MEES Graduate Program

Dr. Thomas S. Bianchi (PhD '87) is the James R. Whatley Chair in Geosciences and Professor in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A & M University. Dr. Bianchi's research interests are organic geochemistry, biogeochemical dynamics of aquatic food chains, carbon cycling in estuarine and coastal ecosystems, and biochemical markers of colloidal and particulate organic carbon. Currently, he conducts his research in the Gulf of Mexico estuaries, the Mississippi River, as well as his collaborative efforts in the Baltic Region. Following his MEES doctoral degree, he has held a number of research and academic positions, has numerous publications, and received two Fulbright Research Scholarships. Dr. Bianchi has been elected a 2013 AAAS Fellow. Click here for more information on Thomas and his research.

Dr. Jay Blundon (MS '81) graduated from the MEES program with a master's in 1981 under Dr. Vic Kennedy. Jay then received a Ph.D. from the Department of Zoology at the University of Maryland College Park, earning his degree in 1986 with a focus in neuroscience. He continued his neuroscience research as a postdoc at the University of Texas in Austin for 7 years. In 1993, Jay became an assistant professor of biology at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He became associate professor at Rhodes in 1999. Jay and his wife Lettie still live in Memphis, where Jay is Chair of the Neuroscience Program at Rhodes College. They have two sons: Brandon and Gaven. Details of Jay's research and teaching can be found at his website.

Dr. Jason Caplan (MS '82; PhD '84) is the founder and CEO of EnSolve Biosystems Inc., a biotechnology company based in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. In business since 1995, the company has won numerous awards and financial support from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center for research and development. In addition to the PetroLiminator shipboard oily water separator system, EnSolve also markets bioenzymatic degreasers and oil-spill cleanup products for the marine industry. In December 2005, EnSolve Biosystems was awarded a Small Business Innovative Research contract by the U.S. Navy to develop a prototype Portable Oil Remediation System (PORS) for removal of hydrocarbons, organic contaminants, and trace metals normally found on inactive vessels. See their website for more information.

Dr. Jane Caffrey (PhD ’89) did her dissertation on “The effect of submerged macrophytes on nitrogen cycling in Fourleague Bay, Louisiana” working with Dr. W. Michael Kemp. After a varied career in government and universities, Jane is now an Associate Professor in the Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation at the University of West Florida.  Her research interests are estuarine nutrient biogeochemistry; in-situ nutrient analysis; and water quality, including the factors controlling dissolved oxygen dynamics and metabolism.  Jane has been funded by EPA and EPRI to measure atmospheric deposition of mercury and trace metals to the Pensacola Bay watershed. She also works on Pensacola Bay water quality issues with local and state agencies. Check out her website here for more information on her work.

Dr. Michael Crosby (PhD '87) has been very busy since receiving his doctoral degree under Dr. Roger Newall! Now, he has over 25 years of research, teaching, science management and leadership experience and has gained expertise in developing and managing multidisciplinary research through his interactions, involvement and partnerships with numerous universities, national and international science and resource management agencies, programs and committees. His endeavors focus on improving the "synthesis, translation and transfer" of science and technical information between research, public policy and stakeholder communities. In July 2003, Dr. Crosby was appointed to the Senior Executive Service position at the National Science Foundation to serve as both executive officer and office director of the National Science Board (NSB). He came to NSB from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he was the senior advisor for international science policy in the undersecretary's office of international affairs. His previous positions in NOAA include executive director for the NOAA science advisory board, national research coordinator for ocean and coastal resource management, and chief scientist for sanctuaries and reserves. He also completed a special detail from NOAA at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he served for two years as the senior science advisor for marine and coastal ecosystems. Prior to joining NOAA, Dr. Crosby held numerous faculty positions at various institutions, including the Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research at the University of South Carolina; the department of marine science at Coastal Carolina University; the graduate program at the University of Charleston; Salisbury State University; and in science positions with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Crosby earned a doctorate in marine-estuarine-environmental sciences while studying under Dr. Rodger Newell at Horn Point Laboratory. He has received research grants from many agencies including NSF, NOAA, EPA, DOD and USAID. Dr. Crosby led major national and international, multidiscipline, multi-year research projects like the U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program project entitled "Ecological and Socio-Economic Impacts of Alternative Access Management Strategies in Marine and Coastal Protected Areas", and the U.S.-Israeli and Jordanian joint partnership project entitled "The Red Sea Marine Peace Park Cooperative Research, Monitoring and Management Program." He is also a member of the Natural Areas Association, the Coastal Society, the National Shellfisheries Association, the Estuarine Research Federation, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, The Pacific Congress on Marine Science and Technology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as a fellow of the Royal Linnean Society of London. Crosby serves as a reviewer and panelist for numerous scientific journals and for national and international science panels and advisory committees. He has published over 40 articles in such publications as Marine Ecology Progress Series, Journal of Shellfish Research, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, Marine Biology, Limnology and Oceanography, Ocean and Coastal Management, Natural Areas Journal, Coral Reefs, Oceanography, Aquatic Conservation, and various Technical Memoranda Series, and has edited several books and manuals dealing with marine protected areas and coral reefs.  In May 2010, Dr. Crosby was appointed as Senior Vice President of Mote Marine Laboratory, following appointments As Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at George Mason University and Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.  In May 2013,  he became President and CEO of the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. More information on the Mote Marine Lab can be found here.

Penelope Dalton (MS '87) was a teacher on a U.S. Navy base in Rota, Spain, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya prior to joining the University of Maryland, MEES Program. After acceptance, Penelope pursued her graduate research and received the 1985 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. In 1987, Ms. Dalton completed her MEES master's thesis under the supervision of Dr. Mihursky at CBL. From 1987 to 1999, she was a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Ms. Dalton played a pivotal role in shaping marine policy at the national level. Reaching the senior level on the committee, she spoke before Congress and federal ocean agencies on behalf of 83 of the nation's largest oceanographic institutions. Dalton spent two years (1999-2001) at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service as assistant administrator, managing the 2,500-member scientific and technical staff in more than two-dozen facilities across the nation. She strengthened her career in 2001 by joining the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, or CORE, in Washington, DC, as Vice President. In that position, Dalton helped give its members, which includes the University of Washington (UW) and other major oceanographic institutions, a unified voice on national and international ocean issues. In 2005, Penelope joined the University of Washington as Director of the Washington Sea Grant Program. With 20 years of experience in marine and coastal issues, she now leads an organization that funds research on such things as the accidental capture of endangered seabirds, introductions of harmful non-native animals and plants, shellfish farming techniques and new cancer-fighting medicines from the sea. Part of a network of 30 state programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington Sea Grant Program is one of the oldest and, with a budget of $5 million a year from federal and other funding sources, is the second largest behind California. At the UW, Washington Sea Grant is a part of the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences. Dalton says her initial goal is to better serve Sea Grant's constituents by strengthening existing partnerships with the UW, other academic institutions, federal, state and local government, tribes, and marine-related industries and associations.

Dr. Carol B. Daniels (PhD '87) is the National Parks Services (NPS) Coordinator for the Southern Florida and Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SFC-CESU). This CESU was established in 2000 and has 6 federal agency partners and numerous university and private sector partners. The University of Miami's Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences serves as the host and encompasses the southern end of Florida, Puerto Rico and Caribbean islands. For more information on the SFC CESU, click here. 

Dr. John Dolan (MEES, Ph.D. '88) is a Senior Scientist at the Observatoire Oceanologique de Villefranche - a field campus of the Universite de Paris VI which houses 3 research-teaching units, co-administered by the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Universite de Paris VI: Geology, Developmental Biology, and Oceanography. The oceanography laboratory, Laboratoire de Oceanographie de Villefranche (LOV) is composed of 5 research groups or departments. John is the head of the Marine Microbial Ecology Group. His specialty is ciliate microzooplankton, the first link in aquatic food chains and he began by working on problems of ciliate ontongeny and systematics with G. A. Antipa (San Francisco State University) and turned to ecosystem ecology with D.W. Coats (Smithsonian Institution) and E. B. Small (University of Maryland). Since matriculation from the MEES Program, John has studied natural populations of ciliate microzooplankton in the Chesapeake Bay, across the Mediterreanean Sea, and both the SW and SE Pacific Ocean. A particular interest of his is physiology (for example growth and feeding) in typical marine ciliates, freshwater nanoflagellates, as well as mixotrophic ciliates and nanoflagellates. He currently is examining diel patterns, digestion, and selective feeding in micro and nano zooplankton. For more information, or to contact John, click here.

