Tag: Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

On Friday, October 4, University of Miami Research Faculty member Ting-Hao Hsu, Ph.D. will present a seminar entitled, “Using Slow-Fast Dynamical Systems to Understand Regime Shifts in Ecology”. In ecology, regime shifts are continual rapid change between different long-lasting dynamics. For instance, rapid evolutionary changes have been observed in a wide variety of organisms, both in predators and in prey. Another example is disease outbreak, where a system exhibits qualitative changes after long periods of apparent quiescence. Using the theory of slow-fast dynamics, for systems of differential equations with sufficiently large separation of time scales we derive conditions under which regime shifts occur

This is joint work with Shigui Ruan and Gail Wolkowicz. 

Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography department of mathematics hosts the mathematics colloquium series in Parker Building, Room 301. For more information about the math colloquium series, please contact mathematics faculty member Jing Chen, Ph.D. (jchen1@nova.edu) or Evan Haskell (haskell@nova.edu).

From July 8 – 18, 2019, the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) held its 27^th General Assembly in Montreal, Canada. Celebrating IUGG’s centennial, the scientific program was composed of Union, Inter-Association, and Association symposia, workshops, panels and special events.

During this prestigious event, Halmos College students and faculty presented three lectures. The first one was by Marine Science master’s student Breanna Vanderplow presented a talk on the “Effect of Surfactants on Generation of Sea Spray During Tropical Cyclones”. The second one was by Marine Science master’s student Georgia Parks entitled, “Analysis of Bacteria in the Sea Surface Microlayer in the Florida Keys”.

Halmos College’s final presentation was by faculty member and researcher Alexander Soloviev, Ph.D.. His presentation was entitled, “Freshwater Lenses in the Near-Surface Layer of the Ocean Due to River Runoff or Convective Rains Spreading as Gravity Currents”. Dr. Soloviev’s presentation discussed modelling results that have several practical applications including pollution propagation in coastal waters (e.g., oil spills).

The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) is the international organization dedicated to advancing, promoting, and communicating knowledge of the Earth’s system, its space environment, and the dynamical processes causing change. Through its constituent Associations, Commissions, and services, IUGG convenes international assemblies and workshops, undertakes research, assembles observations, gains insights, coordinates activities, liaises with other scientific bodies, plays an advocacy role, contributes to education, and works to expand capabilities and participation worldwide.

For more information:http://iugg2019montreal.com/

From June 8 – 22, a team of researchers explored the water column in some of the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico in order to determine what happens to deep-sea animals when a very important constraint is taken away from them – that of light. As part of this amazing project, researcher Edie Widder, Ph.D., with her colleague, Nathan Robinson, Ph.D., used her MEDUSA camera platform to capture video of a live giant squid deep in the Gulf of Mexico during a recent NOAA Office of Exploration and Research-supported cruise.

This is the first recording of a live giant squid in the Gulf of Mexico (Atlantic Ocean, for that matter), and only the second such filming ever. The research cruise, entitled “Journey into Midnight: Life and Light Below the Twilight Zone,” was led by Sönke Johnsen, Ph. D., of Duke University. Regarding DEEPEND, three of the twelve scientists onboard were from Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. They were Co-PI Tammy Frank, Ph.D., her student Ruchao Qian, and DEEPEND Director/PI Tracey Sutton, Ph.D.

The giant squid story has been a global media sensation, featured by the NOAA Office of Exploration and Research; Discovery Channel; NY Times; Washington Post; USA Today; OCEANX; and CNN, among hundreds of others.

Throughout his professional life, Michael Caldwell, D.M.A., has worn the hats of reporter, renowned concert pianist, U.S. artistic ambassador, and academic. But after 11 years at NSU in Performing and Visual Arts, he’s hung up that last hat to seek out new adventures.

“I’ve never had sabbatical in 40-plus years,” he said. “I never had the time or was too busy.”

Caldwell, who grew up in Fayetteville, NC, said his parents always encouraged him to follow his interests. Listening to his older brother take piano lessons inspired him to want to learn to play himself. Over time, Caldwell began to play piano and organ at his local church, and by high school, he was teaching others how to play.

“I had always been interested in classical music,” he said. “I would collect 78 records and go to classical concerts.”

Unfortunately, Caldwell’s opportunities to attend classical concerts was limited due to segregation. Caldwell continued playing and won multiple music competitions. Caldwell earned a bachelor’s degree in Applied Music from the University of Miami. Later, Caldwell took on a job as a broadcast reporter after returning from a year studying on a grant. He was handed a camera and instructed to go shoot footage for a story.

