Congratulations to Dr. Kate Tully for being awarded NSF's Coastal Critical Zone Grant. The overall award is around $4.3M, with the University of Maryland receiving $725K over five years.
In collaboration with principle investigators at the University of Delaware, George Washington University, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science among a few others, Dr. Tully will work to develop a Critical Zone (CZ) Cluster to examine sea level rise (SLR), and answer critical questions about the evolution of the transition between land and sea via field research on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to Dr. Tully, “research questions are synergistic with the current CZ observatories, but the research will also examine coupled hydrological, ecological, geomorphological and biogeochemical
(HEGB) processes and feedbacks that are unique to the coastal CZ and are not currently considered by existing observatories.”
The potential impact of this awarded project spans social, national, and international significance- serving to recruit historically underrepresented groups in STEM and CZ research, promote intellectual engagement among coastal communities and stakeholders, and broaden the CZ research network.
