Currently I'm working towards a Master's degree in Chemical Oceanography and am a student with Dr. Clare Reimers in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. I met Clare while helping her PhD student, Mark Nielsen, with his benthic microbial fuel cell experiments. His work really got me excited about the possibilities for biofuels! However, my research interests at this time lie more within learning about the chemical and physical processes of the sea and their relation to ecosystem properties, especially the connections between biogeochemical processes and the ecology of the coastal zone. 

My research project focuses on benthic redox reactions and the coastal carbon cycle, and I'll be applying a non-invasive eddy-correlation technique of Berg et al. (2003) for measuring oxygen fluxes between the ocean and Oregon shelf sediments. I'm currently building fast responding microelectrode oxygen sensors that will be coupled with an acoustic velocity sensor to make the water column oxygen measurements. This will allow me to measure total benthic oxygen exchange by eddy-correlation. I'll also use microprofiling into the sediments to measure diffusive benthic oxygen exchange and the sediment oxygen penetration depth. My field work for summer of 2008 will occur mainly in the Yaquina Bay for instrument calibrations, although I will get to go on a few cruises out to the shelf to get some 'real' data! We're planning to deploy a tripod equipped with sensors on the Oregon continental shelf at 25m, 50m, and 80m water depth and begin time-series measurements in summer of 2009.

My educational and professional research experiences to date have all contributed to my passion for oceanography and ocean conservation. Prior to returning to grad school I worked for PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans) under the supervision of Dr. Francis Chan. The primary focus of our work was to determine physical oceanographic patterns and processes along the inner-shelf of the Oregon coast and correlate them with ecological communities onshore. Another focus of my work with Dr. Chan was to study, track, and determine the cause of the anomalous hypoxic events occurring along the nearshore of the Oregon coast (see also Science journal article). 

Oregon is of particular interest to me since I'm a 4th generation Oregonian and I love it here. It also has much to offer with its changing oceanic conditions due to the topography of the shelf and distinct regions. The recent natural hypoxic events that are continuing to take place nearshore have also made our coast much more publicly visible, bringing up questions about how our climate is changing and what the future holds. I look forward to coordinating my research with other new and ongoing research, including the coastal observatories of the Ocean Research program and the Glider project at OSU and plan to work in some capacity of ocean conservation in the future.

Outside of grad school I enjoy spending time with my husband, Hovey, and our dogs, Keta and Fezik. We live in a remote location in the coast range on hundreds of acres (not really, but it feels like it when you include the forest and timber land) and enjoy hiking every day and sometimes getting lost in our own 'back yard'! We have a large garden space that we're attempting to fill with veggies, and a chicken house and goat house that we hope to clear the blackberries away from and re-fence for habitation this summer. We also love taking our sailboat out when the wind is right - it's a fast little Fireball!

CURRENT HAPPENINGS

  • I received a Mamie L. Markham Endowment Award! 

 Thanks for visiting my site. Please feel free to contact me, I'd love to hear from you!  kmccanng@coas.oregonstate.edu

Ref: Berg P, Roy H, Janssen F, Meyer V, Jorgensen BB, Huettel M, De Beer D (2003) Oxygen uptake by aquatic sediments measured with a novel non-invasive eddy-correlation technique. Marine Ecology Press Series 261:75-83.