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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 shoreface and inner continental
shelf of Long Bay, SC offshore of Myrtle Beach. As part of this collaborative project with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, two instrumented frames have been deployed offshore to measure the bottom boundary layer hydrodynamics and sediment transport magnitude and direction. In addition, the effects that the upcoming beach nourishment project may have on these important offshore hardbottom habitats will be determined. Some of my additonal on-going research is focused on quantifying sediment transport adjacent to a marine hardbottom reef on the mid-shelf in Onslow Bay, NC to elucidate any effects that the reef may have on the bottom boundary layer hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes. 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:
MSCI 301- Physical Oceanography
Publications
Wren, P. A., J.A. Marshall, L.A. Leonard, and M. Van der Linde, 2008. The effects of hardbottom geometry on sediment transport processes on the mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, North Carolina. Southeastern Geology, Special Ed. Coastal and Marine Geology of the Southeastern United States, Volume 45, No. 3, 111-126.
Reynolds, B. M., P. A. Wren, and P. T. Gayes, 2007. Decadal Evolution of Shoreface Geometry in South Carolina, USA. Proceedings from the American Society of Civil Engineers, 2007 Coastal Sediments Conference, New Orleans, LA.
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., J.A. Marshall, and Lynn A. Leonard. Characterization of sediment transport events on a moderately energetic sediment-starved continental shelf: Onslow Bay, North Carolina. In preparation for Continental Shelf Research.
Selected abstracts and conference presentations:
Wren. P. A. and A. N. Bettinger, 2008. Coastal ocean response and sediment transport on the inner-shelf of Long Bay, South Carolina during Hurricane Ernesto, ASLO/AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting, Orlando, March 2008.
Harbachow, N. V., P. A. Wren, and E. Koepfler, 2008. Preliminary results on the short-term variability in flow velocity and water quality parameters along the length axis of a salt marsh/tidal creek estuary, 2008 Southeastern Estuarine Research Society Conference, Charleston, SC.
Wren, P.A., J.A. Marshall, and L.A. Leonard, 2007. The effects of hardbottom geometry on sediment transport processes on the mid-continental shelf in Onslow Bay, North Carolina
Southeastern Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, March 2007, Savannah GA.
Smith, J. and P.A. Wren, 2007. Calibrating an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler to Measure Suspended Sediment Concentrations. Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium, March 23-24, 2007.
A.N. Bettinger and P.A. Wren, 2007. Long-term sediment transport measurements from a Pulse Coherent–Acoustic Doppler Profiler in Onslow Bay, North Carolina. Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium, March 23-24, 2007.
Wren, A. and Lynn A. Leonard, 2006. Sediment Transport across the Continental shelf in Onslow Bay, North Carolina during Hurricane Ophelia. Eos Trans. AGU, 87 (36), Ocean Sci. Meet. Suppl.,
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
SECOORA - Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association