Faculty Info: Erika McPhee-Shaw
 |
ERIKA MCPHEE-SHAW Assistant Professor, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San Jose State B.A., Dartmouth College M.S., University of Washington Ph.D., University of Washington Email: eshaw@mlml.calstate.edu Lab Website: http://physoce.mlml.calstate.edu |
Specific Research Interests: One of my primary interests is the effect of internal waves and internal-wave-driven turbulence in promoting both vertical and horizontal transport of sediment and nutrients near boundaries. Internal tides are of particular importance at continental margins over much of the planet, and my Ph.D. research involved laboratory experiments and field observations investigating the dissipation of internal tidal energy and its role in the seaward transport of suspended sediment away from the slope and shelf. I have also been involved in observational work focused on understanding the dynamics of nutrient delivery to coastal ecosystems on the inner shelf. Cross-shelf transport dominates this process, and includes subtidal effects such as upwelling, as well as higher-frequency events such as internal bores. A combination of shipboard, moored, and satellite measurements of hydrographic, optical, and meteorological properties are used to investigate coastal systems and to assess how physical processes drive growth and mortality in ecosystems such as giant kelp reefs For links to manuscripts and presentations, please visit the Physical Oceanography Lab website, http://physoce.mlml.calstate.edu. Current Projects: (1) Inner-shelf moorings are used to track long-term patterns and variability in nutrient delivery to kelp reefs from both oceanic and terrestrial sources. This work is done as part of the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) project based at UCSB; (2) linking variability in offshore currents and density structure to variability in bottom boundary layer flow and cross-shelf transport over shallower shelf regions; (3) Long-term coastal observations of currents, temperature and density structure, and optical properties with a mid-shelf mooring in the Santa Barbara Channel, with colleagues from UCSB. Selected Publications: McPhee-Shaw, E. E., 2005. `Boundary- Interior Interactions. Discussion of a potential link between internal wave mixing and lateral dispersal near continental margins' (submitted, Deep Sea Research II.) McPhee-Shaw, E.E., S. MacIntyre and W. J. Shaw, 2005, `Internal waves and near-boundary overturning in Mono Lake, California' (submitted, Journal of Geophysical Research.) McPhee-Shaw, E.E., D. Siegel, L. Washburn, M. Brzezinski, and J. Jones, 2005 `Mechanisms for nutrient delivery to the inner shelf: observations from the Santa Barbara Channel' (in revision, Limnology and Oceanography) Bassin, C. J., L. Washburn, M. Brzezinski, and E. McPhee-Shaw, 2005, Sub-mesoscale coastal eddies observed by high frequency radar: a new mechanism for delivering nutrients to kelp forests in the Southern California Bight. (in press, Geophysical Research Letters) McPhee-Shaw, E. E., R.W. Sternberg, B. Mullenbach, and A. S. Ogston, 2004, `Observations of intermediate nepheloid layers on the northern California margin.' Continental Shelf Research. 24, 693-720. McPhee-Shaw, E. E. and E. Kunze, 2002, `Boundary-layer intrusions from a sloping bottom: A mechanism for generating intermediate nepheloid layers.' Journal of Geophysical Research. 10.1029/2001JC000801. McPhee, E. E., A. R. M. Nowell, and R. W. Sternberg, 1998, `Boundary layer measurements and their implications for sediment transport on the Eastern Norwegian Sea Continental Slope.' Deep-Sea Research I , 45, 719-743. |
[ /facultyinfo/Faculty-Info-Erika-McPhee-Shaw]
