I am currently in my second year as a graduate student at SoMAS, advised by Dr. Gordon Taylor, with committee members Dr. Bassem Allam, Dr. Glenn Lopez (all SoMAS), Dr. James Cervino and Dr. Esther Peters (George Mason University). I am primarily interested in tropical coral reef ecosystems with particular focus on disease of the coral holobiont (see research page for more details). In addition to my research at SoMAS, I have been monitoring the health of Montastraea spp. corals annually, in Bonaire, since 2007.

I study corals because they are beautiful and fascinating. Like many other marine conservationists, I am witness to their ongoing decline, and I am hoping that my contributions to science may lead to solutions to the problems threatening coral reefs today.