The Next Generation Ecological Modeling project has produced a new journal article discussing coding practices. This publication was a collaboration between ERDC and TX State University graduate students, highlighting our goal of advancing the use of modeling in ecological studies with the next generation of researchers.
A design charrette occurred October 29th and 30th in Freeport, Florida. This meeting brought together the USACE Mobile District and the non-Federal sponsor Walton County, as well as stakeholders from local, state, federal, and non-profit entities. Environmental Laboratory researchers Kyle McKay, Candice Piercy, Jacob Berkowitz, and Rosamar Ayala-Torres attended to provide ecological restoration expertise and to identify areas for scientific research.
Read more about this important planning session here.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Join us for the 2024 Data Visualization Challenge Showcase! A panel of scientists and visual specialists reviewed the entries and we will announce our winners during the showcase.
This report demonstrates a new framework on a subset of wetland sites and local federal navigation channels in San Pablo Bay, California. This framework aligns dredging needs and beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) placement opportunities by minimizing dredging costs and maximizing ecological benefits.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Iris Foxfoot will demonstrate the Floristic Quality Assessment tool! Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) provides a standardized method of rapidly assessing the condition of a vegetated area based on the plant species that are present. Read more here.
Our collaborator Amanda Catlett, of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), brought the GenVeg project to the SciPy 2024 Conference is Tacoma, WA. SciPy is a community dedicated to the advancement of scientific computing through open-source Python software. Amanda was able to participate in tutorials and presentations while answering questions from fellow developers on how GenVeg modeling could be useful for their future research!
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Hear from collaborators at Utah State University discuss studies of mussel reintroduction.
ERDC researchers from the Environmental Lab’s Integrated Ecological Modeling (EcoMod) and Water Resources Integrating Socio-Ecological and Engineered Systems (WRISES) teams presented on research and outreach topics at the American Ecological Engineering Society (AEES) 2024 Annual Meeting. Additionally, EcoMod’s co-lead, Dr. Candice Piercy, provided the keynote speech at the event. AEES is devoted to the promotion and scholarship of the emerging ecological engineering discipline.
Drs. Candice Piercy, Todd Swannack, Emily Russ, and Thomas Huff of the Integrated Ecological Modeling Team (EcoMod), within the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, attended the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS; pronounced “Systems”) Annual Meeting in Montclair, New Jersey on May 14-16. The meeting theme was “Coastlines, critical zones, and cascading hazards: Modeling dynamic interfaces from deep time to human time.” The CSDMS emphasizes community development, support, and dissemination of open-source code and software that advances our understanding of earth surface processes.
Team EcoMod, in collaboration with NOAA and USGS, presents a new publication entitled ‘Evidence on the ecological and physical effects of built structures in shallow, tropical coral reefs: a systematic map’. This article describes a literature review of worldwide manmade coral reef structures, along with drilling down on the specific components of the reef projects. Additionally, a systematic review method was detailed including a flow diagram and eligibility criteria. This research was funded through Engineering With Nature.
NEXTGEN ANNUAL COLLABORATION MEETING
Texas State University hosted the annual Next Generation Ecological Modeling (NextGen) meeting in San Marcos, TX. ERDC researchers from EL and ITL joined students and professors from partner universities including Texas State, Texas A&M, Utah State, Mississippi St., St. Catherine’s, and Central Michigan University. The meeting included 24 technical presentations as well as 11 student posters illustrating the progress on the computational modeling and data collection occurring for the Next Gen effort.
ECOMOD HOSTS DA FELLOW
Team EcoMod had the opportunity to host DA Fellow Rachel Rosenberg for the month of April! Her visit allowed her to check out all of ERDC and experience RD24. We asked her about the experience:
What led you to choose EcoMod for your outside-district rotation?
I wanted to come to ERDC to see the research and development side of the Corps mission, and the Environmental Laboratory was a clear fit for me. Scientific research is of great interest to me; it also informs many of the policies I implement as a regulator. I landed on the EcoMod team because of their unique approach and wide variety of topics. Dredged material placement, Living Shoreline functionality, freshwater mussel sampling, habitat suitability indices—these are just a few of the projects the team is currently working on. Ecological modeling allows researchers to make the most out of field and lab data, leveraging technology and brains to solve complex problems.
Favorite experience at ERDC (tour, project, etc)?
One of my favorites was getting to connect with entomologist Audrey Harrison at the Aquatic and Wetlands RDC. She gave me a personal tour of her lab space, showed me bugs under the microscope, and even gave me a case-building caddisfly to take home. We also discovered that I live a block away from her good friend in Baltimore – small world!
Best meal on your southern food journey?
It’s hard to choose but one of my favorites has to be the fried green tomatoes topped with crawfish etouffee at Klondyke.
