to have their models operational within a year.

Excerpted from http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-09-03/news/dp-nws-bay-dead-zone-20140904_1_lower-bay-dead-zone-chesapeake-bay-foundation