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I am an ecologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the Gulf Ecology Division in Gulf Breeze, Florida. I work as part of a research team that develops, validates and integrates approaches and methods for assessing the ecological condition of estuaries and coastal wetlands. My research interests lie in examining the relationships fish and benthic invertebrates and their habitats and the effects of anthropogenic stressors (including habitat alterations) on ecosystem services and ecological function. I like what I do because the projects I am involved in are exciting and always changing and my day-to-day work is a good balance of laboratory research and field work using boats and SCUBA diving.
I received my Ph.D. in marine science from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), College of William and Mary. My dissertation research looked at factors affecting structural and functional organization of marine and estuarine invertebrate and epibenthic fish communities. I studied the basic ecology benthic invertebrates and succession of benthic communities in restored oyster reef habitats. I also have a M.S. in marine science from VIMS where I studied predation of benthic macrofauna following low oxygen events that occur during the summer in deep areas of Chesapeake Bay. I also have a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Mary Washington College.
Before I joined the EPA, I worked for a regional government agency and coordinated the development of a comprehensive Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan for the six counties and three towns in southeastern Virginia. My day-to-day work typically involved working with GIS databases to answer geographical or spatial questions about hazards such as flooding, coastal erosion, hurricanes and wildfires. I also spent some time working as a Marine Scientist at VIMS where I used underwater video and photographs to map benthic habitats and evaluate living resources on near-coastal bottoms.
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