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P.
Ansley Wren-Key, Ph.D. |
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B.S. Civil
Engineering, University of South Carolina, 1996
Ph.D.
Oceanography, North Carolina State University, 2004
Research
Interests:
My research interests pertain to hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes
in coastal regions including continental shelves, estuaries, inlets and marshes.
My most recent research involves quantifying sediment transport on the mid-continental
shelf in Onslow Bay, NC during Hurricane Isabel. This research was a part of
the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program
(CORMP), an on-going large multi-disciplinary ocean observing system at the
University of North Carolina at Wilmington. As part of interdisciplinary project,
I have been involved with several different types of scientific studies on the
mid-shelf in Onslow Bay. For example, one of the latest projects that I am currently
working on is determining the distance of POC delivery in the bottom boundary
layer to a productive hardbottom reef community on the mid-shelf in Onslow Bay.
This work has implications for estimating efficient areas for Marine Protected
Areas. My doctoral research focused on bottom boundary layer hydrodynamics and
sediment transport processes adjacent to an exposed marine hardbottom on the
mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, NC. This research considered interactions
between shelf sediment dynamics, large-scale circulation patterns, coastal oceanography,
climatology, and small-scale stratigraphy. Other research projects I have been
involved in include: projects examining fine-scale hydrodynamics and sedimentation
in coastal wetlands, high-resolution bathymetric mapping to determine volume
changes of sand in the nearshore, beach monitoring on Galveston Island, Texas
using RTK GPS, and side-scan sonar collection of offshore relict barrier islands
off the coast of Texas. These types of research activities have direct applications
to coastal hazards, transport of contaminants, habitat characterization and
management, and utilization of offshore sand resources for beach nourishment.
Websites for Courses:
Publications
Wren, P. Ansley and Lynn A. Leonard, 2005. Sediment transport on the mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, North Carolina during Hurricane Isabel. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 63: 43-56.
Leonard, Lynn A., P. Ansley Wren and Rebecca L. Beavers, 2002. Flow dynamics and sedimentation in Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites austrailis marshes of the Chesapeake Bay. Wetlands 22(2): 415-424.
Publications in preparation
Wren, P.A. and L.B. Cahoon. Bottom-boundary layer delivery of Chlorophyll a
to a hardbottom reef community in Onslow Bay, North Carolina.
Wren, P.A. and L.A. Leonard. Hardbottom reef effects on sediment transport patterns in Onslow Bay, North Carolina.
Selected abstracts and conference presentations:
Wren, P.A. and L.B. Cahoon, 2005. Bottom boundary layer delivery of Chlorophyll a to a hard bottom reef in Onslow Bay, North Carolina. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
Mallin, M.A., J. M. O'Reilly, L.A. Leonard, P.A. Wren, J.J. Souza and D.H. Wells. 2004. Impact of Hurricane Isabel on nearshore and offshore Onslow Bay. Southeastern Estuarine Research Society, Harbor Branch Institute, Florida.
Wren, P.A. and L.A. Leonard, 2003. Monitoring sediment mobility on the mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, NC. Southeast Coastal Ocean Conference Abstracts, Charleston SC.
Wren, P. Ansley, Grindlay, N.R, Leonard, L.A., 2002. Sediment mobility on the mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, NC. Eos Trans. AGU, 83(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., San Francisco, CA.
Leonard, L. A., Grindlay, N. R., Beavers, R. L., Wren, P.A. 2001. Sediment mobility study on the mid-continental shelf: the role of storms in Onslow Bay, NC. EOS: Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 81. Margins Chapman Conference, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Wren, P.A. and Lynn A. Leonard, 2001. Hydrodynamics and particle dispersion in Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora marshes. Eos Trans. AGU, 82(19), Spring Meet. Suppl., Boston, Mass.
Wren, P.A., L. A. Leonard, and R. L. Beavers, 2001. Sediment mobility during storms on the mid-continental shelf: Onslow Bay, NC. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 33(2), Raleigh, NC.
R.L. Beavers, F. M. Bingham, L.A. Leonard, N.R. Grindlay, and Wren, P. A.*, 2000. Sediment transport measurements from the Coastal Ocean Monitoring Program in Onslow Bay, North Carolina. Proceedings of the Society of Engineering Science, II-38, Columbia, SC. (* presenting author)
Wren, P.A., L.A. Leonard,
and R.L. Beavers, 2000. Tidal hydrodynamics in marsh canopies: examples from
marshes of the US east coast. Benthic Ecology Meeting, Wilmington, NC.
*presenter
Link to my cv
Links
Coastal Carolina University - Department of Marine Science
Coastal Carolina University - Center for Marine and Wetland Studies
Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program