About

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I am a PhD student in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation studying Restoration Aquaculture.  My research will focus on shallow-water sponge restoration in the Florida Keys.  I am also the Florida Sea Grant agent for the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Monroe County.  Prior to coming to the University of Florida, I was a research technician at the University of Georgia Marine Extension on Skidaway Island at the Shellfish Research Lab.  In 2009, I was a Dean John A. Knauss Fellow and spent one year at NOAA headquarters in the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources assisting staff to implement the CITES and Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response programs.  I was also an intern at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota where I maintained public exhibits, the decapod culture room, and an independent project to reduce morbidity and mortality for the Brazilian seahorse.  At Georgia Tech I was a National Science Foundation STEP Fellow and during my master’s work at Savannah State I was a NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center Fellow.

 

Degrees

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• B.S. Science, Technology, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta, GA

• M.S. Marine Sciences, Savanna State University, Savannah, GA