Research and Monitoring Staff

Kenneth Raposa, Ph.D.
Research Coordinator

Email: Kenneth.Raposa@dem.ri.gov
Phone: 401.683.7849
Fax: 401.683.7366[

Quick LInks

Brief Biography

Kenny began as a postdoctoral researcher at the Reserve in 2000 and has served as its Research Coordinator since 2002. Prior to that, Kenny received a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, where his research focused on the effects of salt marsh hydrologic restoration projects. Kenny has continued his salt marsh research throughout his tenure at the Reserve, where he currently focuses on marsh responses to sea-level rise, marsh crab impacts, and assessing various types of adaptation projects aimed at building marsh resilience to sea-level rise over time. Kenny also coordinates all visiting researchers to the Reserve, sits on numerous committees and workgroups both locally and nationally, and is especially interested in facilitating data synthesis projects across the NERRS at the regional and national levels.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Raposa, K.B., K. Wasson, E. Smith, S. Lerberg, and 12 additional co-authors. In review. Assessing tidal marsh resilience to sea-level rise at broad geographic scales with multi-metric indices. Global Change Biology.

Raposa, K.B., M.L.C. Ekberg, D.M. Burdick, N.T. Ernst, and S.C. Adamowicz. In review. Elevation change and the vulnerability of Rhode Island (USA) salt marshes to sea-level rise. Regional Environmental Change.

Raposa, K.B., S. Lerberg, C. Cornu, and 7 additional co-authors. In review. Evaluating tidal wetland restoration performance using National Estuarine Research Reserve system reference sites and the Restoration Performance Index (RPI). Estuaries and Coasts.

Raposa, K.B., R.L. Weber, M.C. Ekberg, and W. Ferguson. In press. Vegetation dynamics in Rhode Island salt marshes during a period of accelerating sea level rise and extreme sea level events. Estuaries and Coasts. doi: 10.1007/s12237-015-0018-4.

Watson, E.B., C. Wigand, E.W. Davey, H.M. Andrews, J. Bishop, and K.B. Raposa. In press. Wetland loss patterns and inundation-productivity relationships prognosticate widespread salt marsh loss for southern New England. Estuaries and Coasts. doi: 10.1007/s12237-016-0069-1.

Raposa, K.B. and M. Chintala. 2016. Comparison of bottomless lift nets and Breder traps for sampling salt marsh nekton. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 145:163-172.

Wigand, C., H. Smith, C. Spears, B. Keith, R. McKinney, M. Chintala, and K. Raposa. 2015. Relationships of modeled nitrogen loads with marsh fish in the Narragansett Bay Estuary, Rhode Island. Northeastern Naturalist 22:1-9.

Raposa, K.B., R.A. McKinney and S. Millar. 2013. Songbird responses to land preservation within southern New England cluster subdivisions. Journal of Sustainable Development 6:26-42.

McKinney, R.A. and K.B. Raposa. 2013. Factors influencing expanded use of urban marine habitats by foraging wading birds. Urban Ecosystems 16:411-426.

Raposa, K.B. and D.M. Talley. 2012. A synthesis of nekton responses to New England salt marsh tidal restorations. In C.T. Roman and D.M. Burdick (eds.), Restoring Tidal Flow to Salt Marshes: A Synthesis of Science and Management in New England (USA). Island Press.

Daisy Durant, Ph.D.
SWMP Coordinator

Email: Daisy.Durant@dem.ri.gov
Phone: 401.683.7368
Fax: 401.683.7366

Brief Biography

Daisy joined the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve as a Marine Research Specialist II in May 2008 and later became the SWMP Coordinator in January 2023. Daisy is in charge of running the abiotic component of the System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). She collects, analyzes, and summarizes water quality, nutrient, and meteorological data in order to identify short-term patterns and long-term trends. Daisy has more than twelve years of experience working as a marine benthic ecologist and is currently working on a project that will characterize, for the first time, the benthic infauna community around Prudence Island. A baseline characterization of the infauna will help detect changes in the population over time and determine if those changes are correlated to water quality or nutrient variations around Prudence Island. She has worked in the Caribbean as an environmental consultant looking at the effects of industrialization and coastal development on the marine environment and on marine benthic communities such as seagrass, corals and other benthic invertebrates. Daisy’s research interests include the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and climate change on marine benthic communities, and the conservation of marine ecosystems and habitats. In her free time, she enjoys diving, biking, hiking, and playing with her puppies.

