By Josephine Kinsey

North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute and North Carolina Sea Grant have selected six graduate students from universities across North Carolina to conduct research funded by the Mountains to Sea Graduate Research Fellowship. These fellows will conduct research alongside a faculty mentor on topics relevant to North Carolina, such as streambank erosion, invasive species, coastal resilience, and aquatic microbes. 

These student fellows represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Duke University, and North Carolina State University.

Hannah Henry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Henry is a current PhD student in The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Doctoral Program in Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences. Her faculty mentor for this project is Dr. Laura Moore.

Project Title: Modeling Barrier Island Response to Changing Water Levels, Storms, and Management Scenarios

The Barrier Islands of North Carolina protect and support coastal ecosystems and communities, provide buffers to large storms and hurricanes, prevent shoreline erosion, and deliver economic and recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, the Outer Banks of North Carolina suffer from some of the highest rates of erosion on the Atlantic Ocean’s coastline. Henry hopes to develop models that visualize the effects of erosion management decisions on island health by viewing human and natural systems as interacting forces.

“Barrier Islands, like Hatteras Island, are at the intersection of some of our most pressing coastal challenges: sea level rise, storm impacts, and hard decisions about where and how to invest in infrastructure,” says Henry. Short-term management decisions like beach nourishment and overwash removal change natural sediment transport along islands. Henry will apply the CoAStal Community-lAnDscape Evolution (CASCADE) framework, which integrates observations of natural systems and human management of landscapes, to Hatteras Island. This kind of modeling offers simulations of different kinds of natural conditions coupled with specific erosion management choices. After the analysis, Henry will create accessible decision support tools and share them with local communities. The research hopes to “help communities and managers think through those tradeoffs across different time horizons and management scenarios,” says Henry.

Karol Sanchez Luquez, North Carolina State University

Sanchez Luquez is a PhD student in North Carolina State University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Her faculty mentor for this project is Dr. Celso Castro Bolinaga.

Project Title: Leveraging Big Data to Develop Improved Predictive Equations of Streambank Erodibility Parameters

North Carolina has seen a sharp increase in powerful storms and hurricanes, and the impacts from these storms often last far into the future. Streambank erosion, a common and natural process, is often dramatically accelerated after large storms and can harm the long-term health of a stream and its surrounding ecosystem by releasing excess nutrients which can lead to harmful algal blooms and degraded water quality. Sanchez Luquez hopes to develop equations to predict erosion patterns as functions of soil type, moisture content, and temperature, allowing communities to better respond and prepare for streambank erosion during and following large weather events.

“My research is driven by the need to better understand and predict streambank erosion under real and changing environmental conditions,” says Sanchez Luquez. Previous equations do not consider soil type, moisture content, and temperature, thus current predictive models may not be predicting erosion rates accurately. “By combining field measurements with data-driven and probabilistic approaches, I aim to develop tools that support smarter monitoring and more sustainable, risk-informed water resource management,” says Sanchez Luquez. She will test the accuracy of her newly developed equations in pilot watersheds located in North Carolina. Sanchez Luquez’s research will use data collected by a previous WRRI Researcher, Alexis Swanson.

Kendrick Grant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Grant is a Master of Science student in The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Civil and Environmental Engineering program. His faculty mentors for this project are Drs. Kelsey Pieper and Wei Fan.

Project Title: Impact of Road Closures from Hurricane Helene on Accessing Emergency Water Distribution Sites

Hurricane Helene caused landslides, flooding, and the destruction of thousands of homes and businesses. Additionally, North Fork Reservoir and distribution systems for drinking water were damaged and unable to safely supply water to residents. The Asheville Water Resources Department provided residents with clean drinking water at emergency water distribution sites at churches, parks and schools, but the challenge for residents was reaching these sites. “Transportation disruptions during disasters affect access to essential resources like drinking water,” says Grant. Grant’s project will analyze the effect that transportation barriers had on access to emergency water supplies.

Grant plans to collect and analyze post-Helene data on road closures and damage, environmental conditions, and the location of water distribution sites to determine how road and environmental access affected availability in the aftermath of the storm. Roadways and bridges were largely destroyed or flooded, gas was unavailable or extremely expensive, and travel delays made getting to water dangerous and difficult, if not impossible. Emergency plans that factor in road closures and hazards, may offer better access to safe drinking water. Grant hopes these findings will help develop more robust, data-driven emergency planning and community resilience, allowing for better decision making in future disasters.

