About Me
Marine Scientist • Scientific Diver • Amateur Underwater Filmmaker
I work as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Microbiology Department at Oregon State University (USA) and a member of the Vega Thurber Research Lab.
I use interdisciplinary methods to address questions about the capacity for marine life to adapt to human-induced environmental stressors at the molecular, organismal, and community level. I have studied marine invertebrates on the Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii, French Polynesia, and under the sea ice of Antarctica.
EDUCATION
I completed my PhD in the School of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University (USA) as a member of the Grottoli Research Lab.
I earned my Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) as a member of the Dornelas Research Lab and completed my undergraduate thesis research during a study abroad program at James Cook University (Australia) as a member of the Hoogenboom Research Lab.
I discovered my passion for preserving the ocean during the Coral Reef Ecology Summer Course at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (Bermuda).
RESEARCH
Environmental adaptation in marine invertebrates is a central theme of my research.
Over the past decade, my research has focused primarily on determining what drives resilience in tropical corals and their microbiomes to the impacts of climate change, specifically ocean warming and ocean acidification. During my postdoctoral work, I have expanded my investigation of coral resilience to include local anthropogenic stressors such as seawater nutrient pollution and over-fishing.
To obtain a more holistic understanding of the detrimental impacts of anthropogenic stressors on marine life across latitudes, I have also spent the last two years investigating the impacts of climate change on the health of Antarctic marine invertebrates and their microbiomes, especially polar bryozoans and sea stars.
I use a suite of biological and geochemical approaches in my work. As such, my research is conducted at the intersection of ecology, physiology, microbiology, and biogeochemistry and across latitudes from the tropics to the poles.
Enhancing Diversity in science & Diving
In 2022, I went to Antarctica as part of a 3-month scientific expedition. As a member of the dive-team, we dove beneath the sea ice to collect specimens from the sea floor. It was the best experience of my life and I was incredibly fortunate and privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to go to the most remote continent on Earth.
During my three-month expedition, I started learning about the history of women working and SCUBA diving in Antarctica. The more I read and researched however, the more appalled I was by the long history of misogyny which actively prohibited women from traveling to Antarctica with attitudes like "the continent is too harsh for women". While much has changed over the centuries, the recent NSF sexual harassment report highlights that there is still much to be done regarding gender equality at McMurdo. Regarding diving, I was particularly shocked to learn that of the ~400 people who have dived under the ice in Antarctica with the United States Antarctic Program, less than a quarter were women.
Unfortunately, to this day women are heavily underrepresented in science and account for only 33% of the STEM workforce. In diving, the statistics are similar and in 2021, only 30% of newly certified divers with PADI were female. In diving careers, the inequality is even more profound with less than 5% of commercial divers identifying as women.
To support the enhancement of diversity in science and diving, and I have started producing a documentary to promote female science divers.
The goal of the documentary is to create an educational film following the experiences of women divers who work at the extremes of scientific discovery across latitudes, from the tropics and the poles. The film is designed to inspire more women and girls to engage in the typically white-male dominated field of underwater research, and to raise awareness about the impacts of global climate change across latitudes.
Overall, the film highlights the exceptional scientific research being done by women divers and offer positive role models to young girls around the world, showing them that science diving is a valid career that anyone can pursue regardless of their gender or background.
To learn more about the film, please visit the website:
science communication & outreach
I am passionate about making science accessible by sharing photos, videos, and the details of my research with anyone who is interested or curious about what life is like as a marine scientist.
There are many reasons why I believe science communication and public outreach are essential:
Sense of duty to share knowledge
I am a first generation college graduate, and despite growing up in a low-income, single parent household, I have white privilege and was fortunate enough to grow up in a country where university education was free for residents (Scotland). All of this to say, I am grateful for the incredible places I have been able to experience, visit, and work, and recognize that the majority of other people in the world will not get the opportunities that I have been afforded. Therefore, I feel a sense of duty to share my experiences and knowledge in painstaking detail so that others may join me on those journeys and scientific pursuits.
Advocate for THE PROTECTION OF marine life
Having spent most of my academic career studying the detrimental effects of global climate change on coral reefs, I know intimately the extent to which marine ecosystems are threatened by human activity. Rising carbon dioxide gas concentrations in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the ocean, and putting marine life in danger. By discussing my research publicly, I hope to increase public awareness of how marine ecosystems from the tropics to the poles are threatened and educate audiences about small changes they can make in their lives to help combat the global climate crisis.
Promote trust in science
The public's trust in science has eroded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of my primary goals is to become a better science communicator to engender trust with my local and international community so that I can better reflect what is being done in science in an accurate way, and so that I can help train the next generation of scientists to be better science communicators. Now more than ever, it is vital to make science accessible by showing people that science is not just wearing lab coats and pouring chemicals.
Inspire others to pursue science
In line with the previous section (not all science is lab coats and chemicals) this is especially true for marine science and fieldwork, whereby the absolute #1 tool of choice is the zip tie! By showing young people, particularly women and under-represented community members, what a day in the life of a marine scientist looks like, I hope to encourage and inspire the next generation of scientific divers to join the battle against global climate change and instill in them the belief that anyone can become a marine scientist or ocean conservationist, regardless of their gender or background.
