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.
Dr. Todd Swannack, co-lead of the Integrated Ecological Modeling Team, facilitated a two-day multi-stakeholder ecological modeling workshop for the Alaska district’s Homer Navigation Improvements Study for Homer Harbor located within Kachemak Bay.
ECOMOD AT RD24
The EcoMod team came together to celebrate RD24 at ERDC! Iris Foxfoot presented her poster on the Coral Reef collaboration with NOAA, and Sarah Anderson came in from the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF) to illustrate her progress on the NextGen SAV project.
It was great for everyone to collaborate in person, and we were able to celebrate Iris’ win of the EcoMod March Madness ‘Hoopsball’ Championship!
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
ERDC’s Vanessa Quintana will discuss herring management using ecological modeling.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Dr. Astrid Schwalb, along with Dr. Zachary Mitchell and Kiara Cushway from Texas State University, and Drs. Candice Piercy and Aubrey Harris of ERDC, published an article titled Go with the flow: Impacts of high and low flow conditions on freshwater mussel assemblages and distribution in the journal PLOS ONE. This work comes out of our NextGen collaboration with Texas State University. After participating in this exciting research, Kiara Cushway joined the EcoMod team as a contractor!
Iris Foxfoot represented team EcoMod at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis’s (NCEAS) annual Environmental Data Science Summit in Santa Barbara! The theme for the summit was Communicating and Translating Environmental Data. The event provided a valuable opportunity to form connections with students and environmental data science professionals, to spread awareness about ERDC, and to learn new science communication techniques and strategies. Iris joined a team of participants to delve into the question ‘How do we bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners in a way that is place-based and builds capacity?’.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Check out the new journal publication as part of the Natural Infrastructure Lifecycles project under the EWN program! Candice Piercy and Margaret Kurth are leading this effort to study aspects of life cycle management and the applicability of current conventional methods to natural infrastructure.
The FQA user interface is live and ready to cater to your floristic quality assessment needs! For more information about FQA visit our dedicated page Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) (dren.mil).
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Drs. Todd Swannack and Emily Russ worked with collaborator Taylor Cagle to link physical process and landscape evolution models to quantify hydro-eco-geomorphic feedbacks in marsh environments. Check it out!
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
EcoMod’s own Dr. Candice Piercy will be presenting on her work in Generalized Vegetation modeling!
ECOMOD AT ASCE
Candice Piercy and Emily Russ attended the American Society for Civil Engineers’ INSPIRE Conference in Arlington, VA. There was a heavy focus on nature-based solutions, so our partner at the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN) gathered details on the event, including a panel hosted by Candice and a presentation from Emily. Visit their website for all the information, then look around at all the resources N-EWN has to offer!
ECOMOD ON THE AIR
Dr. Candice Piercy was a special guest on the official Engineering With Nature podcast discussing the newly published Guidelines for How to Approach Thin-Layer Placement Projects, as well as dredging in general, with Dr. Ram Mohan and Monica Chasten. Listen here!
ECOMOD IN WILMINGTON DISTRICT
Drs. Todd Swannack and Emily Russ from the Integrated Ecological Modeling team, along with Dr. Matt Balazik from the Coastal Ecology team, facilitated a multi-stakeholder ecological modeling workshop for the Wilmington District for their harbor deepening project. Over 10 different agencies and non-governmental organizations participated. The goal of the workshop was to develop both conceptual and quantitative ecological models that could be used to determine the potential effects of the harbor deepening on the ecological communities within the estuary and river system that connect to the project area.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Join EcoMod to hear Dr. Joshuah Perkin of Texas A&M University present on Modeling and Predicting Ecological Futures for Freshwater Fishes.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
The Next Generation Ecological Modeling collaboration is proud to present a new special report on bioinvasion modeling. A great example of cross-lab efforts, this review was written by Safra Altman and Krystyna Powell from the Environmental Lab, and Marin Kress from the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab.
EWN IN NORFOLK DISTRICT
Last week Dr. Piercy along with researchers and program managers from the Engineering With Nature program traveled to Norfolk, VA. They met with the USACE Norfolk District and the City of Norfolk Office of Resilience to discuss opportunities to further incorporate nature-based solutions into the City of Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management project as it enters its construction phase. The City of Norfolk is heavily developed, requiring creative solutions that can tuck into the existing urban landscape.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Engineering With Nature presents a special report defining guidelines for thin-layer placement of dredged sediments used in coastal wetlands restoration.
This report is a collaboration between Drs. Ram Mohan and Candice Piercy and our late colleague, Mr. Timothy (Tim) Welp, who passed away as we were editing the document. Tim was a brilliant engineer who had a passion for the ocean and all things dredging. He worked tirelessly to improve beneficial use of dredged sediment practice and this document would not have come to pass without his passion and leadership. We are honored to share authorship with Tim on this report and are proud of the final publication.
ECOMOD GOES TO AUSTRALIA
On Sept. 30th, Dr. Brook Herman led a session titled From species to communities to ecosystems: scaling ecological models to support restoration decision making at the 2023 World Conference on Ecosystem Restoration in Darwin, Australia. The overall theme of the session focused on how successful restoration must consider how spatial and temporal scales impact USACE ecosystem restoration. Speakers in the session included Drs. Safra Altman, Nathan Beane, Todd Swannack, and Ms. Darixa Hernández-Abrams.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Join EcoMod to hear Dr. Safra Altman and Ms. Krystyna Powell speak about invasive species and shipping risks.
