Skip Navigation
Search

School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

The School of Marine and Atmospheric SciencesPeopleSoMAS PeopleGiovanna McClenachan

img 

Office:

Phone:



CV

Giovanna McClenachan

Assistant Professor

Education:

Ph.D.2016

- Louisiana State University

Research Topics:

drivers of coastal change, to track transitions in structure and function of ecosystems and societies with disturbances such as storms, floods, and climate change

Visit our Lab Site

rays

  • Bio/Research

    Bio/Research

    The Coastal Disturbance Ecology Lab researches drivers of coastal change. The goal for much of our research is to track transitions in structure and function of ecosystems and societies with disturbances such as storms, floods, and climate change. We study this on multiple spatial and temporal scales, using LiDAR, census records, historical maps, and aerial imagery in GIS to track landscape changes over time.  We also conduct field experiments and surveys to measure community-level responses. A major question driving our research is “how have humans altered the response and recovery of systems?”



    ECOSYSTEM SHIFTS

    40% of the world population lives within 100km of the coast and climate change affects coastal areas uniquely, with both rising temperatures and sea levels potentially driving slow ecosystem transitions and land loss, while increased storm intensity and unpredictability can produce sudden changes in an already stressed environment. We aim to broaden the knowledge of how multiple stressors, including landscape modifications, nutrient inputs, and climate change, interact with both natural and anthropogenic disturbances to affect structure, function, and stability at the landscape-scale. Most recently, our work has involved using GIS to uncover a novel climate driven ecosystem shift from oyster reef to mangrove Island in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida.



    We are currently collaborating with sociologists and political scientists to document how elevation and disturbances, such storms and redlining, can play a role in reorganizing demographics of cities, perpetuating race and class segregation.

    RESTORATION

    Small-scale anthropogenic modifications to a marsh can have landscape-scale impacts, both positively and negatively, with climate driven sea-level rise. Our restoration work seeks to uncover the additive impact that small-scale development and subsequent restoration can impart on a system. Uncovering elevation and hydrologic drivers of natural recovery can help prioritize restoration science to restore functioning of a system rather than structure of a system. By restoring natural functioning, we may allow the system to naturally restore its structure. 



    Living shoreline restoration is an alternative to hard armoring that will potentially allow the coastal system to 'keep up' with sea level rise. We documented the impact multiple small-scale living shoreline restorations can have on entire system when considered additively.

    We are also involved in an ongoing large-scale analysis of oyster reef restoration ecological impact, from New jersey to Louisiana.



    We used field work and GIS to track coastal erosion in Louisiana after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and potential land loss due to small hydrologic modifications on the Louisiana coast, which disproportionality impacted Native American tribes.

  • Publications

    Publications

    ​*undergraduate student co-author

    15. McClenachan, G. and R.E. Turner. 2023. Disturbance legacies and shifting trajectories: Marsh soil strength and shoreline erosion a decade after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Pollution.       https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121151.



    14. Zengel, S, J. Weaver, I.A. Mendelssohn, S.A. Graham, Q. Lin, M.W. Hester, J.M. Willis, B.R. Silliman, J.W. Fleeger, G. McClenachan, N.N. Rabalais, R.E. Turner, A.R. Hughes, J. Cebrian, D.R. Deis, N. Rutherford, B.J. Roberts 2022. Meta    ‐analysis of salt marsh vegetation impacts and recovery: a synthesis following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2489. 

    ​

    13. McClenachan, G.,     M. Witt*, and, L. Walters. 2021. Replacement of oyster reefs by mangrove islands: unexpected climate-driven ecosystem shifts. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15631.



    12. Walters, L. and G. McClenachan. 2021. Commentary on Osland et al.: Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15631. 



    11. Morris, R., M. La Peyre, B. Webb, D. Marshall, D. Bilkovic, J. Cebrian, G. McClenachan, K. Kibler, L. Walters, D. Bushek, E. Sparks, N. Temple, J. Moody, K. Angstadt, J. Goff, M. Boswell, P. Sacks, S. Swearer. 2021. Large-scale variation in wave attenuation of oyster reef living shorelines and the influence of inundation duration. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2382. 



    10. McClenachan, G., M. Donnelly, P. Sacks, M. Shaffer, and L. Walters. 2020. Does size matter?: Quantifying the cumulative impact of small-scale living shoreline and oyster reef restoration projects on shoreline erosion. Restoration Ecology.  https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13235.



    9. Cannon D, K. Kibler, M. Donnelly, G. McClenachan, L. Walters, A. Roddenberry, J. Phagan*. 2020. Hydrodynamic habitat thresholds for mangrove vegetation on the shorelines of a microtidal estuarine lagoon. Ecological Engineering. 158: 106070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.106070. 



    8. Turner R.E., N.N. Rabalais, E.B. Overton, B.M. Meyer, G. McClenachan, E.M. Swenson, M. Besonen, M.L. Parsons, and J. Zingre. 2019. Oiling of the continental shelf and coastal marshes over eight years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Pollution. 252 (B): 1367-1376.



    7. Morris, R., D. Bilkovic, M. Boswell, D. Bushek, J. Cebrian, J. Goff, K. Kibler, M. La Peyre, G. McClenachan, J. Moody, P. Sacks, J Shinn, E. Sparks, N. Temple, L.Walters, B. Webb, and S. Swearer. 2019. The application of oyster reefs in shoreline protection: are we over-engineering for an ecosystem engineer? Journal of Applied Ecology. 56(7): 1703-1711.



    6. Turner, R.E. and G. McClenachan.  2018. Reversing wetland death from 35,000 cuts: Opportunities to restore Louisiana’s dredged canals. Plos One. 13(12), p. e0207717.     



    5. Turner, R.E., G. McClenachan, and A.W. Tweel. 2016. Islands in the oil: Quantifying salt marsh shoreline erosion after the Deepwater Horizon oiling. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 10(1): 316-232.

     

    4. Hooper-Bui, L.M., N.N. Rabalais, A.S. Engel, R.E. Turner, G. McClenachan, B. Roberts, E.B. Overton, D. Justic, K. Sturdivant, K. Brown, and  J. Conover. 2014. Key insights into the coastal effects of the Macondo Blowout from the Coastal Waters Consortium: A GoMRI Consortium. International Oil Spill Conference, Savannah, Georgia, 5-8 May, 2014 (1): 604-617.

     

    3. Turner, R.E., E.B. Overton, B.M. Ashton, M.S. Miles, G. McClenachan, L. Hooper-Bui, A. Summer Engel, E.M. Swenson, J.M. Lee, C.S. Milan, and  H. Gao. 2014. Distribution and recovery trajectory of Macondo (Mississippi Canyon 252) oil in Louisiana salt marshes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 87(1-2): 57-67.

     

    2. McClenachan, G., R.E. Turner, and A.W. Tweel. 2013. Effects of oil on the rate and trajectory of Louisiana marsh shoreline erosion. Environmental Research Letters. 8(4): 044030.

     

    1. Kapur, A., C. Baldwin, M. Swanson, N. Wilberforce, G. McClenachan, and M. Rentschler. 2012. Comparative life cycle assessment of conventional and Green Seal-compliant industrial and institutional cleaning products. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 17(4): 377-387.
  • Links