Author: leslielab

New England’s protected waters threatened

A short-sighted plan threatens New England’s coastal ecosystem. Thousands of square miles of protected waters could see the return of damaging fishing practices, putting the recovery of cod and other struggling marine life in peril. When fish populations crashed in the 1990s, these closed areas were created to protect juvenile fish, spawning areas, and seafloor […]

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Reflections on coastal resilience

Coastal communities and the coastal marine ecosystems of which they are part are in jeopardy. Superstorm Sandy was one of the most examples of the powerful effects of coastal storms on people, property, and ecosystems in coastal areas. In the face of such storms and other pressures on coastal communities, what can be done? How […]

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Coastal Resilience at AAAS

Hurricane Sandy was a fearsome reminder that coastal communities are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and environmental variability and that vulnerability is only expected to increase with climate change. Brown University scientists Heather Leslie and Leila Sievanen, members of an interdisciplinary research team focused on human-environment interactions in coastal regions, discussed these challenges at […]

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Field Notes from Cabo Pulmo, January 2013

  In early January 2013, we (Heather Leslie, Leila Sievanen and Mateja Nenanovic) traveled to Cabo Pulmo, on the southeastern corner of the Baja peninsula, to prepare for a series of household surveys we are conducting in the region in the coming weeks. This project, led by Heather Leslie of Brown University and Xavier Basurto […]

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RI TNC coastal ecology & conservation interns

The Nature Conservancy of Rhode Island is recruiting volunteer interns to work at the Goosewing Beach Preserve and other sites, beginning in April 2013. View the announcements below. This could lead to an outstanding Voss Environmental Fellows opportunity! Contact Prof. Leslie (Heather_Leslie(at)brown.edu) to learn more about the program and ways to connect your academic interests […]

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Resilience to climate change in coastal marine systems

Former Brown undergraduate Joey Bernhardt and Prof. Heather Leslie just published a synthetic review on ecological resilience to climate change in the Annual Review of Marine Science. The abstract follows; navigate to the site to see the full review, or contact Heather for a PDF.   Abstract. Ecological resilience to climate change is a combination […]

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Ecology-engineering partnership on renewable energy

A team of Brown University researchers has received a $750,000 grant to design an oscillating underwater wing that can capture energy from flowing water in rivers and tidal basins. The funding comes from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), which funds breakthrough technologies that show fundamental technical promise but are […]

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New website documents ecosystem-based management efforts

To help sustain ecosystems and their many benefits in coastal communities, researchers at Brown University, the University of Michigan, and Duke University have launched a new website with 65 case studies that highlight lessons learned from marine ecosystem-based management (MEBM) projects around the globe. These case studies are designed to show how MEBM can work […]

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Nature Study Highlights Many Paths to Ocean Health

Ocean Health Index provides first global assessment combining natural and human dimensions of sustainability Sustainable management of a huge, complex and valuable resource such as the ocean requires a comprehensive metric that did not exist until now. In the Aug. 16 edition of Nature a broad group of scientists including Heather Leslie, the Sharpe Assistant […]

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Heather speaks out for science and the oceans

View Heather’s recent video on the importance of federal research funding for marine science. Thanks to The Science Coalition for inviting this contribution and Brown University’s Office of Public Affairs and University Relations for helping to make this possible.  

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