Mark J. Brush

Assistant Professor of Marine Science

Email: [[brush]]
Phone: (804) 684-7402
Department: Biological Sciences
Office: Andrews Hall 336
Address: P.O. Box 1346 Gloucester Pt., VA 23062-1346, USA

Research Web Sites

• VIMS Program:  Ecosystem Modeling Program
• Lab Website:  Systems Ecology and Modeling Laboratory

Education

• B.S., Cornell University, 1995
• Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, 2002

Research Interests

I am a coastal systems ecologist and ecosystem modeler.  Following Riley's early description of marine research, I strive to maintain a balance between observational-based ecological investigations and synthetic, interdisciplinary ecosystem modeling and data synthesis.  My research focuses on the oceanography, ecology, and biogeochemistry of coastal marine ecosystems including estuaries, lagoons, and sounds, and spans a range of scales from large estuaries like Chesapeake Bay and Narragansett Bay, to sub-estuaries like the York River, to very shallow systems like the lagoons of the Delmarva Peninsula.  I am particularly interested in systems with a diversity of primary producers (e.g. phytoplankton, benthic microalgae, macroalgae, SAV, and epiphytes), their response to nutrient enrichment or reduction, the processes leading to algal blooms and hypoxia / anoxia, the processes controlling metabolism and C and N cycling, and the process of eutrophication.  I am also interested in linking these lower trophic level processes to the functioning of higher trophic levels to understand system response to multiple stressors operating at both ends of the food chain (i.e. bottom-up and top-down controls) such as nutrient loading, climate change, and overfishing.  My modeling program is focused on the exploration of innovative numerical modeling techniques that incorporate a combination of mechanistic, empirical, and statistical approaches for the purpose of (1) heuristic study of ecosystem structure and function and (2) increasing model utility for management applications.  A major focus of my work involves critical evaluation of model formulations, how best to represent biological processes in mathematical form, and development of alternative formulations when traditional methods fail.  I am keenly interested in methods of model validation, issues of model complexity, detail, and spatiotemporal resolution, and quantification of uncertainty through techniques such as Monte Carlo and stochastic simulation.

Current Projects

• Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP).  Funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, Department of Defense.  Multi-institutional research program including VIMS, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, Duke University, VA Tech, Univ. of South Carolina, NOAA Beaufort Lab, USGS, and RTI International.  VIMS PIs:  I.C. Anderson and M.J. Brush.

• Modeling tools to predict hypoxia/anoxia in upper Narragansett Bay.  Funded by the NOAA Coastal Hypoxia Research Program.  PIs:  C.A. Oviatt, D. Bergondo, M.J. Brush, D. Codiga, C.F. Deacutis, C. Kincaid, J.N. Kremer, S.W. Nixon, W. Prell, and D. Ullman.

• Forecasting the response of Delmarva lagoons to changing landuse and climate:  alternative stable states and recovery trajectories.  Funded by VA-MD-DE Sea Grant (NOAA).  PIs:  M.J. Brush, L.A. Harris, A.C. Trembanis, I.C. Anderson, and W.R. Boynton.

