Watershed Process and Estuary Sustainability Research Group

Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation – Pritchard Outstanding Physical Oceanography Paper Award “The Pritchard Award Committee is excited to select “Coastal Hydrodynamics and Timescales in Meso-Macrotidal Estuaries in the Gulf of Maine: a Model Study,” authored by Sohaib Alahmed, Lauren Ross, and Sean M.C. Smith, as the 2023 CERF Pritchard Award recipient.” “This award was […]

UMaine News published an article highlighting the work of Dr. Ross and ongoing plans to expand her research in Maine to other countries with funding from a Fulbright Scholarship in the upcoming school year.  https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2023/07/18/ross-embarks-on-fulbright-to-expand-estuary-research-beyond-u-s-borders/  

WPES PhD candidate, Bea Van Dam, is scheduled to defend her dissertation research on August 2 at 1 PM in Normal Smith Hall (Room 11) on U Maine’s Orono Campus. The dissertation title is “Scaling Up the Relevance of Land-Sea Connections in Coastal Bacteria Pollution Vulnerability”. Attendance can be in-person or remotely via online access. […]

Drs. Lauren Ross and Neil Fisher visited Islesboro Island this week to install tide gauges and meet with community members, Island Institute staff ,and high school students to talk about tidal measurements and sea level rise. They were joined by Sean Smith who collected exploratory marsh samples related the history of tidal dynamics on the […]

The Estuary Builder Tool developed by WPES PhD candidate, Bea Van Dam, was highlighted in UMaine News and local (Bangor, Channel 7) evening news this week. The reporting focused on roll out of the coastal spatial data tool designed to aggregate information and knowledge about land sea connections influencing pollution problems and solutions on the […]

The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions is hosting a Sustainability Networking Poster Session that WPES members Lauren Ross (CIE) and Sean Smith (SECS) are organizing. We are glad to have this opportunity to bring together students, businesses, and communities working on sustainability solutions. We would be pleased to have the participation of […]

Assistant professor Lauren Ross of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has earned a CAREER award of over $600,000 from the National Science Foundation to study land-sea connections, freshwater/saltwater exchange, and material transport in a range of complex tidal estuary conditions. The NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program supports early-career faculty in establishing […]

Congratulations to WPES PhD student, Bea Van Dam, for being awarded First Place in the Graduate Student poster competition at the 2021 Maine Sustainability and Water Conference! Van Dam, B. and S.M.C. Smith. 2021. Pouring spatial data into shellfishery management decision-making. Maine Sustainability and Water Conference. Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions.

Ross, L., S. Alahmed, S.M.C. Smith, and G. Roberts. 2021. Tidal and subtidal transport in short, tidally driven estuaries with low rates of freshwater input. Continental Shelf Research, Vol. 224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2021.104453