Dr. Dan Jacobs (ENVSC, PhD'85) has been associated with Maryland Sea Grant for more than 20 years - first as a trainee and 1982 Knauss Fellow while a student in the MEES Program completing his doctoral degree under Dr. Robert Ulanowicz, followed by employment as the Information Systems Manager and Webmaster. Dr. Jacobs was instrumental in the development of the Maryland, and many other, Sea Grant program websites. All 30 programs and the National Sea Grant Office now have a solid web presence through the Sea Grant network. Jacobs holds a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management from Rutgers University, a master's degree in Wildlife Management, with a minor in Statistics, from Frostburg University. 

Dr. Stephen J. Jordan (MEES, Ph.D. '87) is currently a Research Ecologist and Special Assistant to the Director with the U.S. EPA's Gulf Ecology Division (GED) in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Steve enjoys his employment because it allows him to work for a better environment while advancing the protection, restoration, and scientific understanding of  aquatic ecosystems. He has extensive experience with in-service training in leadership, supervision, equal employment opportunities, procurement, staff development, personnel management, team building, organizational change. Many of these skills were just simply polished while being the Chief of the Ecosystem Assessment Branch, USEPA, Gulf Ecology Division. Prior to his appointment as Chief, Steve was the Director of the Sarbanes Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, Maryland Department of Natural Resources where he led the Laboratory from a period of physical decay, staff attrition and poor morale to a complete renovation and expansion of the physical plant, addition of new research programs and modern equipment, and an atmosphere of cooperation and optimism. Prior to that, he was the Director of the Oxford Laboratory Division of the Maryland Fisheries Service, and Chief of the Habitat Impacts Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources for eight years where he led the development of new state-funded environmental programs, including Chesapeake Bay Living Resources Monitoring, Targeted Watershed Restoration, Chesapeake Bay Ambient Toxicity by developing program justifications, work plans, successful budget initiatives, recruited staff and did much of the initial technical work. Steve was also an associate faculty member for Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies for the eight years prior to moving to Florida, where he helped develop and taught graduate Estuarine Ecology, Ecology of the Coastal Zone, The Chesapeake Bay: Ecology and Ecosystem Management, and Principles and Methods of Ecology. He has authored or co-authored of more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and published reports while authoring or co-authoring more than 40 presentations and posters at scientific meetings. Steve's success is recognized with the following accolades: Congressional Citation, Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, Congressional Record, 2002.; Governor’s Citation, Parris N. Glendenning, Governor, State of Maryland; Salute to Excellence, awarded by Maryland Governor Schaefer for the Chesapeake Executive Council, 1992; Chesapeake Bay Program Certificate of Appreciation for "outstanding and dedicated leadership. More information on the GED can be found here. 

Dr. Adam Marsh (PhD '88) is an Associate Professor of Marine Biosciences in the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. Dr. Marsh is researching the effects of cold temperatures on regulation of gene expression in embryos and larvae in deep-sea and polar ocean invertebrates in Antarctica and the Artic. Adam's primary research interests are the roles that molecular and biochemical mechanisms determine in growth and metabolism during early development in larvae from extreme environments (i.e., gene expression, RNA processing and turnover; protein metabolism and turnover; cellular physiology and energetics; organismal development and growth). Recently his work has demonstrated that despite the slow course of development, metabolic activities in some polar embryos and larvae are temperature compensated, and equivalent to comparable rates in temperate species. He is trying to identify the biochemical mechanism by which low temperatures set developmental rates in these polar species. Learn more about Adam by clicking here.

Dr. Frank E. Muller-Karger (PhD '88) is a biological oceanographer and a Professor at the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, where he serves as Director of the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing. As some of you already know, he is of Hispanic descent via Puerto Rico, and while born in the U.S. he grew up in Venezuela. Frank conducts research on marine primary production using satellite remote sensing, large data sets, networking, and high-speed computing. His research helps in the location and monitoring of large-scale phenomena, understanding climate control and climate change, and in the interpretation of numerical models of the ocean. Presently, the primary focus of his research is to assess the importance of continental margins, including areas of upwelling, river discharge, and coral reefs in the global carbon budget, using satellites that measure ocean color and sea surface temperature. Dr. Muller-Karger has worked hard to educate K-12 teachers in the Southern Florida region about the use of new technologies in oceanography through targeted workshops sponsored by NASA. Frank has given lectures at various national educator societies, and serves as the science advisor for the Florida Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE). He also led the effort to establish an internal committee within the College of Marine Science to define the college's mission with respect to education and outreach. Dr. Muller-Karger was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. In 2005, he was appointed to the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council/National Academies. Because of his keen interest in linking science and education processes, and his interest in addressing the problem of underserved and under-represented groups in academic science programs, he has been a champion for minorities, for educators, and science education within the Commission on Ocean Policy. Dr. Muller-Karger previously received the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Award for Outstanding Contributions and the NASA Administrator Award for Exceptional Contribution and Service for supporting development of satellite technologies for ocean observation. He has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine science and a Master's degree in management and has authored or co-authored over 80 scientific publications. Frank also speaks fluent Spanish and German. Learn more about Frank by clicking here.

Dr. Timothy Mulligan (PhD '87) a Professor in the Fisheries Biology Department at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, was been named Humboldt State University's Outstanding Professor of 2004-05. This is the university's highest honor for dedication and excellence in teaching. Mulligan has taught at HSU since 1989, and his students laud him for his energy, enthusiasm, personal attention, and grasp of detail. His faculty colleagues agree, noting that Mulligan personifies the university's long-standing commitment to practical learning through research, combined with rigorous classroom instruction. "Tim's most effective classroom - and, I suspect, his favorite classroom - is in the field," comments Dave Hankin, chair of HSU's Department of Fisheries Biology. "Depending on the class and the time of year, Tim's students may be working a beach seine [fishing net] in Trinidad Harbor or the Mad River estuary, pulling a small trawl through eel grass beds in Humboldt Bay, deploying small plankton nets in Stone Lagoon, or towing a bottom trawl off the [university research vessel] Coral Sea, several miles off shore from Eureka." Growing up 30 miles north of Boston and 30 minutes from the ocean, Mulligan spent a summer doing research on the Isle of Shoals that adjoins the Maine/New Hampshire coast while pursuing undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont . The experience fed a growing interest in various species of fish that cemented his fascination. He continued his education with graduate studies at the University of Central Florida and earned his doctorate from the University of Maryland MEES Program, studying striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay under Dr. Edward Houde. A postdoctoral fellowship took him west to the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska to focus on walleye pollock, before he moved to HSU. "I've had to teach myself about Southern California fishes, just to keep up with my students," Mulligan says. "The really, really top students keep you on your toes. But most professors actually get more satisfaction from reaching the students who aren't as well prepared. If you can get them turned on, now that's something!"  

Fred Pinkney (PhD '88) just celebrated his 20th year as Senior Biologist with the Environmental Contaminants Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis, Maryland.  He investigates a wide range of environmental contaminant issues including skin and liver tumors in brown bullhead catfish in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, endocrine disruption in smallmouth and largemouth bass, reproductive problems in yellow perch, the occurrence of abnormal frogs on National Wildlife Refuges, and bioaccumulation of PCBs in fish from the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. He is active in committees and workgroups related to the cleanup of the Anacostia River and toxic chemical issues in the Chesapeake Bay. He frequently collaborates with scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and District Department of the Environment and has served on graduate student committees at several universities. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland where he enjoys gardening, tennis, playing piano, and softball.  A recent highlight was pitching the final innings for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2013 Tournament Championship Team in the Maryland DNR league at Sandy Point State Park.  Here is the team photo. His older son and team shortstop, Gabe, was born while Fred was working on his dissertation at CBL.

