Welcome to my website! Here is everything about me in one place. I am a marine biologist with an equal passion for documentary film making and photography.
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, living on Mountain Island Lake. Growing up I have always had an unrelenting interest to explore the world around me, ask questions, and of course, be outside. Since before I can remember I have loved the water, from swimming in the peaceful lake behind my house to studying the incredible kinds of life that lives in it. From the time I first hit kindergarten until now I have learned and explored everything I could about marine biology, and learning more just gives me more questions.
Growing up where I did I also learned about appreciating the world around me in it’s full beauty. I learned to appreciate how awe-inspiring the world around me can be, and learned that the best way to enjoy it was to share it. This is what has sparked my interest in photography and videography, the desire to share incredible experiences, and truly appreciate how amazing the world is.
I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016 with degrees in Biology and Communications and picked up a minor in Marine Sciences. During my time at UNC I have had some incredible opportunities, in both research and videography. Some of my favorites:
In the late fall of my first year, I began a project known as Project Bucket UNC, where myself and four of my friends attempted to complete and document all 100 items of the UNC Bucket list. After four years of filming, we successfully completed the bucket list, and I produced the documentary in the spring of 2017, premiering the work in select local theaters in August of 2017.
During my undergraduate I worked in the Castillo Lab in the Marine Science Department, under the IDEA program. IDEA (Increasing Diversity and Enhancing Academia) paid for me to work full time in the lab during the next two summers and part time in the lab during the academic year, allowing me two years working as a coral researcher. During my time in Castillo lab I ran two experiments and was a coordinating member of a field expedition to Belize, which I also produced a short documentary on.
The spring of my third year, I embarked on a program with the Sea Education Association (SEA), based out of Woods Hole, MA. SEA is designed to give undergraduates real research experience while sailing aboard a tallship. I sailed as a crew member aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer, where I ventured from Puerto Rico to Bermuda to New York City. While sailing, I partook in regular collection of oceanographic data, and worked on a team investigating the population connectivity of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) through their planktonic larvae. I also worked to develop a proposal management plan for the Sargasso Sea, which was then presented to the Sargasso Sea Commission (SSC) in June of 2015.
Following graduation, I continued to work for a year producing Project Bucket full time before moving to the US Virgin Islands in 2017 to continue to follow my science research passion. I began working under Dr. Tyler Smith as a masters student before hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the US Virgin Islands in September of 2017. I am investigating how these storms may be experienced differently in shallow and mesophotic reef environments. This is what lead to my fascination with Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, or MCEs. In the Virgin Islands, MCEs account for the majority of total reef ecosystem, and more than double the area of shallow water reefs in USVI waters! My research has helped identify that despite their expansive area and importance, the corals that build these deeper reefs are potentially more sensitive to environmental stress, meaning their conservation is critical. Read more about it on the my completed research projects page, or the Smith Lab website.
In addition to my research in corals I have taken leadership in the University’s sea turtle research team, leading the mark-and-recapture research project underway in Brewers Bay. In addition to organizing and completing monthly tagging and population assessments, we also work to bring sea turtle research and conservation to the public space, organizing community event dates, beach cleanups, and UVI’s Sea Turtle Club. As we continue our research about the population and movement of these endangered creatures, we are now in the process of further expanding this project to gain a full understanding of sea turtle biology, physiology, and behavior in new ways.
After graduating from the University of the Virgin Islands with my masters degree, and I have turned my attention to focus more heavily on the the emergence of Stony Coral Tissue loss Disease (SCTLD) in the USVI. The severity of this disease threatens the already severely impacted coral reefs of the entire Caribbean region, and therefore requires intensive management, treatment, and research. As a part of the Coral Disease Advisory Committee of the Virgin Islands, I worked as the Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Disease Response Coordinator, battling this devastating disease through considerable cross-agency buy-in and collaboration on an unprecedented scale. For more information, take a look at the work being done in the USVI via vicoraldisease.org.
Missing my days in research and learning more about the reef environment, I’ve now joined the National Science Foundation as a Science Assistant in the Biological Oceanography program. This has allowed my to study and understand the funding process for scientific inquiry, as well as see and hear about a variety of incredible research happening by researchers across the United States. My time at the National Science Foundation is however limited, and I hope that following this I can return to research in a full-time capacity and pursue a doctorate degree in marine biology.
Feel free to contact me here about research interests, photography shoots, or videography projects!