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UMB - University of Massachusetts at Boston

June 2006

Rep: Gordon Wallace

Gordon Wallace featured some of the research activities at UMASS Boston. A high resolution model, the Massachusetts Bay Forecasting Model, has been developed to simulate heavy metal dynamics and biogeochemistry of Boston Harbor. Some metals haven’t declined since 1992. Notable is a persistently high distribution of copper, the primary source of which is the sediments. Statistical tools have been developed to show change in benthic community structure in the western Gulf of Maine. High resolution coring for mercury is being conducted. University researchers are involved in the EPA national coastal assessment project and in the initiation of a Massachusetts Coastal Observing System.