PhD Student in the Rodriguez Coastal Geology Lab

UNC Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Science

About me

I am a PhD Student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Institute of Marine Sciences. My research interests lie in coastal sediments - their origins and fates. Marshes act as metronomes of sea-level rise, recording changes in inundation within their soils. By tracking the pace of North Carolina’s rapidly shifting wetlands through time and space, I aim to better explain feedbacks between topography and sedimentation. Which areas of our coast are naturally resilient to rising tides – and how can these areas inform preservation efforts?

Outside of this research, you might find me in the great outdoors, teaching hands-on science, cooking with others, or flying a drone.

Interests

Landscape change in the Anthropocene
Remote Sensing
Scientific communication and education

Education

PhD Student, 2020-
UNC Chapel Hill
BSc in Geology and Environmental Sciences, 2018
The College of William and Mary
Summer Coursework in Entrepreneurship, 2015
Washington University in St. Louis

Skills

Sedimentology

Drones

GIS

Experience

PhD Student

Rodriguez Marine Geology Lab

Jun 2020 – Present North Carolina

Solving coastal problems from the air using drone-based photogrammetry
Using Low-cost Open Source turbidity sensors to track contemporary suspended sediment gradients
Extracting sediment cores to recreate post-development deposition patterns across North Carolina’s saltmarsh habitats

Interim Researcher

Perron Lab at MIT

Jan 2020 – Jun 2020 Massachussets

Employed Google Earth Engine to refine estimates of Terra Preta anthrosol distributions in Amazon rainforest

Science Lab Teacher

Peace Corps

Aug 2018 – Dec 2019 Liberia

Taught 10th and 11th Grade Physics and Biology courses
Organized experiential hands-on learning labs
Facilitated teacher training workshops

Projects

Measuring Turbidity on Marshes

Using open source turbidity sensors to monitor sediment delivery to varied saltmarsh settings

Evolution of Barrier Island Ponds

Tracking changes in Barrier Island geomorphology over a year on North Core Banks, NC

Effects of Increasing Coastal Sediment Loads on Tidal-creek Levee Morphology

Why do two adjacent environments (creeks and marshes) respond to sediment loading in different ways?

Phillips Island Map

A orthomosaic of Phillips Island for UNC’s planning purposes

IMS 3D Model

Interactive 3D Model of the Institute of Marine Science

Life in Liberia

Blog on my time teaching science with the Peace Corps in Liberia

Mechanisms of Pond Growth on Marshes

Undergraduate Honors Thesis at William and Mary

Recent Publications

Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Widespread Amazonian dark earth in the Xingu Indigenous Territory

Using satellite imagery and classifiers trained on ground-truthed data collected by the Kuikoru people, we find that ~4% of the Xingu Indigenous Territory is composed of ‘Terra Preta’ - dark earth enriched in carbon by past human activity. This work refines carbon sequestration estimates in the Amazon while revealing sites of archaeological and cultural significance; sites that should be prioritized through conservation efforts.

Samuel L. Goldberg, Morgan J. Schmidt, Joshua D. Himmelstein, Michael Heckenberger, Bruna Franchetto, Helena Lima, Jennifer Watling, Bruno Moraes, Wetherbee B. Dorshow, Carlos Fausto, Kumessi Waura, Huke Kuikuro, Taku Wate Kuikuro, Afukaka Kuikuro, J. Taylor Perron

DOI

3D structural metrics using UAV and LiDAR

Results indicate that UAS photogrammetry can produce robust oyster reef structural metrics that can be highly useful in oyster conservation and restoration.

Justin T. Ridge, Alexandra E. DiGiacomo, Antonio B. Rodriguez, Joshua D. Himmelstein, David W. Johnston

DOI

Mechanisms of Pond Expansion in a Rapidly Submerging Marsh

Our observations from a rapidly submerging marsh in the Chesapeake Bay, United States suggest that the mechanisms and rates of pond expansion change with pond size., and depend on surrounding marsh health

Joshua Himmelstein, Orencio Duran Vinent, Stijn Temmerman, Matthew Kirwan

DOI

Onset Fragmentation of Salt Marshes

We find the threshold for marsh fragmentation scales primarily with tidal range and that sediment supply is only relevant where tides are sufficient to transport sediment to the marsh interior.

Orencio Duran Vinent, Ellen R. Herbert, Daniel Coleman, Joshua Himmelstein, Matthew Kirwan

DOI

Alps and Sicily (August 2018)

Azores (August 2019)

Liberia (2018-2019)