Lan Nguyen, Duke University

Nguyen is a is a current PhD candidate in Duke University’s doctoral program in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her faculty mentor for this project is Dr. Jeseth Delgado Vela.

Project Title: Evaluating Drivers of Toxic Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms to Educate Communities and Protect Ecological and Human Health Across the Albemarle Sound

The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine system frequently experiences cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) which release toxic compounds that can have negative impacts on human health. cHAB occurrence and toxicity are exacerbated by a variety of environmental conditions, but the specific drivers are not fully understood or factored into monitoring systems. “I’m investigating community dynamics of cHABS to determine and understand environmental factors that affect their toxicity,” says Nguyen. Nguyen will study when and why cHABs form, as a result of varying environmental drivers, such as weather and water quality, and how they might be minimized to protect human and ecosystem health.

The team will collect, analyze and pair microbial samples in 15 different sites. These samples will be used to characterize the microbial community at each site and, coupled with weather, water quality, nutrient load, and toxin concentration data collected from a variety of cHAB bloom event stages, will aid in understanding short- and long-term drivers of cHAB events and their toxicity. The result will aid in developing prediction models, using satellite images and shoreline photography, and mitigation strategies to be shared with local communities. “I’m honored to collaborate with local community experts and hope our work can support effective surveillance and mitigation systems to protect public health,” says Nguyen.

Nguyen Tien Anh Quach, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Quach is a PhD student in The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Geography and Environment. His faculty mentor for this project is Dr. Amanda G. DelVecchia.

Project Title: Quantifying the Contributions of Invasive Asian Clams (Corbicula spp.) and Ebullition to Reach-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission in Wastewater vs. Non-Wastewater Watersheds

Streams and rivers are hotspots for greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Urban streams and their proximity to human activity and wastewater may make them potential emission hotspots. Ebullition, or the bubbling of gasses from streambed sediment, is one way they release gasses. “I’m interested in how invasive species and ebullition contribute to total greenhouse gas emissions from streams,” says Quach. 

The invasive Asian Clam (Corbicula) disturb streambeds by burrowing and may emit gasses directly through digestion processes. Their presence may make urban streams significant emission hotspots. Corbicula is increasingly found in urban streams throughout North Carolina.

Quach’s sites will include streams throughout the triangle area of NC which receive discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Quach plans to involve nearby communities in his research by creating a citizen science data collection initiative through a partnership with Haw River Assembly and the City of Raleigh. Citizen scientists will be trained to help identify streams inhabited by Asian Clams. “By addressing the biogeochemical impacts of this invasive clam and engaging with citizen scientists, the project will better educate the public about invasive species, support the city and state in stream biomonitoring, and further our mission to monitor the Corbicula population,” says Quach.

Nicholas Chance, North Carolina State University

Chance is a PhD student in North Carolina State University’s Environmental Engineering program. His faculty mentor for this project is Dr. Francis L. de los Reyes III.

Project Title: Microbial Nitrogen Removal Pathways in Engineered and Nature Based Systems

Excessive nitrogen can cause a host of issues in waterbodies, such as increasing the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and contaminating groundwater. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) often introduce excessive nitrogen to watersheds. To mitigate, WWTPs use a variety of methods, such as introducing microbes, to limit nitrogen in their output streams to meet water quality standards. Chance hopes to characterize these microbial communities and nitrogen cyclers and correlate these results with operational and environmental conditions at WWTPs to better understand how they impact performance.

In both natural and manmade systems, microbes help to keep nitrogen levels in check through anaerobic ammonia oxidation, or anammox, by converting nitrogen compounds into harmless nitrogen gas which then bubbles out of the water. Chance will compare microbial communities in two systems–an engineered system and a nature-based system (floating wetland)–to analyze their nitrogen cycling performance in varying conditions. Anammox microbes are impacted by their environment and the behaviors of other organisms in their ecosystem. While many researchers analyze these communities in a lab setting, Chance seeks to understand how these communities function and cycle nitrogen in a much less-controlled environment. “Ultimately, we hope this work will lead to better operation and performance prediction ability, and thus more resource and energy efficient management of wastewater treatment systems,” says Chance.

More on the Mountains to Sea Graduate Research Fellowship.