School for Marine Science and Technology

The School for Marine Sciences and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth conducts research and provides instruction in the interdisciplinary areas of marine science, oceanography, technology development and policy. SMAST is a major center for research and economic development for UMass Dartmouth and the University of Massachusetts.

SMAST’s faculty and staff engage in basic and applied research in areas that foster interactions with industries and public agencies on issues of environmental policy and economic development. While SMAST research tends to concentrate on the regional coastal ocean, estuaries and watersheds of Massachusetts, New England and the adjacent United States, some of its programs focus on remote regions of the global oceans.

SMAST is located on 2.6 acres in south New Bedford on Clark’s Cove and Buzzards Bay. SMAST is the home at UMass Dartmouth of the Intercampus Graduate School MS and PhD programs in Marine Sciences and Technology.

Faculty and Fields of Interest

Mark A Altabet (Chairperson, Department of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences), BS 1979 State University of New York at Stony Brook, PhD 1984 Harvard University, Marine and Environmental Chemistry

James Bisagni (emeritus), BS 1972 State University of New York at Stony Brook, MS 1976, PhD 1991 University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, Physical Oceanography, Satellite Oceanography

Wendell S Brown (emeritus), BS 1965, MS 1967 Brown University, PhD 1971 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Coastal Physical Oceanography, Moored Ocean Observations, Real Time Circulation Modeling, Data/Information Management System Development

Christian Buckingham, Ocean Physics, Remote Sensing, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Mesoscale and Sub-mesoscale Ocean Dynamics, Turbulence

Steven X Cadrin, BS 1985 Long Island University, MS 1995 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, PhD 2003 University of Rhode Island, Fish Stock Assessment, Defining Spatial Fishery Management Units, Spatially Complex Population Dynamics, Fishery Management Advice, Bycatch Management.

Changsheng Chen, BS 1979, MS 1983 Ocean University of Qingdao, MS 1989, PhD 1992 Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Modeling and Observational Exploration of Coastal Ocean Circulation, Oceanic Frontal Processes, Turbulent Mixing/Bottom Boundary Layer Dynamics, Chaotic Mixing, Western Boundary Currents, Internal Waves and Tides, Biological/Physical Interaction

Geoffrey Cowles, BS 1994 Cornell University, PhD 2001 Princeton University, Marine Renewable Energy, Ocean Modeling, Shape Optimization and Design, High Performance Computing, Coupled Marine Bio-physical Models

Gavin Fay, BSc 2000 University of Stirling MS 2004, PhD 2012 University of Washington, Evaluating Performance of Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management Strategies, Stock Assessment Statistical Methods Development, Simulation Testing of Management, Monitoring, and Assessment Procedures, Social-ecological Ecosystem Modeling and Indicators for Integrated Ecosystem Assessment, Testing Decision Support Tools for Living Marine Resource Management

Avijit Gangopadhyay, BTech 1979 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, MTech 1982 Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, PhD 1990 University of Rhode Island, Physical Oceanography, Numerical Modeling, Climate Studies

Robert Griffin, BA 2003, PhD 2012 University of Rhode Island, Environmental Economics, Marine and Coastal Economics, Experimental Economics

Pingguo He (Chairperson, Department of Fisheries Oceanography), BE 1982 Zhejiang Ocean University, PhD 1987 University of Aberdeen Scotland, Sustainable Fisheries, Fish Behavior Near Fishing Gear, Environmentally Friendly Fishing Gear Design, Evaluating and Reducing Fishing Impact

Micheline Labrie, BS 2011 University of New Hampshire, PhD 2021 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Coastal Systems Biogeochemistry, Biodegradation, Plastics in the Environment

Steven Lohrenz, BA 1978 University of Oregon, 1985 PhD MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biological Distributions and Productivity, Cycling of Carbon and Nutrients in Coastal and Ocean Waters Using Ship-Based Measurements and Optical and Remotely Sensed Observations, Characterization of Land-ocean Interactions Using Coupled Ecosystem Models to Assess Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change, Optical Assessment of Air-Sea Carbon Fluxes in River-dominated Margins, Optical Detection and Assessment of Harmful Algal Blooms

Pia Moisander, MS 1996 University of Helsinki, PhD 2002 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Marine Microbial Ecology, Marine Nitrogen Cycle, Marine Biofouling, Cyanobacterial Blooms

Alice Pietri, Meso and Submesoscale Physical Oceanography, Autonomous High-Resolution Ocean Observation, Marine Heatwaves.

Cynthia Pilskaln (emeritus), BA 1978 University of Vermont, MA 1980, PhD 1985 Harvard University, Marine Biogeochemistry and Sedimentology, Geochemical Particle Fluxes in the Ocean and Large Lake Systems with Emphasis on their Quantitative Relationship to Climate Forcing Over Short and Long Time Scales and to Underlying Sediment Record, Organic Carbon and Biogenic Silica Cycling Including Aggregation, Export and Remineralization Processes in the Water Column and at the Sediment/Water Interface, Development and Use of Particle Imaging Instrumentation, Submersible Vehicle-based Technology, Image Analysis Techniques for the In-Situ Study of Marine Particulates and Plankton

Jianhua Qi, Physical Oceanography, Ocean Numerical Model Simulation, One Of FVCOM-SWAVE Model Developers, NUOPC FVCOM Developer.

Brian Rothschild, (emeritus), BS 1957 Rutgers University, MS 1959 University of Maine, PhD 1962 Cornell University, Ocean Ecosystems, Marine Fish Population Dynamics, Models of Plankton Dynamics and Interactions

Kevin Stokesbury (Dean), BSc 1984, MSc 1987 Acadia University, PhD 1994 Universite Laval, Marine Biology/Ecology Focusing on Fisheries, Including Scallop Population Dynamics and Life History Studies

Miles Sundermeyer, BA 1991 University of California, ScM 1995, PhD 1998 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dispersion and Transport Processes, Numerical Modeling of Mixing and Stirring, Numerical Modeling of Physical and Biological Interactions

Amit Tandon, BTech 1987 Indian Institute of Technology, PhD 1992 Cornell University, Fluid Dynamics, Physical Oceanography, Environmental and Computational Physics

Jefferson Turner, BS 1969 Guilford College, MA 1972 University of South Florida, PhD 1977 Texas A & M University, Biological Oceanography

Programs

Graduate students who enroll in the School for Marine Sciences and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth access MS and PhD degrees which are offered through the University of Massachusetts Intercampus Marine Science graduate program (IMS).

The IMS is an administrative umbrella for the multi-campus faculty, who have diverse teaching and research interests in the marine sciences and associated technologies. The IMS faculty reside on one of the four campuses: UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth or UMass Lowell IMS

The IMS offers students advanced academic studies and research in a range of specializations clustered in five option areas.

At UMass Dartmouth, the administrative home of the IMS program is the School for Marine Sciences and Technology (SMAST), headed by Kevin Stokesbury as Dean.