Producing sound science has been a part of the core mission of the Buzzards Bay Coalition throughout the organization’s history. The Coalition’s water quality monitoring program began in 1992 and continues through the present – providing critical information to federal, state, and local decision makers about the health of local waters.
In 2019, the Coalition began long-term monitoring of salt marshes, which are being threatened by rising sea levels. In addition to these long-term monitoring projects, the Coalition engages with researchers to partner on a variety of shorter-term projects that help to provide valuable information about the environment of Buzzards Bay and ways to improve its management. The Coalition has a Science Advisory Committee consisting of technical experts on a range of disciplines from local institutions including the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The Science Advisory Committee provides insight and feedback on issues that the Coalition Science team are working on.
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Science Reports
Water Quality Data
Scientific Journal Publications
Salt marsh decomposition after hydrologic restoration with runnels
Hillary L. Sullivan, Alice F. Besterman, Rachel W. Jakuba, Joseph E. Costa, Delaney Mezan, Linda A. Deegan, Jennifer L. Bowen. December 2025. Salt marsh decomposition after hydrologic restoration with runnels. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 327, doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109559
Modeling Attenuation of Nitrogen Loads Delivered to Coastal Bays From Ecological Restoration of Cultivated Wetlands
Adrian R. H. Wiegman, Casey D. Kennedy, Christopher Neill, Rachel W. Jakuba, Molly K. Welsh, David Millar, Anthony Buda. 18 September 2025. Modeling Attenuation of Nitrogen Loads Delivered to Coastal Bays From Ecological Restoration of Cultivated Wetlands. JGR Biogeosciences, doi: 10.1029/2025JG008742
Buying time with runnels: A climate adaptation tool for salt marshes
Besterman, A. F., Jakuba, R. W., Ferguson, W., Brennan, D., Costa, J. E., and Deegan, L. A. 2022. Buying time with runnels: A climate adaptation tool for salt marshes. Estuaries and Coasts, 45, 1491-1501, doi: 10.1007/s12237-021-01028-8
Decadal trajectories of land-sea couplings: Nitrogen loads and interception in New England watersheds, discharges to estuaries, and water quality effects
Lloret, J., Valva, C., Valiela, I., Rheuban, J., Jakuba, R. W., Hanacek, D., Chenoweth, K., Elmstrom, E. 2022. Decadal trajectories of land-sea couplings: Nitrogen loads and interception in New England watersheds, discharges to estuaries, and water quality effects. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 277, 108057. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108057
Water quality measurements in Buzzards Bay by the Buzzards Bay Coalition Baywatchers Program from 1992 to 2018
Jakuba, R. W., Williams, T., Neill, C., Costa, J. E., McHorney, R., Scott, L., Howes, B. L., Ducklow, H., Erickson, M., and Rasmussen, M. 2021. Water Quality Measurements in Buzzards Bay by the Buzzards Bay Coalition Baywatchers Program from 1992 to 2018. Scientific Data. 8, 76. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00856-4
Quantifying the Effects of Nutrient Enrichment and Freshwater Mixing on Coastal Ocean Acidification
Rheuban, J. E., Doney, S. C., McCorkle, D. C., Jakuba, R. W. 2019. Quantifying the effects of nutrient enrichment and freshwater mixing on coastal ocean acidification, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, 9085–9100. doi: 10.1029/2019JC015556
Spatial and temporal trends in summertime climate and water quality indicators in the coastal embayments of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Rheuban, J. E., Williamson, S. C., Costa, J. E., Glover, D. M., Jakuba, R. W., McCorkle, D. C., Neill, C., Williams, T., and Doney, S. C. 2016. Spatial and temporal trends in summertime climate and water quality indicators in the coastal embayments of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, Biogeosciences, 13, 253-265, doi: 10.5194/bg-13-253-2016.
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