UNC ROI TEAL SHIPS

The UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative: Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS) begins a strategic partnership within the UNC System led by UNC Wilmington with collaborators from UNC Chapel Hill, NC State University, and East Carolina University. Together, we will characterize key interactions between marine habitats for our state’s research, industry, and economy – spanning the NC coastal shelf to the Gulf Stream.

Though previous work within the UNC System has made great strides describing and defining this important physical, chemical, and biological transition zone in the 1970s-1990s, we identified a lack of recent comprehensive surveys of the region. Specifically, modern collaborations focusing primarily on near-shore ecosystems have not yet considered how meanders and changes in the Gulf Stream flow affect marine food webs and critical habitats along the shelf and coastline.

Objectives

To overcome these knowledge gaps and improve our capacity to predict future changes in this critical coastal land-sea interface, TEAL-SHIPS will accomplish the following major objectives:

Characterize the gradient of estuarine through continental shelf and Gulf Stream habitats, including physical, chemical, and biological measurements.
Determine interactions across the food web for this region, from microbes to fishes through observations, rate measurements, and isotopic composition.
Define a baseline of seasonal shifts in this system over two years to predict or observe changes into the future from an ecological and ‘blue economy’ (ocean economy) perspective.
Expand the interdisciplinary study of Gulf Stream processes in our local region to become a precursor model for future studies along the Eastern Seaboard.

Each of these major objectives will be accomplished by our interdisciplinary research team across a two-year series of 4-day ship-based “transect expeditions” from the mouth of the Cape Fear River (near Wilmington, NC, and UNCW) to the Gulf Stream.

These expeditions will be scheduled to collect seasonal data from spring, summer, fall, and winter over the two years to capture seasonal and interannual variability to establish a baseline for the region, as well as preliminary data from which to acquire additional research grants to continue a long-term sampling program into the future.

We will take advantage of a locally stationed vessel managed by Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) – the R/V Cape Hatteras – until the production of UNCW’s improved research vessel is completed in Spring 2026.

Goals & Expected Outcomes

Enhance UNC System research capacity in oceanographic sampling expeditions, leading eight offshore trips over two years.
Provide space and time for UNC System faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students to participate in vessel-based research expeditions.
Establish a baseline for physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring along the North Carolina coastline.
Deploy physical oceanography sensors to monitor offshore currents for comparison to the newly relocated Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) Pioneer Array off Cape Hatteras, NC.
Integrate our physical, chemical, and biological datasets spanning the coastal-to-offshore gradient with those of other researchers working along other eastern boundary current systems across the globe.

Funding Support

The UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative (ROI) is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly to support vital innovative research projects within the UNC System. These awards are designed to build capacity in research areas that are strategically important to North Carolina.

Meet the Team

Dr. Bradley Tolar, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, UNCW (PI)
Dr. Christian Briseño-Avena, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, UNCW (co-PI)
Dr. Matt McLean, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, UNCW (co-PI)
Dr. Winn Johnson, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UNCW (co-PI)
Dr. Ata Suanda, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, UNCW (co-PI)
Dr. Rebecca Asch, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, East Carolina University (Key Collaborator)
Dr. Harvey Seim, Professor, Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, UNC Chapel Hill (Key Collaborator)
Dr. Janet Nye, Associate Professor, Institute of Marine Sciences, UNC Chapel Hill (Key Collaborator)
Dr. Ryan Paerl, Associate Professor, Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, NC State University (Key Collaborator)

Student Opportunities

We plan to recruit four graduate students and multiple undergraduate students to participate in transect expedition planning, preparation, sampling, and analysis. Stay tuned for more details!

Publications & Presentations

Briseño-Avena, C., W. Johnson, M. McLean, A. Suanda, and B. Tolar. A South Atlantic Bight Shelf-to-Gulf Stream Observation Program: Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS). NSF Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI) Community Workshop: Pioneer MAB Array, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA. 10 Sept 2024.