Quantitative Climate Science Seminar | Laura Bianucci, High-resolution models of the nearshore ocean and their applications

The coastal ocean is a dynamic, complex region where multi-scale processes interact and create conditions suitable for rich ecosystems. For instance, the combination of processes such as land and river runoff, local and remotely-forced upwelling, and wind and tidal mixing can bring nutrients to the surface waters, triggering high primary productivity rates. These coastal waters are also subjected to the direct impact of human activities like fishing, aquaculture farming, wastewater runoff, etc. These anthropogenic perturbations along with other pressures exerted by climate change can lead to negative effects in the coastal ocean (e.g., pollution, hypoxia, ocean acidification, sea level rise, etc.), which in turn can negatively affect ocean-dependent human activities. Since global and regional ocean models usually lack the necessary spatial resolution to fully represent many nearshore processes, there is a need for high-resolution coastal models to address some of these issues near shore. These coastal models can be used to understand the physical and biogeochemical drivers in different regions, how these processes can change in the future, and what the implications of these changes are. Furthermore, they can be useful tools to help inform the decision-making process of managers, regulators and the private sector alike. In this presentation, I will share some examples of high-resolution nearshore models developed at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and their applications. Furthermore, I will take the opportunity to share my experience working as a scientist for the government of Canada.

This event is part of the NSERC CREATE-funded Quantitative Climate Science summer school. More information about this initiative can be found at https://qcs-create2024.github.io/