I received my MS degree from GSO in 2016. My thesis research in the Rynearson lab was focused on using a combination of genetic tools and long-term time series data to study diatom diversity in Narragansett Bay. I grew up in landlocked Vermont, but grew to love the ocean during a Sea Education Association Semester in 2009. After receiving a B.A. in biology from Vassar College in 2011, I worked as an at-sea monitor in the New England ground fishery and in a lab performing genetic analysis for studies on human psychology before entering URI and the Rynearson Lab in the fall of 2013. I am currently working as a marine educator for Sound Experience in Washington State, on the sailing vessel Adventures.