About
It was never my goal to become a marine biologist until I took a single class on the subject during my senior year at Colby College--one field trip to the tidepools and I was hooked! After college I went to graduate school at the University of Oregon, where I spent my time at the coast at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. I published several papers on the gumboot chiton, a large, obscure marine mollusk in the Pacific Northwest, and got my MS in marine biology.
I got my PhD in Oceanography from the University of Connecticut in 3 years, publishing 5 more papers on biofouling and inducible defense in oysters. The project on oyster shell defenses was when I first became interested in how mollusks defend themselves, and I have focused multiple projects on that topics since then.
After graduating, I spent one year teaching and conducting research at Bates College in Maine, where I taught marine biology courses and worked with students on research projects targeting climate change and invasive species. This was an enjoyable and rewarding year, and I started an international program working with high school students and teachers to monitor spread and growth of invasive fouling species growing on the docks of marinas around the world. This iBARGE project (ibargeprogram.wordpress.com) resulted in 3 more publications, including one I co-wrote with several students and a high school teacher for a science education journal.
I have spent the past year working on climate change and benthic ecology projects as a postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. I am passionate about using science to improve our understanding and management of the ocean, which has been the source of so much wonder in my life. I have published more than 15 scientific papers and presented my work at 10+ international conferences, and I take pride in doing an excellent job on all the projects I am involved with.
Joined
November 2016
