Mentorship

Students are essential in my research. I have been very fortunate to work with enthusiastic students throughout laboratory training, method development, research cruises, and conferences. My personal goal is to prepare students for the next step in their careers while having fun during laboratory work and travels.

Andrea Murray. Currently a Master’s student in the Department of Integrative Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. Master’s thesis: Visual and chemical analysis of microplastic ingestion in the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica from Tampa Bay.

Thea Bartlett. Was a recent graduate from Eckerd College when she started working as a Technician analyzing sediments from the southern Gulf of Mexico. After 2-years she enrolled as a Master’s student in the Chemical Oceanography program at the College of Marine Science, USF. She presented her work in several GOMOSES meetings (2018-2020). Her master’s thesis studies the historical inputs of land-derived organic contaminants in Cuba sediments.

Lisa Rose-Mann. Graduated from USF-SP College. Currently a Master’s student in the Biological Oceanography program at the College of Marine Science, USF. Master’s thesis on POPs and PCPs detection in deep-sea cephalopods.

Hannah Hamontree. Was a recent graduate from Eckerd College when she started working as a Technician in my research projects (2018-2020) related to tracking oil residues in deep-sea sediments and biota. She presented her work (oral presentation) at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference (Tampa 2020). Currently a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Old Dominion University.

Olivia Traenkle. Was a recent graduate from Eckerd College when she started working as an Intern for a year (2018) and then as a Technician (2019-2020) in my research projects on mesopelagic fauna (fishes and jellyfishes). She helped develop a method for analyzing organic contaminants in oceanic gelatinous zooplankton. She presented her work at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference (Tampa 2020). At present she is a PhD student at Oregon University.

Jon Jin Lee. Graduated with a Master’s degree in Chemical Oceanography at the College of Marine Science, USF (2018). Master’s thesis on biogenic silica deposition in sediments from the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Now a PhD student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

Leah Kunins. Visiting undergraduate student from Brandeis University (summer 2018).

Brigid Carr. Was a recent graduate from Eckerd College when she started working as a Technician in my research projects (2016-2017) related to deep-sea fauna (DEEPEND Project). She is a co-author in our paper that established for the first time a decadal assessment of PAHs in mesopelagic fishes (doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02243). Also, she presented her work on comparative organic methods at the GOMOSES meeting in 2017. Now she is a Master’s student (advisor S. Murawski) in the Biological Oceanography program at the College of Marine Science.

Xiaoxu Sun. Visiting PhD student (March 2017) from Georgia Institute of Technology (Advisor Joel Kostka). GCMSMS analysis of water samples from experiments looking at the effect of dispersants on hydrocarbon degradation (paper published: doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02387).

Nicola Zenzola. Analyzed sediment samples in the lab for his undergraduate thesis (from Eckerd College). After graduation, he worked as a Technician in several of my research projects, processing and extracting lipids from sediments and fish samples. Also, he helped in the collection and initial processing of samples during Oceanographic Cruises.

Gregg Ellis. Postdoctoral Fellow (2014-2016), worked in the lab improving computational methods to process organic chemical data. He is a coauthor in our paper that demonstrated for the first time deposition of oil residues on deep-sea sediments (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128371). Now a Research Analyst at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (Molecular Determinants Core), St Petersburg, FL, using metabolomics/lipidomics methods.

Quentin Miller. Technician in my research projects (2012-2015) related to analyzing PAHs in sediments from the Gulf of Mexico. He presented his work at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference (Houston 2015). Now an Environmental Science Graduate student at Oregon State University.

Kathleen Watson. Graduated with a Master’s degree in Chemical Oceanography at the College of Marine Science, USF (2014). Master’s thesis on the spatial and temporal extent of the subsurface hydrocarbon intrusion formed due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Now manager at AAA office in Seattle.

Macie Hanneken. Intern, undergraduate student from from Eckerd College (summer 2014).

Emily Makowics. Intern, undergraduate student from from Eckerd College (summer 2014).

Kristan Culbert. My field assistant at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh study (2009) when I was working at the University of Southern California. She graduated with a Master’s in Environmental Science & Management from the University of California. Now an Environmental Scientist at West Yost Associates, Los Angeles.