Sign up to receive an email update when a new issue of Sound Waves is available.

Deepwater Canyon Study Among Projects Given Prestigious DOI Partners in Conservation Award

By Helen Gibbons Jan. / Feb. 2014

previous story | next story

The multiagency project “Atlantic Canyons – Pathways to the Abyss” is a recipient of the 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Partners in Conservation Award. The Atlantic Canyons study used the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason II and other cutting-edge tools to investigate the ecology of deepwater canyons off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast. Little was previously known about these submarine canyons, which are pathways for nutrients, sediments, and pollutants from the continental shelf to the deep sea. (See related Sound Waves articles on “Life in the Abyss” and “Coral Gardens.”) Study participants come from 17 organizations, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), several universities, private firms, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. Principal USGS members are Colleen Charles (coordinator of the Terrestrial, Freshwater, and Marine Environments Program, Outer Continental Shelf), Amanda Demopoulos (USGS project chief), and Cheryl Morrison, Christina Kellogg, and Nancy Prouty (project scientists).

Above: (Left to right) Jennifer McClain-Counts and Jill Bourque (USGS technicians) and project chief Amanda Demopoulos (USGS benthic research ecologist) prepare to extract a sediment sample from one of the push cores deployed by Jason II during the Deepwater Canyons 2013 research cruise off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast. Image courtesy of Deepwater Canyons 2013 - Pathways to the Abyss, NOAA-OER/BOEM/USGS. [larger version] Below: USGS oceanographer Nancy Prouty collects water from sampling bottles deployed during the Deepwater Canyons 2013 research cruise off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast. Image courtesy of Art Howard, Deepwater Canyons 2013 – Pathways to the Abyss, NOAA-OER/BOEM/USGS. [larger version]

The Atlantic Canyons study was one of 20 partnerships recognized in 2013 from the nine bureaus of DOI. The awards recognize public-private partnerships that have achieved exemplary conservation results through cooperation and community engagement. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell presented the awards January 16, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

“The Department of the Interior is proud to recognize the accomplishments of those who are innovating and collaborating in ways that address today’s complex conservation and stewardship challenges,” Secretary Jewell said at the awards ceremony. “These partnerships represent the gold standard for how Interior is doing business across the nation to power our future, strengthen tribal nations, conserve and enhance America’s great outdoors, and engage the next generation.”

Additional award-winning projects that include the USGS as a partner are:

• Minute 319 Bi-National Partnership


• Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program - Balancing the Needs of Wildlife, Water, and People


• Klamath Tribal Leadership Development Program for Integrative Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge


• AMDTreat Software Partnership


• Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program


• Huron Erie Corridor Initiative Partnership


• Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership


• Restoring Threatened and Endangered Fishes of the Truckee River Watershed

Read a complete list of award winners in the DOI press release.

More details about each project and the organizations involved are available in a PDF file of the program (856 KB).

Life in the Abyss May/June 2013

Coral Gardens: Forests of the Deep Mission Log, May 11, 2013 May/June 2013

USGS Scientists on Team Honored by Excellence in Partnering Award November/December 2012

Atlantic Canyons – Pathways to the Abyss NOAA

DISCOVRE - Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems Project USGS

Minute 319 DOI Bureau of Reclamation

Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program- Balancing the Needs of Wildlife, Water, and People FWS

Klamath Youth Program Melding Science and Traditional Knowledge Wins National Award Klamath Tribes

AMDTreat Software Partnership OSMRE.GOV

Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program ANSEP

Huron Erie Corridor Initiative Partnership The Huron-Erie Corridor Initiative

Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership PNAMP

Restoring Threatened and Endangered Fishes of the Truckee River Watershed USGS

Secretary Jewell Presents 2013 Partners in Conservation Awards DOI

2013 Partners in Conservation Awards Ceremony Program (856 KB PDF) DOI

previous story | next story

 
Jan. / Feb. 2014

print this issue

in this issue:

cover story:
Decade of Fire Island Research Available

Using Scenarios to Improve Resilience to Major Storms

USGS Deploys Oceanographic Gear Offshore of Fire Island

New Geologic Explanation for the Florida Middle Ground

Deep-Sea Corals Record Human Impact on Mississippi River Basin

Nitrate Levels in the Mississippi River, Illinois River

USGS Scientist Examines Foraminifera Collected from Remote Clipperton Island

3rd Annual St. Petersburg (Florida) Science Festival

Deepwater Canyon Study Given Prestigious DOI Award

Barbara Lidz Retires after Long Career with the USGS in Florida

Jan. / Feb. Publications