Growing up in the Adirondack mountains of northern New York, I fell in love with the outdoors at an early age. Most of my childhood was spent exploring the mountains and rivers near my home, and by high school I knew I wanted to pursue an education in environmental science. However, my interest in ocean sciences was not sparked until my sophomore spring at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. Before coming to Bowdoin, my oceanic experience was limited to vacations to Cape Cod, but after my first oceanography course I knew I had discovered a new passion. During undergrad, I attended SEA Semester, studying the effects of ocean acidification on pteropod shell degradation as we sailed from Honolulu to San Francisco. I also began conducting research with Dr. Collin Roesler, who introduced me to the field of ocean optics and phytoplankton ecology. This spurred me to spend a year post-undergrad working as a research technician in an ocean optics lab at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Currently, I am a PhD candidate advised by Dr. Oscar Schofield. My research is based at Palmer Station in Antarctica, studying the effects of climate change on plankton ecology. I utilize a range of technologies, including autonomous underwater vehicles, to study how changes in the physical environment effect phytoplankton community dynamics, and how these dynamics ripple up the food web to the zooplankton. Through my research, I spend multiple months every austral summer in Antarctica conducting field work off of small boats. Collecting water samples is definitely a lot more exciting while penguins are porpoising right next to the boat!