Dr. Tina Iamonte Armstrong (ENMB, PhD '99) received her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, with a focus on Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics from Cornell University. After her admittance into the MEES Program, Tina pursued her dissertation research under Dr. Brian Bradley and received a 1999 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship award. She spent her fellowship year in NOAA's National Oceans Service in the National Center for Coastal Ocean Service (NCCOS), where she contributed to efforts at predicting coastal ocean responses to natural and anthropogenic change. Armstrong focused her doctoral research to the use of protein expression signatures as a biomarker of anthropogenic stressors on aquatic organisms. Upon matriculation, Tina also received an advanced certificate in Policy Science. Following her fellowship, Dr. Armstrong worked for Lockheed Martin as senior manager of environmental remediation for a number of years. Dr. Armstrong was also Lockheed Martin's point person for cleanup efforts in Tallevast. It was her job to hire outside consultants, review their findings and make recommendations to Lockheed Martin's management about the kinds of cleanup activities that should be undertaken in Tallevast. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 2005, Dr. Armstrong was an ecological risk assessor for Tampa-based Blasland, Bouck & Lee, Inc., which gave her the opportunity to see how many different companies responded to pollution problems associated with industrial sites across the Eastern Seaboard. Currently, Dr. Armstrong is a Principal Scientist and Project Manager at ARCADIS U.S. where she specializes in strategic environmental management and environmental risk assessment.

Richard Arnold (MS '92) began working at the United States Naval Academy in back in 1987 as an Oceanographic Technician. Upon completing his teacher certification program, he accepted a position as a science teacher at John Hanson Middle School in Waldorf, Maryland. During his tenure, he completed a Masters program while conducting research in biostratigraphy at the Horn Point Environmental Laboratory in Cambridge, Maryland under Dr. William Dennison. Upon matriculation, Arnold spent another year working in the Marine Sciences including time at the Cape Cod National Seashore and aboard a sail training/oceanographic vessel headquartered in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. In 1993, Arnold joined the faculty at the Casablanca American School in Casablanca, Morocco, teaching college prepatory Biology and Marine Environmental Science. During that time, he began presenting workshops at various international education conferences focusing on science teaching methodologies. In 1996, he and his family moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was employed as a middle and high school science teacher at the American International School. In 2001, Arnold was hired by International School Services to teach middle school mathematics and science at the International School of Kuala Kencana in West Papua, Indonesia. In 2003, he accepted a similar teaching position at the American International School of Bucharest in Bucharest, Romania. Mr. Arnold was selected as an Educator Astronaut by NASA in May 2004. In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Upon completion of his training, Arnold was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the Space Station Branch working technical issues with JAXA hardware. He will work various technical assignments until assigned to a spaceflight. NASA Astronaut Corp typically assembles a new astronaut class every one to three years. Mr. Arnold and his classmates were chosen from 2,882 applicants. Married with two kids, Mr. Arnold enjoys with his family hobbies such as running, fishing, reading, kayaking, bicycling, ornithology, paleontology and guitar. Mr. Arnold is a member of the following organizations: National Science Teachers Association, International Technology Education Association, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. He has also been the recipient of various grants for extended studies in marine science.

Dr. Ann Barse (MS '88; PhD '94) is currently an Associate Biology Professor at Salisbury University, MD. Her academic specialties are Invertebrate Zoology, Parasitology and Ecology. Dr. Barse's research interests include fish parasite ecology; gill parasites of Fundulus spp. Anguillicola crassus infections in American eels, Anguilla rostrata Capsalidae (Monogenea) associations with Istiophorid fishes. She also finds time to serve as an advisor for the Dual Degree Program for Biology and Environmental/Marine Sciences.  Find out more about Ann's work by clicking here.

Ernest Clarke (MS '99) has had a varied career since his degree under Dr. Andrew Balwin. After a stint at the Starr Ranch Audubon Sanctuary in southern California as Biological Educator, moved on to become manager of the Cano Palmo biological station in a remote area of Costa Rica. Currently Ernie works with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Ms. Sara Gottlieb (ENVSC. MS '98) was awarded a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in 1997 where she worked in the office of Representative Steven LaTourette of Ohio, co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force and in the office of Senator John Glenn. Since completing her fellowship in 1997 and graduating from MEES in 1998 (working with Dr. Joseph Mihursky), she lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was a data manager and principle investigator on multiple projects related to monitoring endangered fish species in the Rio Grande and San Juan River. The projects that Sara worked on, coordinating a fantastic field crew, were contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sara also worked closely with the New Mexico Department Game and Fish. In 2005, Sara re-located to Atlanta, Georgia where she has been working for the past year at the Center for Geographic Information Systems at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Sara was awarded two contracts here to develop tools for managing coastal resources for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division. Currently Sara is a Conservation Planner at The Nature Conservancy, where she has worked on projects related to the South Atlantic coastal and marine ecosystems as well as developing plans to restore longleaf pine across the southeastern U.S.  She is involved in the Lake Claire Cohousing Community and the Rock Creek Watershed Alliance. She has one daughter, Sadie.

Melissa Ederington Hagy (MS '95) has worked in environments as diverse as Lake Onandaga, NY, the Everglades, the San Francisco Bay-Delta, Pensacola Bay and Mobile Bay while working at the Academa of Natural Sciences Benedict Estuarine Research Center, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and most recently at the University of West Florida all since graduating from the MEES Program under Dr. H. Rodger Harvey. Her work in science has built on her research expertise in organic geochemistry developed while a student allowing her to have gained a broader experience in other laboratory and field methods and data management. Melissa and her husband Jim have three daughters, born in 2000, 2002 and 2006. Melissa started a part time career as a fitness instructor while a student at Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and has continued with that to date. 

Jennifer (Harman) Fetcho (CHEM, MS '96) received her BS in Chemistry from the College of Charleston, SC in 1993. She entered the MEES Program in 1994 and completed her masters degree under the guidance of Dr. Joel Baker in 1996. Currently, Jen is a support Chemist for Dr. Cathleen Hapeman where Jen plans and conducts field projects in collaboration with ARS-Tifton, GA labs, University of Florida in Homestead, FL, and the National Park Service in Biscayne National Park to investigate air and water quality and agrochemical fate and transport in Southern Florida. Jen also manages a large-scale field project at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center where she investigates the environmental impacts of various vegetable production systems on water, air, and soil quality, by examining the fate, transport, and transformation of agro-chemicals within the environment.

 Dr. John Heidelberg  (PhD '97) is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California and at the Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies.  Prior to moving to California, John was at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).  John works on both the USC UPC campus in Los Angeles and the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island.  John's research interests are the located within the field of microbial genomics.  Specifically, he is studying the metabolic potential of common and abundant marine bacteria by sequencing these organisms' DNA.  John is also currently serving as Senior Editor for The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology  

Dr. Karla Heidelberg   (PhD '99) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies.  Karla has labs on both the USC UPC campus in Los Angeles and the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island.  Her group researches the genetic, biochemical, and metabolic properties of naturally occurring prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial assemblages by pairing contemporary genomic technologies with more traditional lab and field approaches.  Current research programs focus on microbial consortia from hypersaline environments, a variety of marine environments, and soil communities.  For more information on Karla and the K. Heidelberg lab, click here.  

Dr. Julie E. Keister (MEES, MS '96), received a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, at Oregon State University after her MEES degree working with Dr. Edward Houde and Dr. Denise Breitburg. While a Biological Oceanographer and Zooplankton Ecologist with NOAA, her research focused on the physical and biological processes that effect abundances and distributions of zooplankton in coastal ecosystems.  Currently Julie is an Assistant Professor in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on a variety of problems in biological oceanography and zooplankton ecology, particularly those related to how climate-driven environmental change interact with biological processes to control zooplankton biogeography, diversity, community structure, and abundance. In her spare time, Julie enjoys hiking, backpacking, snow boarding, ultimate Frisbee, floor hockey, soccer, watching movies and reading.  Find out more about Julie's work on her website.

Mi Ae Kim (MEES, MS '95) Since her graduation in 1995 under Dr. Patrick Kangas, Mi Ae has worked for The Nature Conservancy in Virginia, Public Affairs Management in San Francisco, Surface Water Resources Inc. in Sacramento, National Ocean Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service in Silver Spring where she has been working with the Endangered Species Act. Mi Ae helped to establish a non-profit organization call the “Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group”. The Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group (BCWWG) is a citizen's organization dedicated to the preservation and environmental health of a subwatershed of the Anacostia River. The Beaverdam Creek watershed is located northeast of Washington D.C. near the towns of Greenbelt, Beltsville, and College Park, Maryland. Most of the watershed lies in the boundaries of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The Anacostia River, a tributary of the Potomac River, flows through Washington, D.C., while the Potomac flows into Chesapeake Bay. To support Mi Ae's fight in locally preserving environmental health, or for more information on BCWWG, click here. When not busy meeting the demands of her career, Mi Ae spends time with her daughter while trying to meet the challenges that face a working mom.

