CoPe EAGER: Multi-Scale Exploration of Nutrient Cycles and its Socio-Economic Impacts in Coastal Areas

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Excessive nutrients in surface and ocean waters cause nutrient pollution, which is responsible for water quality degradation in more than 60% of coastal rivers, bays, and seas in the U.S. With a continuous nutrient supply, certain phytoplankton species can become disproportionately abundant under distinctive environmental conditions, forming what is commonly known as "red tides". The economic impacts of red tides in the U.S. are estimated to be at least tens of million dollars per year. It is imperative to reduce the risk of red tides and to increase the associated resilience of coastal communities. Research results of this project will be disseminated to a broad audience in multiple communities through outreach to the public and by collaborating with researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers in county, state and federal agencies. This project will support two undergraduate students and one postdoctoral researcher who will be recruited from underrepresented groups in science. The PIs will incorporate the research results into their classroom teaching and curriculum development.This project will conduct innovative interdisciplinary research across the coastline boundary between terrestrial and ocean systems and across the disciplinary boundaries between geosciences, natural, and social sciences. This project will explore the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) for simulating nutrient fluxes from a terrestrial system to an ocean system and for linking E3SM-simulated nutrient fluxes to red tide occurrence in support of socio-economic impact assessment. The goal of this project is to explore whether E3SM can be used as a new software to simulate nutrient fluxes at multiple scales for estimating red tide development and persistence and for assessing socio-economic impacts of red tides under various environmental and management scenarios. Additionally, the research team will evaluate whether E3SM can be used as a community tool to facilitate coastal management. The State of Florida has been chosen as the primary study site for this project, yet the model can be used along the US coastline. E3SM and its uses for nutrient pollution study and socio-economic impact assessment can be an emerging software infrastructure for coastal researchers, decision-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders to address coastal nutrient pollution problems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.