A group of leading research institutions that includes the University of Miami will soon get a powerful new tool in its efforts to develop and improve methods to accurately predict the fate of hydrocarbons released into the environment during normal and hurricane-weather conditions.

The Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE), in collaboration with UM’s Center for Computational Science (CCS), will take delivery next month of a Cray XE6m supercomputer. The system, which will be located at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, will be an important computational resource for a CARTHE program that is studying surface ocean currents that transport pollutants. Read the full story

Groundbreaking occasion: participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were, from left, Thad Dameris, managing partner of Hogan Lovells’ Houston office; Alfred C. Glassell, III; Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar; Marta Weeks Wulf, University trustee, and former chair of the UM Board of Trustees; Lady Blanka Rosenstiel; Stella Fiotes, chief facilities management officer at NIST; Thomas J. LeBlanc, executive vice president and provost; Leonard Abess, chair of the UM Board of Trustees; and Sebastian the Ibis.

Sea spray whipped up by the violent, swirling winds of a hurricane has long been a thorn in the side of researchers trying to determine its effect on storm forecasting.

“No one can accurately model what happens when the ocean is just so churned up that there’s so much water in the air and so much air in the water,” says Brian Haus, a professor of applied marine physics at the University of Miami. “It’s been a real ongoing challenge. You can’t model it, and it’s really difficult to measure in the field.” Read the full story

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science a grant for the application of the latest cloud computing technologies to climate and natural hazards research.

Researchers Craig Mattocks and Brian Soden will serve as principal investigators on the project, which will create a pipeline of ensemble climate simulations to provide critical information on storm strength and the impact of storm surge on coastal communities.

Eventually, the advancements made will be transferred to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to enhance the performance of the Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model for operational use in predicting storm surge generated by hurricanes and tropical storms.

“The students and faculty of the Rosenstiel School are internationally recognized as leaders in marine science research. From ocean conservation, oceans and human health, sustainable fisheries, coral ecology, and marine genomics, their work has tremendous benefits for all Floridians, in fact, for all people in coastal communities in the United States,” said U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. “This grant will help improve environmental and storm modeling by making the latest data sets easily accessible to the broader scientific community as well as strengthening tools for the application of that data. With hurricane season just around the corner, it is encouraging to see increased efforts to use computationally driven research to positively serve our community. I look forward to seeing the long-term results of this significant project.”

Cloud computing offers unparalleled access to data on demand and provides a cost-effective manner in which to port code to a new platform. This new method of computation also makes it simpler to make data sets available to the broader community and helps make harvesting metadata more efficient. In addition, the research team will contribute tools to help scientists share, preserve, publicize, and establish the provenance of the scientific data sets that result from their research.

“Compelling and timely application of climate research is our overall goal,” said Soden. “One of the more immediate and dangerous impacts of climate change in South Florida will be rising sea levels. Even with no change in hurricane strength or numbers, increased storm surge from rising sea level could pose a serious threat to property and lives in South Florida.”

This NSF-funded project develops a pipeline framework for running ensemble simulations on the cloud. The pipeline will take data submissions and organize them into controlled batches. It will also create an optimal workflow and establish best practices in data sharing and discovery.

“Our work will provide data to assess societal responses and guide adaptations to climate change,” added Mattocks. “These calculations will assist us in planning and building the sustainable, hazard-resilient coastal communities of the future.”

Climate modelers at UM will be collaborating with Jamie Rhome and Cristina Forbes in the Storm Surge Unit at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, and Arthur Taylor at NOAA’s Meteorological Development Laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland, to assimilate the new knowledge in NOAA’s SLOSH program, as well as in research, operational, and classroom settings.

Shark fins drying in the sun in Kaohsiung before processing. Thirty percent of the world’s shark species are threatened or near threatened with extinction. Photo Credit: Shawn Heinrichs for the Pew Environment Group.

Sharks, which are among the most threatened of marine species, are killed primarily for their fins alone to fuel the growing demand for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy. Now, a new study by University of Miami scientists in the journal Marine Drugs has found that shark fins contain high concentrations of BMAA, a neurotoxin linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans including Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). The study suggests that consumption of shark fin soup and cartilage pills may pose a significant health risk for degenerative brain diseases.

“Shark fins are primarily derived through finning, a practice in which shark fins are removed at sea and the rest of the mutilated animal is thrown back in the water to die,” said co-author Neil Hammerschlag, research assistant professor of marine affairs and policy and director of the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program (RJD) at UM. Read the full story

About 200 students from elementary schools in high-needs districts throughout Miami-Dade County learned about shark conservation, overfishing, and other ocean-related topics as part of the Ocean Kids hands-on education event held November 19 on the University of Miami’s Foote University Green. The event used the marine environment and conservation issues to instill a passion for learning and curiosity beyond the classroom. Children “traveled” through 15 Caribbean and Latin America stations, learning about marine mammal rescue efforts, finding solutions to pollution, examining marine life through microscopes, and participating in relays wearing scuba gear. Future Interests in Nature and Sea Foundation and UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science co-hosted the event. (Photo credit: Monica Herndon)