Dr. Joan Maloof (ENVSC, MS '91; PhD '99) studied with Dr. Gian Gupta at UMES for her Master's degree and with Dr. David Inouye at UMCP for her Doctorate. During her doctoral studies, she researched the pollination biology of a rare plant growing near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado. Currently she is an Associate Professor at Salisbury University's Department of Biology. A naturalist, Joan specializes in native plant identification, plant-animal interactions, and forest ecology. Joan was instrumental in developing the new Environmental Issues major (BA) offered at Salisbury University. She is also a member of the Henson Seminar Committee, the Advisory Committee on Buildings and Grounds Salisbury University Forum, Citizens Advisory Council for Chesapeake Forest Lands, and the campus representative for Civic Engagement: Stewardship of Public Lands. In the summer of 2005, Dr. Maloof released her first book titled "Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest" (University of Georgia Press). The resulting mix of scientific lore and acute observation allows Joan to profile each tree in the forests near her Maryland home and explore its relationship with the surrounding plants, insects, birds, mammals, fungi and people who rely on it. An ancestor of Joan's had been Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), America's first female astronomer. Similarly, Joan supports Maria's idea that "we especially need imagination in science. It is not all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry."  Find out more about Joan's research and teaching by clicking here.

Dr. Jennifer Zelenke Merrill (PhD '99) received her B.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse in 1993. She enrolled in the MEES program the summer after graduating and became a student of Jeffrey Cornwell at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory where her research was focused on two water quality maintenance functions of tidal freshwater marshes, burial of particulate nutrients and denitrification. In 1999, Jen received a Knauss Fellowship award that allowed her to serve as a staff member in the office of U.S. Senator Carl Levin, who replaced Senator John Glenn as Democratic chair of the Great Lakes Task Force. The Task Force covers both the Senate and House and is a bipartisan subset of the Northeast-Midwest Coalition. While she served her NOAA Knauss Fellow, she lectured at the University of Maryland, and worked as a project manager at Maryland Sea grant. Dr. Merrill was the Senior Program Officer at the Ocean Studies Board (OSB) from 2000 to 2005. She is currently directing a study reviewing the impact of new review procedures of the National Sea Grant Program. She also serves as the OSB staff contact for ICSU's Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research.

Jill Stevenson (FISH, MS '97) while still a student in the MEES Program under Dr. David Secor, Jill received a 1997 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Award. During her fellowship year, she worked for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, in the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Division of Highly Migratory Species, with several researchers, including Richard Surdie. Jill first came to the University of Maryland when she received summer fellowship in Maryland Sea Grant's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, and awarded to outstanding students studying marine and environmental science. Stevenson spent her 1991 undergraduate fellowship at Horn Point Laboratory (HPL), working with scientist Jeff Cornwell on sediments and biogeochemistry. After successfully defending her master's thesis on Atlantic sturgeon, Jill went on to work for NOAA, and then became the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director of Fisheries. In 2003, Jill took maternity leave from MD DNR and remains at home as a stay-at-home mom.

Dr. Judith Stribling (MEES, Ph.D. '94) is a Professor of Biology at Salisbury University (SU), where she is also the coordinator of the collaborative Dual Degree Program in Biology-Environmental/Marine Science with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Director of the SU Wicomico River Creekwatcher Program. She is active in the local environmental community, with the Friends of the Nanticoke River, a citizens' organization, and Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, a bi-state consortium of 36 Delaware and Maryland governmental, business and citizens' groups that promotes community involvement in protection of the river. Judith's professional and research interests focus on watershed and tributary nutrient monitoring and management and wetlands (their biogeochemistry, restoration, and monitoring). She has also been a member of the Advisory Committee for the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and a member of the Science Advisory Panel for Assateague Island National Seashore and worked as a consultant to the Maryland Department of the Environment in an assessment of wetland management. Judith is married to David Gooch, and they have one child, Nicholas. They live on Maryland's Eastern Shore in Bivalve, where they spend as much time as they can fishing and sailing.

Richard Takacs (MS '92) is a Restoration Specialist with the Habitat Restoration Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Marine Fisheries Service based at the Restoration Center, and working with the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. The objective of the Restoration Center is to bring together citizens, organizations, industry, students, landowners, and local, state, and federal agencies to restore habitat around the coastal United States. The program funds projects directly as well as through partnerships with national and regional organizations. Since 1996, this program has funded more than 900 restoration projects, among them living shorelines projects. Rich has worked on living shorelines permitting, design, and implementation, and currently manages the NOAA-Chesapeake Bay living shoreline restoration grant program.

Dr. Adel M. Talaat, M.V.Sc. (ENMB, PhD '98) is an Associate professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin. During his Ph.D. work in the MEES Program under Dr. Renate Reimschuessel, he developed a novel model for studying mycobacterial infections using the goldfish, Carassius auratus and Mycobacterium marinum. That model served as a surrogate model to human infections with M. tuberculosis and helps in screening a large number of mycobacterial mutants in a relevant model of infection. Dr. Talaat's research uses innovative approaches to understand bacterial pathogenesis on a genome-wide scale to generate useful therapies (drugs and vaccines). Currently, his lab is working on the functional genomics of M. tuberculosis and M. avium ss. paratuberculosis. In particular, Dr. Talaat's lab is using array differential gene expression (ADGE) profiling generated by spotted DNA-micro arrays to understand gene expression that underlies the disease process and the nature of host-pathogen interactions. For example, his research identified a genomic island within M. tuberculosis that is expressed exclusively inside animals during infection. Dr. Talaat has been using gene-targeted mutational analysis to determine the importance of such genes in bacterial survival during infection. In addition, he is testing such genes as vaccine candidates using genetic immunization protocol and different animal models of infection. Lean more about Dr. Talaat's work here.

Lori Thiele (ECOL, MS '99) In collaboration with The Humane Society of the United States, Lori studied the effectiveness of immunocontraception for controlling urban-suburban white-tailed deer populations for her research under Dr. Lowell Adams. Following work as an animal control officer with the Prince George's County Animal Shelter, Lori moved to Humane Wildlife Solutions, an arm of the Humane Society of the United States.

Haluk Tuncer (MS '88. & PhD '91) under the guidance of Dr. Reginal Harrell gained a vast experience in aquaculture and fisheries and has used this knowledge to become the owner of the second largest fry producer in Turkey, Akuvatur Mediterranean Fishes Co.  Akuvatur also cultures some valuable Mediterranean fish which no other European companies are able to produce.  See www.akuvatur.com for more on the company, its processes and its products.

Art Abrams (ECOL, MS '02) Art, in cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, studied the role of gray squirrels in maintaining the life cycle of the deer tick, a major player in spreading Lyme Disease while pursuing an MS from the MEES Program. Currently, he is employed as a Zoologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. (2/13)

Dr. Jason Adolf (OCEAN, PhD '02) is an Assistant Professor in Marine Sciences at the University of Hawaii - Hilo where his research interests are in the field of phytoplankton ecology and evolution.  Particularly, understanding the mechanisms that drive changes in community composition, and how these changes impact the ecological function of phytoplankton.  Following his doctoral work under Dr. Lawrence Harding, Jason held postdoctoral positions at Horn Point Laboratory and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, as well as adjunct faculty appointment at Gettysburg College, before moving to Hawaii.    

John Adornato, III (ECOL, MS '01) received a 2001 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship and spent his fellowship year with Senator Daniel K. Akaka, a Democrat from Hawaii where his work focused on aquaculture, coral reefs, fisheries and other marine-related issues. From the fall of 1998 to 2001, John was a graduate teaching assistant for genetics and general biology in the College of Life Sciences at UMCP and was honored with a distinguished teaching assistant award. John also helped conduct wetland plant research in the Chesapeake Bay directed by Dr. Andrew Baldwin, a professor in the Biological Resources Engineering Department. In addition to that work, John designed and undertook his master's research investigating the damage from Hurricane Lili and the initial regeneration of forested wetlands on Hummingbird Cay, Great Exuma, Bahamas. Currently, John is the Regional Director of the Sun Coast Office of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). He is primarily involved in the restoration of the Everglades National Park by researching strategies that seek to regenerate historic water flow ultimately restoring the salinity and health of the fisheries and fishery habitat. (2/13)

​Dr. Olanrewaju (Larry) Alade​ (FISH, PhD '08) completed his doctoral work investigating the performance of a mark-recaputre model used to determine the spatial dynamics of yellowtail flounder stock working with Dr. Eric May.  Currently, Larry works as a Research Fisheries Biologist with NOAA at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center under the Cooperative Research team to help in the ongoing development of the mark-recaputre database system for a variety of species that will enhance its utility for analytical purposes.  In addition, he has been tasked to assist the Southern Demersal team in conducting and developing scientific assessments for the yellowtail founder stocks.  

