P. Ansley Wren-Key, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Marine Science Department


Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Sciences Center Rm. 151-D

PO Box 261954
Conway, South Carolina 29528
phone: (843)-349-6487
e-mail:awren@coastal.edu


Education:

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

CORMP- Bottom boundary layer studies

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration