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My Research Interests
As a scientist, my interests lie in understanding the complex, biophysical interactions that control the ecology of marine phytoplankton. As microscopic plants, phytoplankton can often go by unnoticed, but they play a crucial role in ocean processes, fueling biological carbon cycling and marine food webs. In a changing ocean, we want to understand how shifts in key factors (like light and nutrients) will impact these crucial processes. My research specializes in using physiological diagnostics to decipher the mechanisms between these key factors and important characteristics of the phytoplankton community, like productivity rates, biomass, and composition. As an applied scientist, I focus on using observational timeseries and manipulation experiments to study these underlying mechanisms, aiming to deepen our understanding of ecological dynamics so we can better predict what communities may look like or act like under future conditions.
At Rutgers, my PhD research with Dr. Oscar Schofield focuses on the role of light and photosynthetic biology in Antarctic phytoplankton ecology. I use diagnostics of photosynthetic health to decipher how light availability and photophysiological capabilities control the growth and composition of phytoplankton. I do this specifically in the West Antarctic Peninsula, a rapidly warming region of the Antarctic that’s been studied for over 30 years (and going) by the Palmer Antarctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program.
Alongside my research, a large part of my scientific ambition also falls into ocean observing systems and the diagnostic tools we use to study phytoplankton community state and function. Both of these have made large advances in scope and technology within the last decade, with high potential to combine the two and expand where/how we measure phytoplankton in the ocean. I’m very interested in the prospects that this bring for the biomonitoring of phytoplankton in our observing systems (especially autonomous and semi-autonomous platforms), and is something I aim to work towards throughout my career.
My Outreach Interests
Beyond academia, I am dedicated to making the ocean and marine science a fun and engaging topic, especially for young students. Hands-on learning about the ocean (how we use it, how it works, and the life that exists throughout it) is what sparked my interest in science and my drive to learn more about the ocean at a young age. My interests in outreach and public engagement revolve around providing these experiences to future generations; helping to develop, organize, and run programs/events for hands-on education in ocean science that bring a hidden world of life to the forefront. If you think similarly and/or have any opportunities in mind, please feel free to reach out!
My Journey to Rutgers
I owe much of my interest in environmental science and the ocean to growing up in Maine, where forests, lakes, and rocky coastal tidepools developed my love of exploration and ecosystems. After high school, I earned my B.S. in Ecology at Susquehanna University in central Pennsylvania, where I was a part of the University’s Freshwater Research Institute (FRI) assisting in studies on stream ecology. In the first two summers of my undergrad, I assisted in field surveys of freshwater streams across farmlands and remote valleys of PA, helping to document progress on farmland restoration projects and gather data to place previously unassessed streams under environmental protection. In the second half of my undergrad, I spent my summers working with Dr. Elizabeth Harvey and her lab at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, where I assisted in research examining coastal estuarine phytoplankton dynamics and phytoplankton-bacteria chemical interactions. I came to Rutgers to pursue my interest in phytoplankton that I developed while at Skidaway, pointing my research towards the rapidly changing Antarctic to try and understand the effects of a changing climate on the Southern Ocean.
Education
2018, B.S. Ecology, Susquehanna University
2019-Present, PhD Student, Graduate Program in Oceanography, Rutgers University