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY COASTAL ENGINEERING & NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS SHORT COURSE
Dr. Thomas Huff joined EWN program director Dr. Jeff King to discuss Nature-Based Solutions’ benefits and costs at a short course presented by Texas A&M University. They were also able to visit the USACE Galveston Coastal Project Site to observe the grey and nature-based features used to protect Galveston Harbor.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Take a look at our new collaborative effort with NOAA and USGS, documenting performance of built coral ecosystems.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Come hear Dr. Annette Engel of the University of Tennessee talk about work in the hyporheic zone!
Iris Foxfoot presented the new Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) at the Ecological Society of America’s annual meeting in Portland, Oregon.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Emily Russ, along with Amy Yarnell and Safra Altman, presents work done on beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) for submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Join us next Wednesday July 19th to hear from Madison Yawn of ERDC!
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Our next seminar is Wednesday June 21st with Christina Saltus!
Candice Piercy, Emily Russ, and Iris Foxfoot attended the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System annual meeting in Colorado. Iris also participated in an immersive training experience and presented a numerical modeling project. Click here to see more information about the event!
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ECOLOGICAL MODELLING (ISEM) GLOBAL CONFERENCE 2023
Drs. Todd Swannack, Emily Russ, and Ms. Carra Carrillo of the ERDC Environmental Laboratory represented the Integrated Ecological Modeling Team (EcoMod) at the International Society of Ecological Modelling Global Conference 2023 in Toronto, Canada on May 2-5. Each team member presented novel research being developed by EcoMod, including the 1) development of a Generalized Vegetation Model for applications across a variety of habitats, 2) a coupling framework and demonstration that integrates hydrodynamic, geomorphic, and ecological models for a comprehensive marsh model, and 3) considerations for data collecting and parameterizing processes-based integrated engineering and ecological models from long term field studies.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Our frequent collaborator Safra Altman leads a new Technical Report for the Wetlands Regulatory Assistance Program.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Our next seminar is Wednesday April 19th with Dr. Astrid Schwalb and Kiara Cushway with Texas State University!
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Our next seminar is Wednesday March 15th with Dr. Lee Dietterich, postdoctoral researcher at US Army ERDC!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
An important journal article for the GenVeg project under Next Generation Modeling has been published.
NEXT GENERATION MODELING SEMINAR
Our next seminar is Wednesday February 15th with Dr. Weston Nowlin of Texas State University!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Team EcoMod congratulates Carra Carrillo on her first publication as first author! This journal article describes a mussel dispersal model that can be utilized in management decision making.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
EWN presents a new tech report on the Swan Island conceptual model, a case study utilization of ecological modeling.
ECOMOD PRESENTATION
Todd Swannack, Candice Piercy, and Emily Russ presented at a Lunch and Learn hosted by the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) Resilience Integrated Action Team (RIAT). They spoke about ecological modeling capabilities and current projects that utilize them.
If any other groups are interested in hearing from our team, please reach out to us at ecomodteam@usace.army.mil.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Colleagues Krystyna Powell and Safra Altman present results from a 2021 workshop hosted by the Network for Engineering with Nature (N-EWN). Click here for the full publication.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Colleague Safra Altman presents a new special report for the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program (EMRRP). Click here for the full publication.
SUMMIT ON NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS (NBS)
Emily Russ, Ashley Schutt, and EMRRP Program Manager (and former EcoMod team member) Brook Herman met with other NBS advocates at a summit titled Measuring What Matters: Towards a More Comprehensive and Equitable Evaluation of Benefits. It was a great experience to meet and discuss the ongoing success of NBS and how to better quantify and communicate the benefits to engineers and the public.
ECOMOD IN MIAMI
Candice Piercy, Emily Russ, and Ashley Schutt attended the 2022 Coastal Working Group meeting in Miami! We were able to meet with district personnel for a pre-meeting regarding the EWN Oyster Reef project, where we learned about current research and data opportunities. We also got to visit the Miami river and talk to the Norfolk district about mitigation planning.
ECOMOD IN THE NEWS
Todd Swannack gave an informative interview to Jason Scott of ERDC Public Affairs!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Check out the new tech note describing the Toolkit for interActive Modeling (TAM). Click here to read the full publication!
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY COURSE
Todd Swannack and Carra Carrillo traveled to Oregon State University to teach a course called Agent-Based Ecology and Modeling Workshop. Click here for more info!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Check out the new tech note regarding beneficial use for dredged sediment!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Check out the new tech note regarding oyster reefs from our collaborator Safra Altman!
MEETING AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Team EcoMod met with our collaborators at Texas State University to discuss current and future projects! We were also able to see the artificial streams being constructed at the Freeman Center.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Check out the new tech note discussing Scenario Analyses, as part of the EcoMod 2.0 project under EMRRP.
CANDICE PIERCY VISITS SAN JUAN
A team of researchers working within the Engineering With Nature program were invited to San Juan, Puerto Rico by FEMA to discuss how natural and nature-based features and EWN approaches can be used to manage flood risks on the island. The team presented to a diverse group of workshop participants over two days, explored the beach, toured Old San Juan, enjoyed the local cuisine and even went out with a sea-turtle conservation group to monitor sea turtle nesting.
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Congratulations to Emily Russ for her first paper with the EcoMod Team as a first-author!
NEW PAPER ALERT!
Please take a look at the newly published journal article introducing the DOONIES Model.
Kyle Stefan created this video to illustrate how oyster larvae spread as part of the project Particle tracking software development for biological particles
Candice Piercy participated in a panel discussion for the event launching the new International Guidelines on NNBF for Flood Risk Management