Group: Current members

In 2015 I graduated from the University of Miami with a Major in Biology and Minors in Marine Science and Art focused in underwater photography. I joined the marecotec lab in 2023 as a PhD student after completing my BlueMBA, a Master’s program with dual degrees in Business Administration and Oceanography, at URI. The last 10 years of my research have been focused on shark ecology and telemetry and I have narrowed my focus to deep-sea sharks and building the technology needed to study them over the last couple of years. 

What made you decide to go into marine science?

I wouldn’t say that I made a decision to go into marine science. I was the kid that had to be dragged away from the beach annoying my parents with questions about what I saw there. As I got older and learned about the scientific method, applying that to my questions was the only thing I wanted to do. 

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

I am focused on developing Accessible Ocean Technologies – those that both broaden our physical access to all parts of the ocean and the amounts and types of people who can use them – and deploying them to study deep-sea sharks. 

For being the largest, and arguably the most important, ecosystem on our planet, the deep-sea is extremely understudied. In order to collect the data we need and enough of it, the next generation of Accessible Ocean Solutions must be more cost-effective, simple to use, and rugged. None of our science goals to support the future ocean we want can be achieved without data and data cannot be collected without empowering all communities with more accessible technologies. 

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

I have been very fortunate to have done many incredible things through my work thus far. Probably one of my favorite experiences was getting a giant squid on camera at 900m deep in Bermuda. 

What is one fun fact about you?

I love water sports. My favorites are sailing and windsurfing and I’m teaching myself to foil and surf. 

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Able to live underwater at any depth. Imagine swimming with the colossal squid!

 

My name is Timothy Melendez, a lab member in my sophomore year of mechanical engineering. I joined the lab during my B2OE internship during the school year in 2023. I have been lucky enough to be able to extend my time here at the lab as I continue studying through my undergraduate degree.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

I have always loved all things science and exploration and wanted to do my part in furthering our understanding of the world around us. Never mind all the deep-sea documentaries I’ve seen throughout my life, an intense curiosity about what lies below definitely affected why I chose this field.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

The primary focus of my work at the lab is to solve engineering problems encountered in research, most often on the several landers that the lab produces. Solutions can be anything from designing, prototyping, electronics, assembly, and in-house fabrication. As well as being responsible for some of the lab’s equipment, such as the 3D printers.

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

I love designing and coming up with solutions, and applying my love for the process to projects of this importance is all I can ask for. But one of the coolest things I’ve been able to do is acting as a support tech on a 2-week mapping expedition in the Gulf of Maine.

What is one fun fact about you?

One fun fact about me is that I do small-scale design and fabrication commissions using my 3D printer and other materials.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

This is a question I think about quite often, but I would have to say to be able to pause time while having the ability to move around freely and bring other objects into the time bubble with me. That way I could get everything done without worrying so much about due dates (my nemesis).

My name is Jasper (he/they) and I joined the Davies lab in Fall 2023 as a PhD student. I completed my M.Res at the University of Southampton and my B.S. in Biology at Florida State University.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

As a child, I remember so distinctly watching documentaries about the ocean, and realizing I wanted to do that too—not make documentaries but be an expert in marine science. During my undergraduate career I tried lots of different fields out in the scope of marine biology, but never was able to break into deep-sea science, something that I was really dying to try. Thankfully, though, my Master’s project focused on a patchy cold-water coral assemblage of Lophelia pertusa in Greenland at a depth of 900-1300 m, and their impact on that cnidarian community’s diversity and distribution. This is what really
threw me into a passion for cold-water corals.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

I focus on diversity and distribution of benthic communities. Amond this research, my goal is to understand what factors control diversity of communities in the deep-sea. I apply these questions to both
hydrothermal vent communities, cold-water coral communities, and sponge gardens. I think the most important takeaway of my research is how sensitive the deep-sea is. Even the smallest of changes can largely impact diversity and distribution of deep-sea communities. Finding what factors can have that impact is what I really care about investigating in the long-term.

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

So far, one of my favorite things we’ve done have been working on the landers. I wasn’t particularly inclined to learn much about tools before joining the Davies lab, but it’s been really fun, and I’ve learned so much!

I also love Science Saturday! I really excel in public engagement, and being able to present about the lab’s work at Science Saturday, as well as teach people about corals was super fun. I know it isn’t everyone’s “coolest” moment, but to me, there aren’t many more things that beat it.

What is one fun fact about you?

I spent a year working in the education and outreach department of an aquarium after I completed my degree at The University of Southampton, where I worked extensively with ambassador reptiles and public engagement/education. Additionally, I feel that being able to speak to the general public and get them excited about conservation is an important part of environmental stewardship, and something scientists should be an active part of. Because of that experience, I now have two reptiles at home, a ball python and a leopard gecko!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

I would be a shapeshifter! I think it would be really cool to be an animal that can survive in the deep-sea… Then I could swim around and gather all the information we could ever possibly need. But also, how awesome would it be to fly? Or just have a different hair style every single day?!

Hi! My name is Lexie DelViscio and I am a first-year Biological Oceanography M.S. student! I arrived at URI-GSO and the Davies lab at the beginning of September after completing my B.S. in Marine Biology and minor in Data Science at the College of Charleston this past May (2024). I’m originally from Annapolis, MD, and in my free time I enjoy reading on the beach, cooking, running, watching hockey, and exploring the area!

What made you decide to go into marine science?

