Research Initiation Award: Comparing Carbon Fluxes of Tidal Marshes and Oyster Aquaculture Farms in the Chesapeake Bay

通过研究启动奖的历史黑人学院和大学本科课程(HBCU-UP)为历史黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，这些教师正在建立新的研究项目或重新定向和重建现有的研究项目。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，并改善所在机构的研究和教学。这项授予摩根州立大学的奖项支持教师和本科生确定切萨皮克湾气候变化的相对影响的研究经验。具体地说，通过测量咸水潮汐沼泽和牡蛎养殖中的颗粒有机碳、溶解有机碳和溶解无机碳，该项目将揭示碳循环的证据，并作为两个沿海生态系统比较分析的基础。拟议项目的总体目标是比较咸水潮汐沼泽和牡蛎养殖场对沿海碳循环的影响，了解牡蛎养殖设施对沿海碳循环的影响，并利用现代化学仪器和技术培训河北州立大学本科生学习化学海洋学。为了实现这一目标，该项目旨在分析三个碳库(颗粒和溶解有机碳、溶解无机碳)和一系列水质参数(叶绿素-a、总悬浮固体、有色溶解有机物等)。来自切萨皮克湾的三个不同地点，为期两年，每年六次。这些结果可能揭示季节和潮汐模式，以及成对的沼泽-水产养殖场之间以及潮汐沼泽和水产养殖设施之间碳循环的总体差异。预计这将为科学界提供有价值的信息，以便更好地了解由于气候变化和牡蛎水产养殖设施中的人类活动导致的潮汐沼泽消失，沿海碳循环可能会发生怎样的变化。此外，这项研究可能有助于加强STEM教育，增加地球科学的多样性，促进产业-学术伙伴关系，并为环境和公共政策决策提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness and improve research and teaching at the home institution. This award to Morgan State University supports faculty and undergraduate research experiences determining the relative impact of climate change in the Chesapeake Bay. Specifically, by measuring particulate organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and dissolved inorganic carbon in salt water tidal marshes and oyster aquaculture, the project will reveal evidence of carbon cycling and serve as a basis for comparative analyses between two coastal ecosystems. The overall goals of the proposed project are to compare the effects of saltwater tidal marshes and oyster aquaculture farms on coastal carbon cycling, understand the effects of oyster aquaculture facilities have on the coastal carbon cycle, and train HBCU undergraduate students in chemical oceanography using modern chemistry instruments and techniques. Toward this goal, this project aims to analyze three carbon pools (particulate and dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon) and an array of water quality parameters (chlorophyll-a, total suspended solids, colored dissolved organic matter, etc.) from three different locations in the Chesapeake Bay six times per year for two years. The results are likely to reveal seasonal and tidal patterns and differences in carbon cycling between paired marsh-aquaculture sites and between the tidal marshes and aquaculture facilities in general. It is anticipated that this will produce valuable information to the scientific community to better understand how the coastal carbon cycle may be changing as tidal marshes are lost due to climate change and human activities in oyster aquaculture facilities. In addition, this study may contribute to enhancements in STEM education, increasing diversity in geosciences, advancing industry-academic partnerships, and informing environmental and public policy decisions.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.