Dr. Jude K. Apple (ECOL, PhD '05) successfully defended his PhD thesis in the winter of 2005 under the guidance of Dr. Michael Kemp. The majority of his research was supported by a three-year fellowship from the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), a NOAA sponsored organization promoting research and management of estuarine resources. Following graduation, Jude became an NRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the US Naval Research Lab, Washington DC, where he researched what the roles of salinity and terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) have in shaping the biogeography of estuarine bacterioplankton communities and their compositions. Currently, Jude is at Western Washington University’s Shannon Point Marine Center where his research focuses on the ecology of aquatic microbes, specifically factors shaping their metabolic processes, phylogenetic composition, role in microbial food web dynamics, and contribution to ecosystem-scale biogeochemical processes. See http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~applej2/SPMC/  for more information on Jude’s research, teaching and involvement in COSEE and COSIA. (2/13)

Brian Badgley (ECOL, MS '02) received a 2001 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship through which he worked in NOAA's National Ocean Service in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System prior to receiving his M.S. During his graduate career in the MEES Program under the guidance of Dr. Ken Sebens, he researched nutrient dynamics on coral reefs at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research and was a teaching assistant for a Biological Oceanography class and associated lab. Following graduation, Brian was the Coordinator of the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Coastal Institute in Florida and then was hired to head up the Coastal Institute (which is part of the NERR System Coastal Training Program, and serves as an objective, regional forum for the training of professionals involved in coastal decisions in Southwest Florida.  Eventually Brian returned to school for a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of South Florida and is now an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in the Crop & Soil Environmental Science department.  See http://www.cses.vt.edu/people/tenure/badgley.html for his current profile. (2/13)

Laurie Bauer (FISH, MS '06) began her M.S. degree in the MEES program at the University of Maryland in 2002. Her research, conducted at the Chesapeake Biological Lab under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Miller, focused on the over-wintering mortality of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2006, Laurie received a Knauss Fellowship Award and spent her fellowship year in NOAA's National Ocean Service Biogeography program where her work focused on the assessment of habitat and organisms in the National Marine Sanctuaries.  Laurie has remained with NOAA and is currently employed as a Marine Ecologist in the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment. (2/13)

Dr. Kelton Clark (ECOL, Ph.D. '01) has been helping minorities plunge into the marine sciences at Morgan State University's Estuarine Research Center (ERC), located in St. Leonard, Maryland, on the Patuxent River, where he is the Director. Kelly, a former student of Dr. Hines and Dr. Sebens, is now a professor in Morgan's Department of Biology and previously the scientific program manager for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation at the Smithsonian Institute, contends that minority students are not often exposed to marine biology and other specialized disciplines. As a consequence, these students choose careers in more well-known and traditional scientific fields, especially in healthcare fields such as medicine and dentistry. Clark notes, for example, that a minority child fascinated with insects is unlikely to learn about what an entomologist does— and so never considers entomology as a career possibility. As one of the few African American marine biologists in the United States, Clark began as a restaurant manager, earned his bachelor's in biology from San Diego State University, his Ph.D from the MEES Program in College Park. For Kelton, Morgan State provides an opportunity to pursue two passions: a love of teaching and a desire to increase diversity in the marine science community. The ERC is dedicated to investigating the complex interrelationships of aquatic ecosystems, particularly the ways in which coastal systems adapt to, and are affected by, human activities. While much of the center's research is conducted within the Chesapeake Bay, the Chesapeake watershed, and the neighboring Delaware Bay, studies are designed to address issues that are broader in scope and can be applied to similar problems in other coastal ecosystems both within the U.S. and in other countries. 

Todd Chadwell (ECOL, MS '04) is a Senior Project Manager and skilled botanist at Woodlot Alternatives, Inc. Todd is responsible for conducting natural resource inventories and botanical surveys, and coordinating large-scale habitat restoration and wetland mitigation projects. He has recently been involved in directing wetland mitigation associated with the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant in New England, and conducting wildlife studies associated with wind power and transmission projects throughout the Northeast. Mr. Chadwell is currently coordinating Woodlot's restoration work on the Housatonic River Restoration project in western Massachusetts (7/07).

Tim Culbertson (ECOL, MS '05) studied the effects of ammonia on maintenance of plant diversity and ecosystem functioning in treatment wetlands receiving agricultural wastewater under the guidance of Dr. Baldwin. Currently, Tim is a Population and Environmental Sciences (as well as Computer Sciences) teacher at the Harker School. He is a member and judge for the American Orchid Society, a member of the Strybing Arboretum Society and a member of the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden Society. (7/07)

Dr. James D. Hagy, III (PhD '01) received his Master's degree in 1996 and continued on at the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Laboratory for his doctorate. Jim finished his PhD graduate work in December 2001 and started work in January 2002 as a post-doc with the US EPA's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, which is located at Pensacola Beach, FL. In 2004, he became permanent staff member (Ecologist). His work at EPA focuses utilizes field studies and modeling to address questions related to eutrophication and hypoxia in estuaries and coastal waters, most recently the "dead zone" down coast from the Mississippi River off the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Jim and his wife Melissa (1995 MEES, MS graduate) have three daughters, born in 2000, 2002 and 2006. Outside of work and family, he pursues triathlon racing and competitive swimming.  (2/13)

Juliet M. Healy (ECOL, MS '01); In collaboration with Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the EPA, Juliet studied the use of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras mounted on helicopters for detecting bird carcasses in the field, a new technique for assessing the safety to wildlife of outdoor use of pesticides. (7/07)

Dr. Paula Henry​ (PhD '02) is currently a Research Physiologist at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC).  Paula conducts scientific research addressing issues related to environmental stressors, contaminant exposure, and population viability.  She investigates the effects of chronic and sublethal exposure of environmental contaminants on a variety of "non-traditional" wildlife models; the relative sensitivity of various avian, amphibian, and reptilian species to exposure to endocrine disruptors and agricultural pesticides, and to declines in habitat and water quality; and the application of physiological and behavioral indices as biomarkers for exposure and/or effect.  Some of Paula's recent activities include developing inquiry-based environmental education outreach programs for middle school, high school and college students.  She also chairs the PWRC Animal Care and Use Committee and the Mid-Atlantic Diamondback Terrapin Working Group and is a member of The Board of Directors for the Chesapeake Potomac Regional Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.  (4/13)

Rachel Herbert (ENVSC, MS '05) studied nutrient dynamics and limitation in riparian forested wetlands in agricultural and non-agricultural settings with her mentors Dr. Baldwin (advisor) & Dr. Gregory McCarty from the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center's Environmental Quality Laboratory as a Graduate Research Assistant. Since matriculation, Rachel is pursuing her career in environmental science with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is currently at the Municipal Stormwater Program within the Office of Water. (2/13)   

Dr. Amy Carnahan Horneman, SM (ASCP) (ENMB, PhD '01) is the Chief of Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics at the Baltimore VA Medical Center; and an Adjunct Associate Professor, Medical Research and Technology, DEPM, at the University of Maryland Baltimore. Amy is interested in researching taxonomy and virulence features of microorganisms from the environment that are pathogenic for humans, such as Aeromonas, a common water-based organism that causes gastrointestinal disease, and Vibrio species. Amy became a worldwide recognized expert on Aeromonas, finding three new species and publishing a dozen papers in scientific journals. Amy has also been a four-time Outstanding Instructor Award recipient. She was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, College Park Chapter in 2001. Dr. Horneman also won the Leadership Award for service as President of the Maryland Branch of the American Society for Microbiology in 2005. Currently, Dr. Horneman is serving as a research consultant with Dr. Ashok K. Chopra regarding EPA Research on Virulence Factors relating to the Presence of Aeromonas hydrophila strains in U.S. Drinking Water Supplies. 