Selected Publications

• Brush, M.J. and L.A. Harris.  2010.  Introduction to the special issue of Ecological Modelling:  "Advances in Modeling Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems:  Approaches, Validation, and Applications".  Ecological Modelling 221:965-968.
• Brush, M.J. and S.W. Nixon.  2010.  Modeling the role of macroalgae in a shallow sub-estuary of Narragansett Nay, RI (USA).  Ecological Modelling 221:1065-1079.
• Kremer, J.N., J. Vaudrey, D. Ullman, D. Bergondo, N. LaSota, C. Kincaid, D. Codiga, and M.J. Brush.  2010.  Simulating property exchange in estuarine ecosystem models at ecologically appropriate scales.  Ecological Modelling 221:1080-1088.
• Lynch, P.D., M.J. Brush, E.D. Condon, and R.J. Latour.  2010.  Net removal of nitrogen through ingestion of phytoplankton by Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus in Chesapeake Bay.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 401:195-209.
• Brush, M.J. and J.W. Brawley.  2009.  Adapting the light · biomass (BZI) models of phytoplankton primary production to shallow marine ecosystems.  Journal of Marine Systems 75:227-235.
• Li, Y., M.J. Brush, H.V. Wang, I.C. Anderson, and G.M. Sisson.  2008.  Effects of benthic microalgae on eutrophication processes - a laboratory experiment and the model simulation.  Pp. 590-606 in:  M.L. Spaulding (ed.), Estuarine and coastal modeling:  proceedings of the tenth international conference, November 5-7, 2007, Newport, RI.  American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA.
• Brush, M.J. and S.W. Nixon.  2003.  Biomass layering and metabolism in mats of the macroalga Ulva lactuca L.  Estuaries 26(4A):916-926.
• Brawley, J.W., M.J. Brush, J.N. Kremer, and S.W. Nixon.  2003.  Potential applications of an empirical phytoplankton production model to shallow water ecosystems.  Ecological Modelling 160(1-2):55-61.
• Latour, R.J., M.J. Brush, and C.F. Bonzek.  2003.  Toward ecosystem-based fisheries management: strategies for multispecies modeling and associated data requirements.  Fisheries 28(9):10-22.
• Brush, M.J., J.W. Brawley, S.W. Nixon, and J.N. Kremer.  2002.  Modeling phytoplankton production:  problems with the Eppley curve and an empirical alternative.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 238:31-45.
• Brush, M.J. and S.W. Nixon.  2002.  Direct measurements of light attenuation by epiphytes on eelgrass, Zostera marina L.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 238:73-79.
• Granger, S., M. Brush, B. Buckley, M. Traber, M. Richardson, and S. W. Nixon.  2000.  An assessment of eutrophication in Greenwich Bay.  Paper No. 1 in:  Schwartz, M. (ed.), Restoring Water Quality in Greenwich Bay:  A Whitepaper Series.  Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI.
• Brush, M.J.  1999.  Coastal lagoons of the Rhode Island south shore (map).  Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI.

Current Students

• Lance Gardner (PhD student), The structural role of submerged aquatic vegetation in nutrient and particulate removal processes.

• Sam Lake (MS student), A eutrophication modeling study on the formation of periodic hypoxia in partially mixed estuaries and potential responses to oligotrophication and climate change.  

• Heather Wiseman (MS student), Quantifying the indirect effects of nutrient enrichment and light availability on benthic secondary production in the New River Estuary, NC.

• I currently serve on 9 other graduate MS/PhD committees, have served on 6 past MS/PhD committees, and have mentored or co-mentored 3 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) students.

Past Students

• Juliette Poleto Giordano, MS 2009, co-advised with Dr. Iris Anderson (Currently a Marine Scientist at VIMS).

Courses Taught

• MSCI 503 – Interdisciplinary Research in Estuarine and Coastal Systems (co-instructor with Dr. Jesse McNinch)
• MSCI 649 – Modeling Biological and Ecological Systems (co-instructor with Dr. Robert Latour)
• MSCI 698 – Independent Study in Ecosystem Modeling

Faculty and Student Awards

• Graduate Faculty (adjunct appointment), Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, 2009 - present.
• Outstanding Student Oral Presentation award to Juliette Giordano, Atlantic Estuarine Research Society, Spring 2009 meeting.

• Senior Fellow, Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island, 2003 - 2006.

• Coastal Institute Fellowship, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, 1998.

• Ketchum Award for best graduate student oral presentation, New England Estuarine Research Society, 1998.

• Selected participant, National Research Council Fifty Years of Ocean Discovery Symposium, 1998.

Professional Memberships

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
• Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS)
• Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF)
• International Society of Ecological Modelling (ISEM)

Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Efforts

• Peer reviewer for 14 professional journals and proposals to NSF, NOAA, the Hudson River Foundation, and TX Sea Grant; NSF and NOAA proposal panelist; guest editor, special issue of Ecological Modelling (vol 221, 2010).

• Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS) Program Committee Chair (2009-present); Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) student judge; participant in CERF Student Career Networking Event; chair of two sessions at CERF meetings. 

• Presentation of 11 invited talks as first author and 13 contributed talks as first author; co-author of 2 invited talks and 22 contributed talks.

• Advisory service to local, state, and regional management agencies; extensive involvement in the Chesapeake Bay Program (member, Tidal Monitoring and Assessment Workgroup, Monitoring Re-Alignment Action Team, and Modeling and Monitoring Workgroup);  interactions with managers focused on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Narragansett Bay, RI, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune / New River Estuary, NC.