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Marshes in Flux

July 6, 2018

WHOI biogeochemist Amanda Spivak describes her research to journalists in the WHOI Ocean Science Journalism Fellowship Program, which brings them to WHOI for a week to learn about oceanography and ocean engineering. Spivak studies the role of coastal wetlands and estuaries in the global carbon cycle, including how these ecosystems respond to human-caused impacts such as nutrient pollution, overfishing, and climate change. This summer, Spivak is working at Great Barnstable Marsh, in Sandwich, Mass., to find out how marshes are affected by hydrologic management decisions and the infilling of natural ponds. Spivak has also collaborated with elementary schools and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra on a program to integrate music with other academic subjects such as ecology. (Photo by Véronique LaCapra, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)