Dr. Olaf P. Jensen (FISH, MS '04) began a M.S. degree program in the MEES program in 2000. His master's thesis research, supervised by Dr. Thomas Miller, focused on understanding the distribution patterns and spatial ecology of the blue crab in Chesapeake Bay (i.e., application of geostatistics to estuarine systems). Olaf was awarded a DAAD Fellowship by the German Federal Government for research in Germany during the winter of 2002-2003. Olaf also received the 2003 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship award which placed him in the biogeography program led by Dr. Mark Monaco in NOAA's National Ocean Service. His work with NOAA focused on biogeographic assessment that included habitat mapping and multi-species modeling, of the National Marine Sanctuaries. Following the receipt of his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 2010, Olaf was hired as an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University.  See here for the Jensen Lab within the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences where research ranges from field studies of endangered salmonids in Mongolia to meta-analysis of stock assessment data to better understand fish population dynamics. (2/13)

Dr. Nikisa George (Jordan) (Ph.D, (Concentration: Atmospheric Physics (prior to AOS), ‘09), earned her Ph.D. in MEES from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Fall 2009. Prior to joining the MEES Program, this Bulldog alum double majored in Computer Science and Biology and earned two Bachelor’s of Science degrees from Bowie State University in 2003. Entering the MEES program in Fall 2004, advised by Dr. Raymond Hoff, Nikisa earned the prestigious Jessica Soto Perez Memorial Award (2008), won 1st place at the 2010 American Meteorological Society annual conference in Atmospheric Chemistry (2008), as well as won the NOAA CREST Annual Symposium (2008), and served as President of the UMBC MEES GSO, building community and was an active collaborator in the MEES Program committee meetings. After graduating, Nikisa was a post-doc at the Joint Center for Earth Systems and Technology (JCET) performing research that concentrated on remote sensing of the atmosphere with a focus on aerosols and aerosol properties. Nikisa went on to be the 2013 National Women of Color STEM Conference Technology Rising Star award winner, and her doctoral dissertation was the first large-scale observational study of planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights using Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) that revealed certain issues with a NASA climate model. Dr. Nikisa George (nee Jordan) currently has over 20 scientific publications and has held numerous leadership roles including working as a Systems Engineer for over ten (10) years at Northrop Grunman Electronic Systems (NGES) Space Division in Asuza, California, where she was responsible for modeling and analysis, specifically phenomenology and algorithm development for ATMS and SSMIS, to determine the retrieval of brightness temperatures along with temperature and humidity sounding. Dr. George is currently the Senior Project Leader at the Aerospace Corporation, and, continuing her dedication to increasing diversity in STEM fields, also serves as the Executive Director and Co-founder of Linguate Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping students with second language acquisition and expanding student learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM). Nikisa recently presented “The NESDIS NGES Cycle 2 Analysis Results” at the January 2023 AMS annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. For more information on Dr. George, click here.

Dr. Susan Klosterhaus' (CHEM, Ph.D. '07) dissertation research focused on the bioavailability of sediment-associated organic chemical contaminants, particularly the brominated diphenyl ether flame retardants, from a heavily contaminated urban estuary and the processes that control their accumulation in aquatic food webs. Following employment with the San Francisco Estuary Institute, she joined The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute in 2012 as a Senior Scientist. Dr. Klosterhaus will be working closely with the Institute’s Certification Standards Board and leading the Institute’s work to help designers and manufacturers identify, manage, and replace the hazardous materials used in product manufacturing as required in the Cradle to Cradle Product CertificationCM protocol. (2/13)

Dr. Richard Kraus (FISH, PhD '03) pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Texas Institute of Oceanography at Texas A&M University following his MEES degree. Following his work in Texas, he joined the Environmental Science and Policy Departmental faulty of George Mason University as Assistant Professor of Fish Ecology before moving to his current position with the USGS - Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Erie Biological Station where he is a Research Fishery Biologist & Field Station Supervisor
of the EasternBasin Ecosystem Branch. (2/13)

Sheridan MacAuley (ENMB, MS '05) joined the MEES program in 2002 and conducted her research under the supervision of microbiologist Kevin Sowers at the University of Maryland Center of Marine Biotechnology.  Her research focused on microbial fermentation and the production of recombinant proteins by methane-producing marine microorganisms.  After successfully defending her master's thesis, Sheridan received the 2006 Knauss Fellowship Award working for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.  Her work focused on supporting NASA's involvement in the Ocean Action Plan and assisting in development of a plan for NASA's ongoing role in the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. (7/07)

Kristin Mielcarek (ECOL, MS '06) earned a Masters degree in Ecology under the supervision of Dr. Court Stevenson at Horn Point Laboratory on the Choptank River.  Kristin's research focused on marsh restoration and creation using dredged material from the shipping channels of the Chesapeake Bay.  After matriculation, Kristin volunteered for Catoctin Land Trust and Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage performing stream buffer plantings in Washington Country, Maryland.  Originally, Kristin great up on a farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore with five other siblings.  She now lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, with her husband Jeremy and son Benjamin.  Kristin currently works for the Canaan Valley Institute as a Watershed Circuit Rider. (2/13). 

Dr. Todd R. Miller (ENMB, PhD '04) became a post-doc at Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health in the Division of Environmental Health upon completion of his MEES Ph.D. Following his work at JHU, Todd moved to the University of Wisconsin, first to the Center of Limnology and then to the Zibler School of Public Health.  Currently he is an Assistant Professor whose research is concerned with characterizing factors that regulate human exposure to naturally occurring or anthropogenic toxins in water or wastewater.  Learn more about Todd by clicking here. 

Dr. Cassandra Moe (ENMB, PhD '01) is a biology instructor at the Dakota County Technical College in Minnesota.  In the past, Cassandra has affiliated with various academic institutions such as Augsburg, and Metropolitan State University.  Her dissertation work with advisor Dr. Allen Place focused on the characterization of a common vertebrate gastric enzyme, chitinase.  As a researcher, she considers herself to be a physiological ecologist - meaning that she is interested in how the biochemical and physiological processes at the cellular level are translated through the organismic, population, and community levels.  Cassandra really enjoys teaching non-biology majors and believes that a basic knowledge of science is crucial for every person, especially as our "daily lives become increasingly technical and our natural world is subjected to increasing pressure!" (2/13).

Wendy Morrison (FISH, MS '02) enrolled in the MEES program in 1998 where her work, advised by Dr. David Secor, focused on understanding the biology of American eels with an emphasis on an unfished population in the Hudson River, New York.  In 2001, Wendy received the Knauss Fellowship Award. She spent her fellowship year with NOAA's National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Program, where she worked on projects aimed at providing ecosystem0level information on the distributions and ecology of living marine resources that include projects in central California, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Following graduation, she went on to spend 3 years working with NOAA's Biogeography Program before pursuing a PhD in Biology at the Geeorgia Institute of Technology in Atlandta, Georgia.  Post-PhD, she returned to NOAA in the Domestic Fisheries Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service.  Although she values goog friends, her family, her dog, Surman, she enjoys reading novels, watching fish underwater, investigating naturing and trying to identify creatures (birds, insects, ascidians, sponges,etc.), eating chocolate and laughing. (2.13).

Robert (Bob) F. Murphy (FISH, MS '05) currently serves as the President and Executive Director of Ecosystems Solutions, Inc. (ESI) overseeing ESI's marine resources projects which include development of novel methods for large-scale submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration, assessment of biological responses to restoration practices, and oyster reef design.  Prior to ESI, Bob was the Senior Project Coordinator with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a regional non-profit, where he specialized in habitat restoration, with particular emphases on submerged vegetation and oyster reef habitats.  As a member of the senior staff at the Alliance, Bob served as scientific liaison to the Chesapeake Bay Program and other regional organizations.  While a student in the MEES program (with Dr. David Secor, advisor) Bob's research focused on the fish assemblage structure of the coastal bays of Maryland.  Bob's continued scientific interests include the interactions of habitat and population dynamics in marine and estuarine systems.  Bob and his wife Beth currently reside with their two boys, Ian and Declan in Edgewater, MD in the South River watershed. (2/13). 

Wendy Morrison (FISH, MS '02) enrolled in the MEES program in 1998 where her work, advised by Dr. David Secor, focused on understanding the biology of American eels with an emphasis on an unfished population in the Hudson River, New York.  In 2001, Wendy received the Knauss Fellowship Award. She spent her fellowship year with NOAA's National Ocean Service, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Program, where she worked on projects aimed at providing ecosystem0level information on the distributions and ecology of living marine resources that include projects in central California, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Following graduation, she went on to spend 3 years working with NOAA's Biogeography Program before pursuing a PhD in Biology at the Geeorgia Institute of Technology in Atlandta, Georgia.  Post-PhD, she returned to NOAA in the Domestic Fisheries Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service.  Although she values goog friends, her family, her dog, Surman, she enjoys reading novels, watching fish underwater, investigating naturing and trying to identify creatures (birds, insects, ascidians, sponges,etc.), eating chocolate and laughing. (2.13). 