Continuing his musical studies, he earned a doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Arizona. It was that university connection that got Caldwell his first of three appointments as a U.S. artistic ambassador. The program, which started in the U.S. Department of State during the Reagan administration, fosters cross-cultural understanding through the arts. Caldwell was assigned to Jordan and was already familiar with the Middle East and North Africa, having spent time on a self-financed tour and living out of a VW van.

Caldwell’s stints in academia included six years at Broward College as Associate Dean of Visual and Performing Arts. In 2008, he came to Nova Southeastern University and served as the founding director of the Division of Performing and Visual Arts in what was then known as the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. The programs in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences’ Department of Performing and Visual Arts celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2018.

Full story: https://cahss.nova.edu/news-events/2019/dpva-caldwell.html

Early in July 2019, the Girl Scouts of South Florida, with their families and friends came to the Von D Mizell – Eula Johnson State Park to spend a hot Saturday learning about marine and coastal ecosystems.

As part of this event, Halmos College Director of Academic Support Melissa Dore, Ed.D. worked with these families on understanding the marine animals and their environs. This included the popular game “What is it?” as well as hands on activities using marine specimens.

Girl Scouts takes the potential of girls, combines it with robust skill-building programming, and adds caring adult mentors and strong female role models. Everything a Girl Scout does centers around STEM, the outdoors, development of life skills, and entrepreneurship, and is designed to meet her where she is now and to grow along with her.

On June 11, the Broward County Board of Commissioners held a proclamation ceremony recognizing the support of NSU and other sponsors of the Seventh Annual P3 Eco – Challenge. Representing NSU was Halmos College’s Director of Academic Support and Administration Melissa Dore, Ed.D. Dore also represented NSU at the P3 student awards ceremony in May.

The P3 Eco-Challenge encourages Broward County Public School (BCPS) students to preserve our planet for posterity. This challenge recognizes and rewards traditional and charter BCPS schools, teachers, students, non-instructional and custodial staff for their efforts to learn about and implement environmentally sustainable measures and green initiatives within their schools and communities.  There are two types of P3 challenges:

P3 School Challenge – For schools that demonstrate participation in or implementation of different sustainability metrics based on a rubric composed of 6 comprehensive categories:

• School Grounds Enhancement
• School Sustainability
• Curriculum Integration
• Community Involvement
• Administrative Support
• Innovation/Special Projects

Environmental Stewardship Recognition – For BCPS teachers, students, non-instructional and custodial staff who show evidence of promoting civic responsibility, environmental stewardship, and education of environmental issues. The metrics of this category include:

• Awareness and Involvement
• Current Professional Development/Affiliation
• Instructional Soundness/Creativity
• Skill Building

Congratulations to all the winners of this 7^th Annual Challenge!

For more information:https://www.browardschools.com/p3

On Thursday, May 23, The Oceanographic Campus (OC) received a very precious cargo: 341 corals collected of Key West. The goal of this coral “rescue” is to collect healthy corals ahead of the disease boundary. These corals will then be placed in land-based aquaria to prevent them from becoming infected, to preserve genetic diversity, and to serve as propagation source stock for future restoration activities.

This project focuses of 16 high priority species and 6 medium priority species.  The project is the first-ever rescue of this scale and is necessitated by the urgency and devastating impact of the FL Reef Tract Coral Disease Outbreak.

The Coral Rescue team members include Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) (Lisa Gregg) and NOAA Fisheries (Jennifer Moore) as project co-leads and team members include staff from NSU, FWC, FL Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FL Sea Grant, Florida Aquarium (FLAQ), and the National Park Service.

The first batch of corals departed Stock Island early Monday morning. Eighty-two hours later, they docked at the OC’s neighbor: the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare base. From there, the corals were transported to the salt water tanks on the OC’s campus.

“Corals are very delicate,” said Nick Turner, a Halmos Ph.D. candidate who helped transfer the corals to their new home. “It’s hard to keep them alive in tanks. We need to regulate the sunlight to make sure they get enough,” he said. “Too much sunlight is just as bad. That’s why we’re using black shade cloths to let in just enough sunlight.”

FWC has a Coral Rescue Genetic Management Plan to ensure genetic diversity for restoration.

NSU is one of the intermediate holding facilities to hold and care for the ~4,500 corals. Other intermediate holding facilities include: Mote Marine Lab (Sarasota), Univ. of Miami (Miami), and FL Aquarium Center for Conservation (Apollo Beach). Longer-term holding facilities include Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facilities across the US. The AZA Florida facilities are Disney, Sea World, Mote, and Florida Aquarium.