academia
University of Hawaii: Ph.D. (in progress) ecology of coral reef fishes
Hampshire College: B.A. (1998) Marine biology, Photography
research interests
I am currently studying population distribution of reef fishes and the relationships between reef fish communities and the physical reef framework (rugosity, relief, substrate, % coral cover, etc.). In a nut shell, I am interested in where different species of fish live and why. Information in this area is critical for discussions of essential fish habitat and appropriate management of exploited fisheries. In time, I hope to use GIS and existing benthic habitat data to predict likely distributions of various reef fish species.
Increasingly, my interests also include the use of genetic techniques to look at reef fish population structure and biogeography, parapatric speciation, and genetic crossover between reef fish populations. Conventional wisdom has taught that, to a large extent, many marine populations are closely connected and that planktonic dispersal maintains the genetic links between distant populations. Modern genetic techniques including the use of microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA have called this theory into questions and have shown that even populations in close proximity may have little genetic crossover due to a variety of barriers including oceanic currents, river outflows and strict habitat constraints. Increased knowledge in this areas is important to the effective management of fisheries. Common sense has suggested that, over time, a depleted fishery will likely be restocked by individuals from neighboring populations. Findings of genetic isolation would greatly undermine this assumption, drastically changing management of fisheries from that of a single population to management of several distinct populations.
I am also interested in bathymetric relationships between fish populations that inhabit shallow and deep reef communities. How much crossover is there between the two populations? Do deep water fish move to shallower waters at different times of the day or year and vice versa? What influence to shallow water communities have on their deeper neighbors by way of nutrient drift or other mechanisms?
work
I am currently working as a Ph.D. student under Dr. Paul Jokiel at the University of Hawaii and with Rusty Brainard at the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center.
expeditions
NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Division Rapid Assessment and Monitoring Missions
2009
Wake and the Mariana
2008
Papahanaumokuakea and the Hawaiian Archipelago
Samoa and the Line Islands 
Wake and the Mariana
2006
The Equatorials and Samoa 
Tales from the West Pacific 
Main Hawaiian Islands

Sustainable Seas Expeditions (NOAA/National Geographic)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/seas/
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/retiredsites/supp_SSEretired.html
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/projects/02sse/team/team.html
http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2001/08/
Keys to Cures (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute)
http://www.at-sea.org/missions/biomedical/081899/dispatch.html
personal
I was born in San Diego, CA, in 1976 and lived there until the ripe age of 2. My family then moved to Austin, TX, where I spent my formative years before heading to Massachusetts in 1994 to begin my undergraduate education.
Both of my parents are faculty at the University of Texas - Austin. My father teaches computer science and my mother is currently the Assistant Dean of the College of Pharmacy.
http://www.hawaii.edu/campuses/manoa.htmlhttp://www.hampshire.edu/http://www.hawaii.edu/zoology/faculty/jokiel.htmhttp://www.hawaii.edu/zoology/faculty/jokiel.htmhttp://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/crd/index.htmlhttp://noaacred.blogspot.com/http://hi0809.blogspot.com/http://hi0802.blogspot.com/http://hi0701.blogspot.com/http://equatorials.blogspot.com/http://maramp.blogspot.com/http://mhi.blogspot.com/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/seas/http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/retiredsites/supp_SSEretired.htmlhttp://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/retiredsites/supp_SSEretired.htmlhttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/projects/02sse/team/team.htmlhttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/projects/02sse/team/team.htmlhttp://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2001/08/http://www.at-sea.org/missions/biomedical/081899/dispatch.htmlhttp://www.at-sea.org/missions/biomedical/081899/dispatch.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_4shapeimage_3_link_5shapeimage_3_link_6shapeimage_3_link_7shapeimage_3_link_8shapeimage_3_link_9shapeimage_3_link_10shapeimage_3_link_11shapeimage_3_link_12shapeimage_3_link_13shapeimage_3_link_14shapeimage_3_link_15shapeimage_3_link_16shapeimage_3_link_17shapeimage_3_link_18shapeimage_3_link_19

Contact me


email:

Personal

NOAA

University of Hawaii


post:

355 Aoloa St

Kailua, HI 96734


phone:

(808) 782-1734