MOTN Meeting at the new SMAST Campus – 5 pm Cocktail Reception

Join Us!

Please RSVP!  We need a count of attendees for the venue across the street following the meeting. We need 30 attendees or we will need to go with another option.

Don’t miss the cocktail reception at 5 pm at SMAST!

Meeting Agenda

• 5:00 – 5:30 pm Cocktail ReceptionAt SMAST

  

• Introductions/Welcome/MOTN News (Rhonda Moniz)
   
  About Rhonda:
  Rhonda Moniz is an Underwater Forensics Specialist and ROV Pilot/Supervisor. Ms. Moniz is also a Diving Safety Officer, and specializes in the use of Marine Technology in Underwater Search and Recovery, and Aquatic Crime Scene Investigation. She has also worked over the past twenty years, as a lead Science Diver and Diving Instructor. Ms. Moniz is founder and Director of Operations for Underwater Investigative Group, a company specializing in underwater forensics, and marine technology. She has been involved in a number of expeditions around the globe including several as ROV Pilot and Engineer for Dr. Robert Ballard who discovered the Titanic. She has also worked with the US Navy and United States Coast Guard.
   
  Ms. Moniz is chairman of the board for the New England chapter of the Marine Technology Society as well as President for the Marine Oceanographic Technology Network. She has lectured around the country. Ms. Moniz is a published author and has acted as a subject matter expert for a number of television productions.
   
  Ms. Moniz teaches Underwater Forensics and works with her team to provide UCSI seminars for Police, Fire, and Homeland Security personnel. She also gives talks and seminars around the country that are open to the public. She has worked as a Dive Instructor and has attained Master Instructor Rating. She is currently co-authoring a book with Dr. Elizabeth Laposata former Medical Examiner for the State of Rhode Island.
• Overview of UMass Dartmouth Marine Science Research and Education Programs (Steve Lohrenz)
   
  About Steve:
  Steven E. Lohrenz has served as Dean and Professor of the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth since 2011. As Dean of SMAST, he coordinates the UMass Intercampus Marine Science graduate degree program with more than 70 students and a research enterprise generating $5M a year in grants and contracts. SMAST recently completed a 64,000 sq. ft. expansion of its facilities, thereby tripling its space at its shore side location in the New Bedford South End. Prior to becoming Dean of SMAST, Steve was the Chair of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Department of Marine Science, located at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center. He received a B.A. in biology and chemistry from the University of Oregon (1978) and a Ph.D. in biological oceanography (1985) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‐Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. He is currently a Contributing Editor for Marine Ecology Progress Series and the President of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System. He served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership from 2016-2018. He has served on numerous scientific advisory groups including the NASA Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO‐CAPE) Satellite Mission Science Working Group (2011-2018), NASA Carbon Monitoring System Science Team (2012-2018), and the Massachusetts Ocean Science Advisory Council (2011-present). His research extends across various themes of including climate change impacts on land-ocean interactions, phytoplankton ecology and physiology, and biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other elements in ocean systems. His current work also includes applications of optics and remote sensing in the study of biological and biogeochemical patterns and processes in aquatic environments and linkages to terrestrial systems. He has authored or co‐authored more than 85 papers in refereed literature and participated in more than 50 research cruises.
• New technologies for observing fish behavior and monitoring marine ecosystems (Chris Rillahan)
   
  About Chris:
  Chris Rillahan is a research associate and PhD student in the Fish Behavior and Conservation Engineering research group at the University of Massachusetts. His expertise lies in using optical and acoustic technology to study fish behavior. As a research associate, Chris primarily works with the commercial fishing industry to develop solutions to emerging problems facing the industry. Recent projects have focused on the development of equipment to reduce bycatch, minimize benthic impacts and reduce a vessels carbon footprint. As a PhD student, Chris’s dissertation focuses on the impact improving technology has on our understanding of fish behavior and in turn our ability to manage marine populations. Chris has a Master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire where he worked with the Open Ocean Aquaculture project to study the behavior and physiology of the fish cultured in the offshore environment. As part biologist, part engineer he has an interest in using and developing new technology to further our understanding of marine environment and its inhabitants.
• Ocean Observing Technologies to Assess Conditions for Upwelling and Hypoxia on the Northern New Jersey Coast (Kate Tremblay)
   
  About Kate:
  Kathryn (Kate) Tremblay is a MS candidate at SMAST under the advisement of Dr. Wendell Brown. She works as a research assistant in OCEANOL, The Ocean Observation Lab, helping with glider deployments and CODAR (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radar) operations for northeast MARACOOS operations. For her research, Kate utilizes data sourced from moored instrumentation, CODAR, satellite assets, and ocean gliders. Apart from her research, she has been a teaching assistant for three semesters, a math tutor, and currently sits as president and a student representative of SMAST’s Graduate Student Association. This past year, Kate has been awarded the The Hydrographic Society of American New England Regional Scholarship and is the designer behind MOTN’s newly updated logo.
• The UMass Dartmouth Blue Economy Initiative (TBD)