Dr. de Mutsert is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Coastal Sciences in School of Ocean Science and Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her research is focused on coastal and estuarine fish ecology. She studies the effects of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on nekton abundance, community structure, food web dynamics and fisheries. Examples of stressors included in her studies are eutrophication, oil pollution, habitat alteration, hypoxia, fisheries, and changes in freshwater discharge. She uses a combination of field monitoring, lab studies, and ecosystem modeling in her projects.
Dr. Kim de Mutsert, Assistant Professor in the Division of Coastal Sciences in the School of Ocean Science and Engineering (SOSE) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), explains the field of ecological modeling—or how scientists use computers to model ecological patterns—and her lab’s research on the response of fish populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico to ecological stressors like pollution, hypoxia, freshwater discharge, and more. USM SOSE offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in marine science and marine biology.
Current Projects
Awarded Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. GOMESA 2022: Bonnet Carré Response and the Mississippi Western Sound Science Collaborative (WSSC). K. de Mutsert, K. Cambazoglu, J. Wiggert, and Scott Milroy (co-lead PIs). $500,000.
Awarded US Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Using a coupled modeling framework to evaluate how freshwater and nutrient input from Bonnet Carré spillway openings affects water quality, food webs, and fisheries in the Mississippi Sound and Bight. K. de Mutsert (co-lead PI), K. Cambazoglu (co-lead PI), J. Wiggert, S. Milroy, D. Bernstein, B. Armstrong, and J. Griffit. $441,000.
2022-2024 Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. Evaluating potential effects of the mid- Breton diversion on living marine resources in the Mississippi Sound and Bight using a coupled modeling framework. K. de Mutsert (lead PI), J. Wiggert, K. Cambazoglu, S. Milroy, and J. Griffit. $225,000
2021-2022 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. Bonnet Carré Response and the Mississippi Western Sound Science Collaborative (WSSC). K. de Mutsert, K. Cambazoglu, J. Wiggert, and Scott Milroy (co-lead PIs). $83,828
2020-2022 NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. NGOMEX synergistic activities and special issue. K. de Mutsert (lead PI), S. Brandt, M. Campbell, K. Rose, D. Justic, D. Obenour, and K. Craig. $60,483.
2020-2022 NOAA Marine Debris Prevention Program. A community approach to reducing single- use plastic beverage bottles. C. Smith (lead PI), A. Daniels, K. de Mutsert and S. Glaberman. $150,000.
2017-2022 NOAA Restore Act Science Program. Ecosystem modeling to improve fisheries management in the Gulf of Mexico. D. Chagaris (lead PI), S. Sagarese, M. Lauretta, R. Ahrens, and K. de Mutsert. $851,838.
2016-2022 NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. NGOMEX 2016: User-driven tools to predict and assess effects of reduced nutrients and hypoxia on living resources in the Gulf of Mexico. K. de Mutsert (lead PI), K.A. Lewis, M.C. Campbell, S. Brandt, and C. Sellinger. $900,000.
Coastal and Estuarine Fish Ecology 