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Walker Smith Home Page

Walker O. Smith Jr.,

Faculty Emeritus

Retired: 2021
Email: [[wos]]
Section: Coastal & Ocean Processes
Interests: Phytoplankton growth/photosynthetic material in surface layer of oceans.
Website: {{http://www.vims.edu/research/units/labgroups/phytoplankton_ecology/, Phytoplankton Ecology}}

Education

  • B.S., University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
  • Ph.D., Duke University

About

I have an interest in applying new technology to oceanography, specifically the use of gliders in the Antarctic. I had one project that investigated the spatial coherence of deep-water intrusions onto the shelf in the Ross Sea with surface phytoplankton blooms, and have another one that will look at the linkage in space and time of phytoplankton blooms, relative abundance of macrozooplankton and small fish, and penguin foraging. This project seeks to demonstrate that penguin “hotspots” of foraging develop in response to prey aggregations that can be identified by physical factors. As part of that, we also will begin the formation of a full food web model of the Ross Sea.

Finally, I have been working off the coast of Vietnam and have investigated the ecophysiology of a harmful algal bloom species (Phaeocystis globosa) that blooms there. The species has a number of unusual characteristics which greatly influence its life history. Although the project has ended, we hope to continue this work in the near future. 

I have recently been appointed as a 1000 Talents Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and am in residence in China for approximately 6 months per year.