Anna Braswell (PhD student) and I just got back from the American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference on tidal freshwater wetlands. At the upstream most end of estuaries, these ecosystems are influenced by the tides, but are not (or at least haven't been) exposed to salinity. The rationale for the conference was to better understand what will happen to these ecosystems as sea levels rise and other changes occur upstream within watersheds. Because these systems are understudied, they invited researchers from salt marsh and riverine systems to widen the exchange of ideas and approaches considered. Anna presented the results of her MS work on coastal marsh responses to fire and hurricanes, and I gave a talk that synthesized our work on wetland resilience and biogeomorphic feedbacks in desert wetlands and in the Everglades. I hope our presentations were useful and interesting, but I know for certain that I learned a lot about hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology of these coastward ecosystems. It was also really neat to see a community forming around shared interests in these ecosystems, and I certainly hope our lab remains engaged in this line of work. But for now, back to the semester!
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Welcome!This is the homepage of the Heffernan Lab at Duke University. Here you can find all sorts of information about our research, teaching, and outreach. If you have any questions, contact Dr. Heffernan. Dr. Jim HeffernanI am an Assistant Professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. My research is focused on the causes and consequences of major changes in ecosystem structure, mostly in streams and wetlands. Archives
May 2018
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