Webinars presented by GCAN and NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP).
The Caribbean Hub
As part of the 2025 OA Week — a virtual multi-day symposium highlighting ocean acidification knowledge from around the world — the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) hosted a series of webinars with OA experts. GOA-ON has encouraged grass-roots formation of regional hubs to foster communities of practice for the efficient collection of comparable and geographically distributed data to assess ocean acidification and its effects, and to support adaptation tools such as model forecasts. The series included a webinar on the Caribbean Hub, which was established in 2023 following a Caribbean OA Needs Based Assessment Survey. GCAN Coordinator Dr. Natalia López Figueroa was a featured speaker during the webinar.
Lessons Learned About the Gulf’s Carbonate System
The GCAN Webinar Series Presented Dr. Jose Martin Hernandez-Ayon, Investigador del Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas and Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, who discussed lessons learned about the carbonate system in the Mexican waters of the Gulf. The Gulf exhibits significant variability, especially in the coastal zone off Mexico, where diverse physical and biogeochemical processes influence carbonate chemistry. Between 2015 and 2020, a Mexican group received funding to create an oceanographic observation network studying physical, geochemical, and ecological processes in the Gulf off of Mexico. As part of this project, they collected basic information on the carbon system in the region. Recently, in 2023, the Mexican government funded another project called Fitobloom Eddy. This study analyzed how variables related to the carbon system evolve in an anticyclonic eddy that emerged from the Loop Current.
An OA Continuous Monitoring Station
GCAN featured Michael T. Lee, Gulf Coast Branch Chief for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), whose webinar focused on developing a continuous ocean acidification monitoring station in Galveston Bay. Ocean coastal acidification (OCA) poses a growing threat to areas along the Gulf coast, including Galveston Bay, demanding the need for better monitoring of carbonate system parameters. Lee explained how USGS is leveraging the support of multiple projects and partners to install the continuous monitoring station measuring key indicators of acidification in Galveston Bay. This effort is designed to establish critical baseline data on carbonate chemistry that can be used in future assessments of the ecological impacts of OCA and inform long-term decision making of Galveston Bay’s marine resources. Additionally, the USGS will develop a framework for providing real-time data accessibility, archiving into a federally certified repository, and developing and testing a data telemetry system for expanding OA monitoring in other locations.
Coastal Carbon Cycling
GCAN featured Dr. Kanchan Maiti, Professor and Chair in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences and Shell Professor in Oceanography/Wetland Studies, Louisiana State University, in this July 2025 webinar “Coupled benthic-pelagic responses to storm events in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf.” In his research, Dr. Maiti explores interlinked topics related to transport and transformation of carbon, nutrients and contaminants in coastal and deep ocean systems utilizing geochemical tracers and autonomous observation platforms.
Improving Consistency in Carbonate Chemistry Measurements
The Gulf of America Coastal Acidification Network (GCAN) hosted this webinar on May 13, 2025, which provides highlights from the 2025 Wepal-Quasimeme Workshop in the UK with presenter Siobhan Kassem, Texas A&M University, and former Interim GCAN Coordinator. Improving consistency in carbonate chemistry measurements is critical for climate and ocean acidification research. The 2025 Wepal-Quasimeme workshop emphasized the need for inter-laboratory comparisons, discussed limitations of current CRMs, and elaborated on the need for regional reference material distribution hubs. Additional focus areas included variability in mCP purity, advances in instrumentation and CO2SYS. The workshop emphasized the need of international collaboration and standardization to ensure high quality, comparable data across monitoring networks.
Tropical Cyclone-Induced Coastal Acidification in Galveston Bay, Texas
Tacey Hicks is a John A. Knauss Sea Grant Fellow at NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS), where she works as an ocean policy analyst. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Montana State University and is a Ph.D. candidate in oceanography at TAMU. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change to the ocean and coastal water carbonate chemistry of calcifying ecosystems, with an emphasis on the influence of extreme events and environmental conditions.
Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
The recent White House Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP) outlined the need for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) research and development as part of a comprehensive plan to fight climate change and coastal and ocean acidification. On June 1, 2023, GCAN and SOCAN joined together to present a town hall to share news and information about mCDR’s potential, along with research and developments throughout the Southeast, Gulf of Mexico and northern Caribbean waters.
Speakers Dr. Tyler Cyronak (Georgia Southern University), Dr. Grace Andrews (Project Vesta), and Dr. Alison Tune (Running Tide Technologies) shared their research and industry efforts to help stem the tide on acidification. (speaker bios)
Using Biogeochemical Argo Technology to Observe Gulf of Mexico Biogeochemistry in Near-Real Time
This Lunch & Learn webinar featured the use of biogeochemical-Argo autonomous profiling floats with speaker Dr. Emily Osborne, from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). Osborne, a research scientist in the Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division, is using the floats as a tool in her arsenal to study modern biogeochemical cycling and dynamics, specifically human-caused impacts on ocean systems.
Habitat Restoration & Shoreline Protection in Galveston Bay
Haille Leija, Habitat Restoration Manager for the Galveston Bay Foundation, presents “Habitat Restoration & Shoreline Protection in Galveston Bay.”
The Ocean Acidification Information Exchange
Manager Julianna Mullen provides an overview of the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange, an online community for professionals involved with or interested in the topics of ocean and coastal acidification.
Coastal Acidification Monitoring and State-Level Actions
Melissa Rae McCutcheon, Ph.D. Candidate in Coastal and Marine System Science, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, presents “Coastal Acidification Monitoring and State-Level Actions.”
Forging Classroom Inclusivity through Educational Research
Sophie J. McCoy, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Science and Coastal and Marine Laboratory, Florida State University, presents “Forging Classroom Inclusivity through Educational Research: Lessons Learned from the EDU-STEM Network.”
Autonomous Monitoring of Ocean Acidification Parameters in the Hypoxic Northern Gulf of Mexico
Dr. Stephan Howden, University of Southern Mississippi, presents “Autonomous Monitoring of Ocean Acidification Parameters in the Hypoxic Northern Gulf of Mexico.”
Forecasting ‘Every Beach, Every Day’ to Improve Public Health Information During Karenia Brevis Blooms
Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, GCOOS Executive Director, presents “Forecasting ‘Every Beach, Every Day’ to Improve Public Health Information During Karenia Brevis Blooms.”
Estuarine Acidification, A Subtropical Texas Flavor
Dr. Xinping Hu, associate professor in chemical oceanography and a Ruth A. Campbell Professor in Coastal and Marine System Science at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi and Chair for Ecosystem Science & Modeling at Harte Research Institute presents “Estuarine Acidification, A Subtropical Texas Flavor.”
Ocean Acidification in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico
Dr. Xinping Hu, associate professor in chemical oceanography and a Ruth A. Campbell Professor in Coastal and Marine System Science at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi and Chair for Ecosystem Science & Modeling at Harte Research Institute, & Dr. Leticia Barbero, assistant scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) from the University of Miami and conducts her work at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) of NOAA present “Ocean Acidification in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico.”
