People
Jonathan R. Pennock
Ph.D. University of Delaware, 1983
- Associate Professor of Natural Resources & the Environment
- Director, Marine Program
- Director, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory
- Director, New Hampshire Sea Grant College Program
Research Areas
Estuarine Biogeochemistry; Phytoplankton Ecology; Eutrophication; Harmful Algal Blooms
Research Emphasis
My research examines the dynamics of phytoplankton in their physical and chemical environment with a focus on better understanding human impacts on coastal marine food webs. Recent research in my laboratory is directed at gaining a better understanding of (1) the role of nutrients and light in the regulation of phytoplankton production in estuarine and near-coastal marine systems, (2) the application of satellite remote sensing to understanding near-shore production dynamics, (3) harmful algal bloom dynamics in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and (4) the influences of land-use and land-change on the estuarine nutrient dynamics and coastal food webs.
One current research project is attempting to quantify the biogeochemical regulation of nutrient dynamics in three tributary estuaries to Mobile Bay, Alabama that have distinctly different land-uses. This research seeks to identify relationships between land-use change and the input and internal processing of nutrients (e.g. from denitrification and phytoplankton sequestration) in estuarine ecosystems. A second ongoing project is examining the factors that regulate the distribution and bloom formation of harmful algal species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Finally, my research group is involved in both real-time and monthly monitoring of the Great Bay estuary, NH in an effort to relate land-use pressures on nutrient and contaminant delivery to the system.