Cynthia Pilskaln

staff

Cynthia Pilskaln

Professor Emerita

SMAST / Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

Biogeochemical Particle Flux and Sedimentation Group Website

Contact

508-910-6327

508-910-6371

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School for Marine Science & Technology West, New Bedford 218B

Education

1978University of VermontB.A.
1980Harvard UniversityM.A.
1985Harvard UniversityPh.D

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

Thesis research on an experimental or theoretical project in Marine Science or Technology under a faculty advisor.

Research

Research activities

  • GOMTOX: Dynamics of Alexandrium fundyense distributions in the Gulf of Maine - an observational and modeling study of nearshore and offshore shellfish toxicity, vertical toxin flux, and bloom dynamics in a complex shelf sea, NOAA/ECOHAB, $831,883 (Pilskaln PI), 2006-2013 (includes C & Si cycling and fluxes and benthic nepheloid layer research)
  • Deposition and resuspension of Alexandrium fundyense resting cysts in the Gulf of Maine: Phase II/Modeling, NOAA/ECOHAB, $149,990 (Pilskaln PI), 2009-2014 (includes modeling of bottom resuspension & benthic nepheloid layer dynamics
  • Ocean acidification impacts on productive shelves, NOAA/WHOI, ~$75,000 (Pilskaln Co-PI; shared among WHOI and UNH colleagues), 2012-present (includes monitoring and process measurements)
  • Brazil Current studies on the southern Brazil continental margin, funded by Brazil federal agency through Univ. of Sao PauIo Inst. of Oceanography, Brazil, Pilskaln US Collaborator, new/2014 (4 years)

Research

Research interests

  • Marine biogeochemistry and sedimentology
  • Geochemical particle fluxes in the ocean and large lake systems with emphasis on their quantitative relationship to climate forcing over short and long time scales and to underlying sediment record
  • Organic carbon and biogenic silica cycling including aggregation, export and remineralization processes in the water column and at the sediment/water interface
  • Development and use of particle imaging instrumentation, submersible vehicle-based technology, and image analysis techniques for the in-situ study of marine particulates and plankton

Select publications

  • Villareal T.A., C.H. Pilskaln, J.P. Montoya and M. Dennett (2014).
    Upward nitrate transport by phytoplankton in oceanic waters: balancing nutrient budgets in oligotrophic seas
    Peer J
  • Hwang, J., D.B. Montluçon, C.H. Pilskaln and T.I. Eglinton (2013).
    Molecular and isotopic insights into POM sources and dynamics in Jordan Basin, Gulf of Maine
    Continental Shelf Research, 68, 15-22.
  • Pilskaln, C.H., D.M. Anderson, D.J. McGillicuddy, Jr., B.A. Keafer, K. Hayashi and K. Norton (2013).
    Spatial and temporal variability of Alexandrium cyst fluxes in the Gulf of Maine: Relationship to seasonal particle export and resuspension
    Deep Sea Research II