Feature Stories 2019: Marine science graduate student awarded $1K

Kathryn Tremblay, a graduate student at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST), has been awarded a $1,000 regional scholarship by the New England Chapter of The Hydrographic Society of America (THSOA). Nick Townley established the New England chapter in February 2018. Tremblay is the inaugural recipient of regionally based scholarship offered in the New England area outside of the THSOA national scholarship.

She is pursuing a master of science degree in marine science and will use the scholarship funds to continue her thesis research under the guidance of Dr. Wendell Brown, Professor of Estuarine & Ocean Sciences at UMassD.

"My thesis focus is to use ocean observation data to assess recurrent hypoxia and upwelling areas on the New Jersey coast, where oxygen loss has impacted fish stocks in the past and has human health concerns," Tremblay said. "I am using data sourced from mooring instrumentation, CODAR (coastal ocean dynamics applications radar), satellite assets, and RU28, which is an ocean glider operated by Rutgers University."

As part of her graduate research assistantship, she also assists with the maintenance and missions of another glider, Blue, owned and operated by Dr. Brown's OCEANOL (Ocean Observation Lab) at SMAST. She also provides support for the local CODAR array along the southern New England coast.

Tremblay has served as a teaching assistant for the undergraduate class Natural Hazards and the Ocean and currently sits as president and a student representative of SMAST's Graduate Student Association. In anticipation of being awarded her master’s degree this coming May, she hopes to continue pursuing scholarly research focusing on ocean health with regard to oxygen loss, which is a growing concern for many coastal areas domestically and globally.