Eric Nagal (ENVSC, MS '04), advised by Dr. Jeff Cornwell did thesis research that examined rates, magnitudes, and controls of nitrogen fixation in Florida Bay and how this nutrient source compares with external loading.  In 2004, Eric received the Knauss Fellowship Award to work within the House of Representative's Coast Guard and Marine Transportation Subcommittee under the supervision of John Rayfield.  His work focused on legislation addressing the problem of invasive species introduction via ballast water as well as other marine and Coast Guard-related issues.  Following his fellowship, Eric was able to stan on Capitol Hill and now he is working as a Professional Staff Member with the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Eric lives with his wife, Jessica (Davis) Nagal (MEES PhD), and two very happy energetic dogs in Laurel, Maryland. (7/09). 

Dr. Elizabeth North (FISH, PhD '01) was a NOAA intern for NOAA Chesapeake Bay Program Stock Assessment Committee within her first year after matriculation from the MEES Program.  After her internship was completed, she went on to be a Research Assistant for the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program.  In 2004, Dr. North was a visiting scientist at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER).  She has since joined the University of Maryland faculty as an assistant professor at Horn Point Laboratory, UMCES.  Learn more about Elizabeth, her research and teaching by clicking here.

Dr. Trista Maj Patterson (ECOL, PhD '05) is a Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.  This position follows work as an ecological economist with the U.S. Forest Service in Juneau, Alaska (where she was the first "ecological economist" hired by the USFS) and as a Fellow in Global Governance and Human Security at the University of Massachusetts.  The insight, creativity, and energy from other ecological economists buoyed her own efforts for career success.  The doctoral and EE certificate program she earned at the University of Maryland, a 3 year lecture/research residency at the University of Siena, Italy in EE< and the Donella Meadows Leadership Fellow Program (2004-2006), have had a strong influence on her work. She her website for more on Tristra and her work. 

Frank Pendleton (ENVSC, MS '03) conducted his master's research project in the Okavango River delta in Botswana examining the effects of pesticide spraying for tsetse fly control on bird populations.  Since completing the MEES Masters Program , he became a fish and wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services working on the Lake Champlain Complex.  Currently Frank is the Manager of the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument/Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in American Samoa. (2/13).

Jessica Peterson (ECOL, MS '03) is a Research Associate at the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Unit.  Prior to this, Jessica was involved in a project at the Nanticoke watershed, looking at plant communities of freshwater tidal marshes and swamps and the environmental factors influencing community dynamics.  Her work at this site include a study of the seed bank.  

Kelly Phyillaier Neff (ENVSC, MS '02) is currently employed at the Maryland Department of the Environmental Mitigation Section as a Natural Resources Planner.  During her M.S. degree, she worked on the initial plant colonization of a recently reconstructed tidal freshwater marsh at Kingman Lake, Washington D.C. In addition to monitoring the plant composition, the projected involved evaluation of see dynamics, including seed dispersal and seed bank analysis, and determining the environmental factors influencing the plant community. 

Taconya Piper (FISH, MS '03)became a Minorities in Marine and Environmental Sciences (MIMES) Summer Intern at the South Carolina Marine Resources Division (SCMRD).  The following December, Taconya earned a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 1999.  In 2000, she enrolled in the MEES program under the direction of Dr. Roman Jesien, where she investigated the reproductive potential of American shad in the Delaware and Hudson rivers.  She was also a research fishery biologist in the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) through NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, an EPA Graduate Research Fellow that supported her with a stipend, tuition and research funds.  She was also a summer intern with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  Previously she worked with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC). Taconya Piper received the 2003 Knauss Fellowship Award and spent her fellowship year with NOAA's National Ocean Service, in the Office of Ocean Exploration.  She organized, coordinated, and provided special support to expeditions led by the office.  After her arrival in D.C., she participated in a three-week research cruise to Puerto Rico Trench to map the seafloor.  She also focused on the development of education and outreach programs that promote ocean exploration and stewardship to the public.  Her work this year with education and outreach fulfills a personal goal to implement programs that will expose inner city youths to the many opportunities for careers in ocean and environmental science.  Following her fellowship, Taconya enrolled at Auburn University of pursue a PhD in Fisheries Science and Management.  Currently she is working with the Alabama Cooperative Research Unit.

Mark A. Rath​ (FISH, MS '04) began working for Charles River on the laboratory aquatic contract at the National institute of Health in Bethesda, MD after he graduated. Since 2008, Mark has served as the Shared Zebrafish Facility Manager and has been instrumental in the development, construction, testing and startup of the largest zebrafish laboratory in the world.  The Shared Zebrafish Facility opened in November of 2011, and it serves both the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Human Genome Research Institute.  That same year, Mark was elected to a two year term as the President of Zebrafish Husbandry Association.  Mark currently lives locally with his wife, Jessica and their two daughters, Elena and Lilliana. 

Michael Rearick (CHEM, MS '04) earned his masters under Dr. Robert Mason in environmental chemistry.  Since matriculation, Mike has been active at the Las Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, as an inorganic analytical chemist specializing in ion chromatography, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for the Geochemistry and Geomaterials Research Laboratory.  Mr. Rearick served as an analytical chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for 9 years prior to working at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Dr. Emma J. Rochelle-Newall (OCEAN, PhD '00) successfully completed her dissertation in the biological production of colored dissolved organic matter with Dr. Tom Fisher as her advisor.  In the  year following matriculation, Emma was a CNRS Postdoctoral fellow (Poste Rouge) in the ATIPE EcoMem program at the Laboratoire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche in France.  In 2002, she continued her post-doc in the same location, however Emma joined the Eurotroph project where she studied nutrient cycling and the trophic status of European coastal ecosystems under the guidance of Dr. Jean-Pierre Gattuso.  In 2003, Emma joined the Center for Oceanography of Marseille, Institute of Research and Development (IRD) of Noumea, studying the fate of organic carbon fixed by the cyanobacteria Trichodesmium.  Emma is still with the IRD in the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES) and now working in southeast Asia on the impacts of land use change on carbon export from soils and the impact of this organic matter on aquatic microbial functional and genetic diversity.  See here for more information.

Kristin Rusello (ECOL, MS '05) studied the ecological development of vegetation, soil, and seed banks at the restored tidal freshwater marshes and the assessment of habitat trends to prioritize restoration activities while a student in the MEES Program.  In 2005, Kristin received the 2005 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship ad spent her fellowship year in NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) in the Office of Response and Restoration under the supervision of Chief of the Damage Assessment Center, Pat Montanio.  Her work focused on implementing the Estuary Restoration Act and updating the refining the National Estuaries Database.  Currently Kristin works within NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.

Dr. Peter Sakaris (FISH, MS '02) graduated in 2002 with a Masters Degree in fisheries science at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and followed up with a doctoral degree at Auburn University in fisheries and allied aquacultures in 2006.  Peter married Catherine McCracken on December 2, 2006.  Currently Peter is an Associated Professor in the Biology Department of Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia.

Dr. Abby (Cohen) Schneider (CHEM, MS '01; PhD '05) completed her MEES masters research examining the influence of episodic events on PCB and PAH cycling in Lake Michigan in 2001 under the guidance of Dr. Joel Baker and continued on to her PhD in 2005 in which she examined the rates of PCB desorption from resuspended Hudson River Sediments.  Following graduation, Abby became an American Chemical Society Congressional Fellow working in the Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein focusing on water issues, including perchlorate contamination, fisheries, endangered species, and climate change.  Following her fellowship, Abby became the Federal Legislative Representative for the Association of California Water Agencies where  she is now the Senior Federal Relations Representative. 

Yanmei Shi (ECOL, MS '05) followed up her MEES degree with a PhD in Biological Engineering at MIT.  Shi's Master's thesis concerned the measurement of in situ expression of Proteorhodospin genes at the North Pacific central gyre station ALOHA.  Currently she is a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Shanghai, China.

