Biography:
Emily received her undergraduate degree from Whittier College in 2020. While at Whittier, she had the opportunity to collaborate on multiple research projects, including a 2-year project working with WWF Hong Kong to study an invasive vine species in the Mai Po Nature Reserve mangrove forests in Yuen Long, HK.
Emily joined the phycology lab in the Fall of 2020. Her thesis research focuses on the brown algal genus Desmarestia, specifically attempting to understand its peculiar habit of producing sulphuric acid within its vacuoles. She will be using a combination of field, laboratory, aquaculture, and scanning electron microscopy techniques to shed more light on this understudied understory alga.
Along with conducting research at MLML, Emily also works for Mike Graham's sustainable seaweed farm, Monterey Bay Seaweeds, and is a co-editor of the student-run Drop In Blog. She previously worked as a Help Desk Technician for the school's IT group, and was the communications intern for the NSF/UCSB Regional Ecosystem Services Observational Network project.
Research Interests:
- Seaweed physiological adaptations for predator deterrence
- Trophic interactions
- Cytology
- Aquaculture
- Scientific communications
