94
My story starts in Upstate New York, USA, far from the modern coast, but home
to an ancient one. I was a geology major at Colgate University in Hamilton,
New York. In the Devonian, about four hundred million years ago, the Atlantic
Ocean did not exist, but as its predecessor closed, shallow seas covered some of the
interior of the eastern United States. In a quarry near campus where some friends
and I used to rock climb, I found my first large fossil. It was a Mucrospirifer mucronatus brachiopod, I believe – a cool-looking clam-like organism that lived in warm,
shallow areas. This moment gave me an appreciation for how ancient times influence today. Several of the buildings on campus were constructed of stone from the
quarry, including the one where I lived my first year.
Ironically, landlocked Colgate was a wonderful place to learn about the sea and
its effects on the coast. There were two accomplished and inspiring marine geologists on the faculty, Drs. Charlie McClennen and Paul Pinet. I won’t digress into
telling stories, but I must give them credit for inspiring my oceanographic interests.
Additionally, there were several other Colgate geologists who helped me appreciate
the forces of the Earth and its history, including Art Goldstein (structural geology),
Di Keller (mineralogy), Jim McLelland (a.k.a., “Chief”), Connie Soja (paleontology), Bruce Selleck (sedimentary geologist) and others. I start my story here not
only to reminisce but also to explain my “Aha” moment for coastal mapping. Also,
I think it is important to remember the impact of intellectual inspiration; these scientists and others mentioned are just a few of many that helped me along my
research path.
As a senior, I had a project that involved analysis of the coast. More specifically,
I obtained aerial photographs of the Long Island (NY) shoreline before and after a
powerful nor’easter in 1992, and I wanted to map and measure the storm’s impact.
By georeferencing digital aerial images (a fancy way of saying – put them in the
same spatial coordinate system so they could be overlain), I was able to visualize the
influence of the storm surge and subsequent erosion of the shore. Once the images
could be superimposed, I identified the homes destroyed due to the opening of an
inlet after the storm – over 70 if I recall correctly. This multi-million-dollar erosion
event still stands out in my mind. I find it rather amusing that this stretch of shore
has since been repopulated with houses (Fig. 6.1). Remarkably, the area survived
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 without major damage, but I know it is only a matter of
time before the ocean rises again. This small student project allowed me to better
understand how and why ocean science is needed for our coastal communities.
Study Seafloor Dynamics from Space?
When taking a remote-sensing class at the State University of New York – Stony
Brook (now Stony Brook University) in 1995, I was impressed how aerial photos
were used to reveal ancient structures in the Middle East, thanks to Dr. Elizabeth
Stone. I was convinced that satellite-based ocean measurements would be the wave
J. P. Walsh
My story starts in Upstate New York, USA, far from the modern coast, but home
to an ancient one. I was a geology major at Colgate University in Hamilton,
New York. In the Devonian, about four hundred million years ago, the Atlantic
Ocean did not exist, but as its predecessor closed, shallow seas covered some of the
interior of the eastern United States. In a quarry near campus where some friends
and I used to rock climb, I found my first large fossil. It was a Mucrospirifer mucronatus brachiopod, I believe – a cool-looking clam-like organism that lived in warm,
shallow areas. This moment gave me an appreciation for how ancient times influence today. Several of the buildings on campus were constructed of stone from the
quarry, including the one where I lived my first year.
Ironically, landlocked Colgate was a wonderful place to learn about the sea and
its effects on the coast. There were two accomplished and inspiring marine geologists on the faculty, Drs. Charlie McClennen and Paul Pinet. I won’t digress into
telling stories, but I must give them credit for inspiring my oceanographic interests.
Additionally, there were several other Colgate geologists who helped me appreciate
the forces of the Earth and its history, including Art Goldstein (structural geology),
Di Keller (mineralogy), Jim McLelland (a.k.a., “Chief”), Connie Soja (paleontology), Bruce Selleck (sedimentary geologist) and others. I start my story here not
only to reminisce but also to explain my “Aha” moment for coastal mapping. Also,
I think it is important to remember the impact of intellectual inspiration; these scientists and others mentioned are just a few of many that helped me along my
research path.
As a senior, I had a project that involved analysis of the coast. More specifically,
I obtained aerial photographs of the Long Island (NY) shoreline before and after a
powerful nor’easter in 1992, and I wanted to map and measure the storm’s impact.
By georeferencing digital aerial images (a fancy way of saying – put them in the
same spatial coordinate system so they could be overlain), I was able to visualize the
influence of the storm surge and subsequent erosion of the shore. Once the images
could be superimposed, I identified the homes destroyed due to the opening of an
inlet after the storm – over 70 if I recall correctly. This multi-million-dollar erosion
event still stands out in my mind. I find it rather amusing that this stretch of shore
has since been repopulated with houses (Fig. 6.1). Remarkably, the area survived
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 without major damage, but I know it is only a matter of
time before the ocean rises again. This small student project allowed me to better
understand how and why ocean science is needed for our coastal communities.
Study Seafloor Dynamics from Space?
When taking a remote-sensing class at the State University of New York – Stony
Brook (now Stony Brook University) in 1995, I was impressed how aerial photos
were used to reveal ancient structures in the Middle East, thanks to Dr. Elizabeth
Stone. I was convinced that satellite-based ocean measurements would be the wave
J. P. Walsh