Hometown: Greensboro, NC

Undergraduate degree and program: North Carolina State University B.S. Marine Sciences
with a concentration in Biological Oceanography

During my undergraduate degree, I studied abroad for a semester at the Galápagos Academic Institute for the Arts & Sciences (GAIAS), at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) campus extension in the Galápagos Islands. Each class in the Marine Ecology program included intensive research, trying to bridge cultural and scientific gaps. This course format allowed me to hone my underwater scientific sampling techniques through diving, ecological monitoring, and scientific writing. Through engagement with the marine environment and the local community, I was able to understand my research in a broader ecological and cultural context. This transformative experience further improved my communication abilities among researchers involved in active environmental management. My time in the Galápagos Islands helped solidify my commitment to becoming an advocate for marine conservation, using SCUBA diving to raise awareness about the importance of our oceans and further motivated me to pursue a graduate degree.

For my Masters thesis at MLML, I currently study the anthropogenic impacts on coral reef ecosystems. My work focuses on tracking the effects of the ongoing El Niño warming event on corals within a nursery in the Galápagos because it has a 90% chance of inducing a global mass coral bleaching event. I rely on field-based methods, such as snorkeling and SCUBA diving to collect coral fragments for my project. We aim to monitor survival, bleaching status, growth, and symbiont communities in the nursery and at three outplanting sites. Understanding the mechanisms of coral thermal tolerance during stressors like climate change and more intense warming events is essential to promote solutions to ensure coral survival in the future. These solutions include reef restoration efforts, improved management strategies of Marine Protected Areas, and improved communication among environmental planning professionals.

I love to travel, hike, go to the gym, read, go tidepooling, and spend time with my awesome friends and fellow students!