Thomas A. Shyka (ECOL, MS '00) was awarded the Knauss Marine Policy Award in 1998.  He spent his fellowship year working in NOAA's National Ocean Service, in the Office of Coastal Resource Management, in the Marine Sanctuary Program, where he worked on coral reef restoration in the Florida Key's Marine Sanctuary and on other management issues in various sanctuaries around the country.  With advisor, Dr. Kenneth Sebens, Tom focused his graduate work on various aspects of coral feeding and growth.  In his first year at Maryland, as a NASA/Maryland Sea Grant Summer Fellow in Remote Sensing of the Oceans, he worked with Frank Hoge at NASA's Wallops Island facility.  Currently, Tom is an Outreach and Communications Specialist with the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS).

Dr. Heather Stapleton (CHEM, PhD '03) enrolled in the MEES Program with Dr. Joel Baker as her advisor and successfully defended her dissertation in 2003.  Dr. Stapleton is currently an Associated Professor of Environmental Chemistry at The Nichols School of the Environment at Duke University.  Her doctoral research focuses on understanding the fate and transformation of organic contaminants in aquatic systems. Recently Heather has focused he research on several types of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardants, with a focused on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).  See her website for more information on Heather and her nationally recognized research.

Dr. Bhaskaran Subramanian (ENVSC, PhD '06) originally from India, graduated from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore MEES Program with an emphasis in environmental science and became a National Sciences Manager with Maryland Eastern Shore RC&D Council, Inc.  His work included the creation of a GIS database for the Council.  Form there, he moved to work in the Ecosystem Restoration Services of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 

Dr. Adrienne Sutton (OCEAN, PhD '06) focused her doctoral research on whether agricultural conservation practices reduce nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.  After matriculation, Adrienne was a Sea Grant Fellow in NOAA's Office of Legislative Affairs in 2006 and then hired as NOAA's Congressional Affairs Specialist for Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) related issues.  While at NOAA she received the NOAA Administrator's Award in 2008 and two NOAA Recognition Awards.  From there she moved to the west coast and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory where she is now a Research Scientist in the Carbon Program.  Find out more about Adrienne and her work on characterizing the extent and magnitude of ocean acidification in surface waters of the open ocean and coral reef environments here

Stacy Swartwood (ENVSC, MS '04) was awarded a 2002 Knauss Fellowship and spent her fellowship year with the EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds in the Wetlands Division.  Her work focused on the incorporation of wetland and water issues into smart growth planning and strategies for state wetland programs.  She enrolled in the MEES program in 1999 and did her research on mangrove and salt marsh model ecosystems under the direction of Patrick Kangas.  Stacy was a graduate assistant in the College of Life Science's Office of International Programs, then spent 2001 as a research assistant at Maryland Sea Grant College.  After further employment with the EPA, Stacy is now working as a Program Analyst with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Lynn Takata ( FISH, MS '04) received a 2002 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship and worked in NOAA's National Ocean Service, with the National Marine Sanctuary Programs's Scientific Support Team.  During her fellowship, she helped design and implement a sanctuary-wide scientific monitoring program and assisted with the Baja to Bering expedition - a scientific cruise running though west coast sanctuaries.  In 1999, she enter the MEES program, where Dr. David Secor directed her research on comparing recruitment and growth patterns of young bluefish that use different Maryland nursery habitats.  Upon completion of the MEES Program, Lynn was employed as an Environmental Scientists at the California State Lands Commission where is is now an Environmental Program Manager. 

Dr. Jeffery Terwin (ECOL, PhD '00) pursued a post-doc at the University of Connecticut (2000-2002) following his MEES doctoral work at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Dr. Terwin moved into the science education area, teaching high school level biology, marine biology, and ecology while carrying on his research with the Navigator Project, and becoming the Dean of Students at the North Shore Country Day School.  After time as the Head of the Upper School at Chase Collegiate School in Connecticut,  Jeff was chosen to head to Upper School at the Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio in 2012.  

Pamela Toschik (ECOL, MS '04) conducted her Master's research, with Mary Ann Ottinger at UMCP and Barnett Tatter as the USGS- Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, focusing on the effects of contaminants and the habitat quality on osprey nest site use and reproductive success in the Delaware Bay.  In 2004 Pamela received a Knauss Fellowship Award and spent her year with the National Science FOundation's Office of Polar Programs.  Her work focused on management and policy related to research in Antarctica.  Following her fellowship, Pamela remained with the NSF, Office of Polar Programs as an Environmental Policy Specialist.  Currently Pam is with NOAA's Office of International Affairs. 

Sarah Hypio U'Ren e (ENVSC, MS '00) has been working in watershed management in her home state of Michigan.  She married her college sweetheart, Randy U'Ren, in May 2001.  Sarah worked for two years at the Annnis Water Resources Institute of Grand Valley State University as a watershed project coordinator where she authored a watershed management plan for the Muskegon River watershed.  In 2002, she and her husband moved to Traverse City in northern Michigan where she became a Project Coordinator for the nonprofit organization The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay where she is now Program Director.  There, Sarah has continued to author yet another watershed management plan, this time for the Grand Traverse Bat watershed and currently, she is heading numerous education and watershed restoration projects.  To date, she has applied for and received over $1.5 million in grant funding for watershed projects.  You can visit her organization's website here.  Sarah's husband, Randy is an optometrist and coaches a local high school boy's soccer team.  They currently have two daughters.

Anna Davis (ECOL, Ph.D. ‘21) graduated summa cum laude (4.0 cum GPA) with Honors. During her stay in the MEES program, she had authored or co-authored three peer reviewed papers on the impact of hypoxia (low-levels of dissolved oxygen) in the Chesapeake Bay on oyster populations as well as won numerous awards including the prestigious Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in 2013 and the Jane Pritchard Teaching Award in 2016.

Alterra Sanchez (CHEM, ‘Ph.D ‘21) entered the MEES Graduate Program with an impressive breadth of experience and awards. As an undergraduate at San Diego State University, Alterra was one of only thirty applicants to be accepted into the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program, which only accepts about ten honors students per year! Alterra went on to intern in the summer of 2013 at the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and presented her research at the California Statewide research competition in 2013 through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Since entering the MEES Graduate Program, advised by Dr. Michael Gonsior (UMCES), Alterra won an award for every year she was in the program: CMNS Dean’s Fellowship (2016, 2019, 2020), The 2020 MEES Colloquium Student Poster Award, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), the Reid Evans Menzer Memorial Summer Research Fellowship (2020), as well as the CRSSA Grant in 2021. Alterra graduated with her Ph.D. in Fall 2021 with a 3.888 cumulative GPA and now works as the Lead Senior Scientist at Sonoma Works conducting product headspace analysis for terpenes and residual solvents via GC-MS, and HPLC-MS/MS analysis for pesticides and mycotoxins. For more information on Alterra, please click here.

Suzanne Webster (Spitzer) (E&S, Ph.D. ‘21) graduated summa cum laude (cumulative GPA 3.972) earning her Ph.D. in Fall 2021. This University of Notre Dame grad had already published two peer reviewed journal articles as an undergraduate prior to entering the program, as well as given almost thirty presentations across the country at various conferences and written nearly 40 articles on science communication. While in the MEES program, Suzanne twice received the award for Outstanding Graduate Assistant from the University of Maryland Graduate School (2018, 2020), been awarded the Debbie-Morrin Nordlund Memorial Travel Award (2017), the Dean's Fellowship (2017), and in 2020 was awarded a Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship which placed her in NOAA's Technology Partnerships Office as their first Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Specialist. In her final semester Suzanne Webster was awarded the Anne G. Wylie Fellowship (Fall 2021).

Chelsea Wegner Koch (E&O, Ph.D. ‘21) entered the MEES Ph.D. Program in Fall 2017 with the Dean's Fellowship and graduated four years later summa cum laude in Fall 2021 with a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. Prior to entering the program, she was awarded the Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in 2014, and was placed in the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs in the US Antarctic Program (contracted by Lockheed Martin). She presented her dissertation research results at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in both 2019 and 2020, and she received the best poster presentation award for a Ph.D. student at the 2019 meeting. She was awarded one of six nationwide North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) Graduate Student Fellowships in 2019 and provided an oral presentation at the Ocean Science Meeting in San Diego, the APECS Science-Policy Workshop, in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 2019 and the Gordon Research Seminar in Lucca, Italy in March 2019. Chelsea is currently working with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission as a Contract Science Officer in Ile de France, France.