[Assess graduate-level ability to analyze how coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical processes control nutrient (N, P) fluxes and the onset/intensity of hypoxia in coastal estuaries. Tasks include diagnosing drivers from observational and model data (tides, stratification, freshwater inflow, residence time), quantifying sources/sinks (riverine loading, sediment exchange, benthic fluxes, nitrification/denitrification, organic matter respiration), evaluating feedbacks and uncertainty in coupled models, and proposing management or mitigation strategies based on quantitative reasoning and conceptual diagrams.]