PUBLICATIONS

Durant, D., K.B. Raposa, M. Cole, and W. Ferguson. 2015. Formation and rapid recovery of vegetation dieback patches in Narragansett Bay, RI Salt marshes. Poster presentation. Poster Presentation. New England Estuarine Research Society, April 16-18, Bristol, RI.

Durant, D., K.B. Raposa, I. Mateo. 2013. Predicting the effects of climate change on Hemigrapsus sanguineus populations in intertidal cobble beaches. Poster Presentation. 22nd Biennial Conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, November 3-7, San Diego, CA.

Durant, D., and K.B. Raposa. 2012. Preliminary Results of the Benthic Infaunal Monitoring at the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Poster Presentation. New England Estuarine Research Society, Annual Spring Meeting, Plymouth MA. April 11-13 2012.

Mateo, I., D. Bengtson, E. Durbin, R. Kingsley, P. Swart and D. Durant. 2011. Spatial variations in otolith chemistry in tautog Tautoga onitis in the US Coast. In press. Northeastern Naturalist.

Durant, D., and K.B. Raposa. 2011. A View of Narragansett Bay through the System-Wide-Monitoring-Program (SWMP). Poster presentation. The Rhode Island Natural History Survey Conference: The Science and Management of Salt Ponds & Coastal Lagoons, April 28, 2011, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m, Quonset O Club, North Kingston, RI

Mateo, I., E.G. Durbin, D.A. Bengtson, and D. Durant. 2011. Variations in growth of tautog in nursery areas in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Coastal Ponds. Marine and Coastal Fisheries. 3(1):271-278.

Mateo, I., D. Bengtson, E. Durbin, R. Kingsley, P. Swart and D. Durant. 2011. Spatial variations in otolith chemistry in tautog Tautoga onitis in the US Coast. In press. Northeastern Naturalist.

Vicente & Associates, Inc., Caribbean Engineering and Environmental, Inc., and Daisy Durant. PHASE 3. Biological Monitoring Program Plan Implementation: 2005-2007. EcoEléctrica Co-Generation Project. Chapter 8: Corals Small Spatial Scale Study. February 27, 2008. Pp. 46.

Durant, D. 2006. Environmental Monitoring for Improvements to the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in Frederiksted, St. Croix. Photoquadrat Study, February 10 to November 30, 2006. Final Report, December 12, 2006. Submitted to Natural Resource Consultants, Inc., St. Croix, USVI. Pp. 93.

Durant, D., 2006. VIPA Water Quality Monitoring at the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility, St. Croix, USVI. Sedimentation at the pier, February 10 to October 31, 2006. Final Report, December 12, 2006. Submitted to Natural Resource Consultants, Inc., St. Croix, USVI. Pp. 27.

Nicole Vanelli
Seasonal Field and Lab Assistant

Email: Nicole.Vanelli.INT@dem.ri.gov

We welcome Nicole Vanelli as the Seasonal Field and Lab Assistant!

Brief Biography

Nicole has just graduated from Salve Regina University in May 2022 with a BS in Environmental Studies with minors in Political Science and Biology. She is from the greater Philadelphia area, but has made a home in Newport, RI, over the last four years. In 2020, she was the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholar at the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire; a reserve she had worked at previously. Nicole is very excited to be back in the NERRS and looking forward to working on some great projects with NBNERR team!