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VIGRE seminar, fall 1999: Modeling Algae Blooms in the
Oceans
- Instructors
- Jay Walton, David Dobson, Jeff Morgan, Patrick Wilber
- Students enrolled
- Kimberly Borgelt, Vincent Lemoine, Amy Neff (undergraduate
mathematics students); David Arnold, Eric Bahuaud, Guido David,
Cesar Garcia, Adam Harbaugh, Quoc Le Gia, Damali Moore, Haewon Nam,
Lovas Randrianarivony, Conrad Yang, David Zeigler (graduate
mathematics students)
- Description
- The general topic involved Biological Oceanography with the
main problem, suggested by George Jackson from the Oceanography
Department, being to model the spring algae bloom in certain
temperate parts of the ocean. The algae bloom is a major factor in
removing CO2 from the atmosphere. The students were
divided into teams that then did extensive research on existing
models of the spring bloom type phenomena. At the same time, the
instructors gave lectures on dynamical systems theory and
techniques plus biological modeling approaches that would be of
use. Students and faculty had access to actual data from two long
term field studies off the coast of Bermuda and Hawaii. However,
the data was dirty and no substantial results were obtained. The
general modeling discussions and the difficulties in dealing with
dirty data was in itself a learning experience for all
involved.