Joseph F. Terrano
Joseph Terrano is a physical scientist (coastal geomorphologist) with the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. His research focuses on the impact of coastal erosion hazards on wetland and estuarine ecosystems.
Joseph Terrano’s research focuses on using field and geospatial data to assess environmental change in coastal wetlands, estuaries, and barrier islands. His present work is split into two main categories: 1) collecting and analyzing field data (net sedimentation tiles, sensors, Global Positioning System [GPS]) and 2) extracting shorelines from historical and modern sources (topographic sheets, aerial imagery, GPS, light detection and ranging [lidar], and satellite imagery) to complete shoreline change assessments for vegetated shorelines along the U.S. Gulf and East coasts. He currently completes work as part of the following projects:
- Estuarine and Marsh Geology (EMrG) project
- Estuarine Shoreline Change Research project
- Coastal Change Hazards project
Professional Experience
2022-Present: Physical Scientist, USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
2018-2022: Researcher, Cherokee Nation Technology Solutions contracted to the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
2016-2018: University of South Florida graduate research assistant, contracted to the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
2015-2016: Researcher, Cherokee Nation Technology Solutions contracted to the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
2014-2015: University of South Florida (College of Marine Science) undergraduate research assistant, contracted to the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Education and Certifications
M.S. - Geology (2018), University of South Florida
B.S. - Environmental Science and Policy (2015), University of South Florida (St. Petersburg campus)