My passion, love, and curiosity regarding the ocean began at a young age and stemmed from playing in the tide pools of Maine and swimming on the beaches of Cape Cod every summer. As I got older I realized that I didn’t want to spend my life doing anything other than studying and exploring the ocean! I discovered in undergraduate school how much I was drawn to research, and that solidified my decision to pursue my masters in the field.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

My research interests primarily revolve around investigating the relationship between benthic geology and the distribution of deep-sea cold water corals. I hope to utilize seafloor mapping and bathymetric techniques in combination with the lab’s landers to conduct my research! Having just arrived I have not entirely formulated a project yet, but I am excited to begin!

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

I snorkeled through a cave off the coast of Syracuse, Sicily to survey marine invertebrate diversity!

What is one fun fact about you?

I’ve cliff jumped in the Dominican Republic and Taormina, Sicily!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

I would love to be able to teleport! I love to travel so it would cut down costs and be environmentally friendly!

I started my PhD in the marecotec lab in September 2020 after earning my Masters of Professional Science (MPS) degree in marine conservation at the University of Miami, where I focused on employing coral restoration techniques to enhance coastal protection. 

What made you decide to go into marine science?

I chose to study marine science because the ocean is full of species that are somehow both ancient but also constantly adapting to environments that would feel as foreign and harsh to humans as outer space. I wanted the chance to disentangle some of the complexities of marine systems, especially those that are ecologically important like coral reefs. It’s exciting to think that now might the best time in history to study the ocean since we are in an age of accelerating technology that allows us to explore areas that have previously never been accessed by humans.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

I study how hydrodynamic regimes influence the distribution and ecology of deep-sea reefs. Using time series of environmental characteristics like temperature, turbidity, water chemistry, and organic material, I look for patterns that can be related to ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, and how these patterns can influence potential benefits and/or stress conditions on a reef. I also look at small-scale flow patterns around coral skeletons using an experimental flume, which can help us understand things like food delivery and gamete export in different conditions

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

Getting to work on ships has been my favorite experience since starting my PhD. There are so many things I love about it, from learning how to operate highly specialized equipment, to exploring life in the deep sea first-hand, to sharing the experiences with friends and family through telepresence. It’s also allowed me to develop strong relationships with some amazing scientists and crew members from all over the world.

What is one fun fact about you?

I love to draw in my spare time, and consider one of my favorite media to be sharpie on styrofoam cup (we shrink these by sending them to deep-sea depths on CTD casts and ROV dives).

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Shapeshifting definitely. It means you could fly by shifting into a bird, become (virtually) invisible as a bug, or turn into anyone you want all with just one super power.

Currently, I am a PhD student and NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. I originally joined the lab in Fall 2022 as an M.S. student in Biological Oceanography. Before that, I earned my B.S. in Biology (‘21) at Villanova University, where I worked in the Changley Lab group (and their NSF WETFEET Project) studying coastal wetlands and mangroves in Florida using field and GIS techniques. I spent 2022 applying to graduate school, working for a grassland ecologist in the U.S. Forest Service in Rapid City, SD, and researching fisheries sustainability in the Philippines through a U.S. State Department Fulbright Student Research award. My graduate work focuses on the spatial and temporal environmental drivers of mesophotic coral reef distribution in the Gulf of Mexico.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

Growing up in Plattsburgh, NY, I always enjoyed the beauty of Lake Champlain and being outdoors. When I was younger, I read a lot of action novels, including most of Clive Cussler’s ‘Dirk Pitt’ collection. The underwater world gripped me with adventure then and still does now. In college, I became more and more interested in work and a career that would help humanity understand, mitigate, and conserve the environment in the face of man-made climate change. I figured studying oceanography would be a great way to understand more about how Earth functions since it covers 70% of the world and we are an ‘ocean’ planet. I would be remiss to mention that I also enjoy my fair share of adventure and challenges—both of which are never far away when you do fieldwork (in my case, having to go live on a ship to do research).

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

My research focuses on developing a deeper understanding of the different scales of variability (particularly spatial and seasonal) in mesophotic environments where habitat-building coral and coralline algae thrive, and how that variability can impact their distribution in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, our knowledge is limited by sampling efforts in these environments as ship research is expensive. I’m mainly using observational methods to collect environmental data in situ using novel benthic lander systems we developed in our lab and computational models to predict and estimate biogeographic distributions. I think the most important takeaway from my work is that understanding and measuring the environment for marine species is key if we want to be better informed about how anthropogenic climate change and other disturbances will impact coral reefs across the world at local and regional scales over the next few decades and centuries. 

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

I got to pilot a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for 10 minutes this past summer! It was like a real-life video game. 

What is one fun fact about you?

I have also dissected giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila) almost three feet long from hydrothermal vents!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

I think it would be really cool to breathe in any medium (liquid, gas, solid) and be able to control my homeostasis to adjust to many extreme temperatures for a short period. That would include things like being underwater, in space, in Earth. I’d have to come up with some sort of special suit that protects the rest of my body. Obviously, this would be a cool way to explore the world and potentially space! 

I joined the Davies lab in the summer of 2020 as a Postdoctoral Researcher after completing my PhD  in URI’s Cell and Molecular Biology department studying the proteome response of the chloroplast of diatoms, a group of phytoplankton, to changes in iron concentration. In 2023 I transitioned to a Marine Research Associate position in the Davies Lab.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

My scientific interest has always been focused on the understanding of how organisms interact and are shaped by their environment, particularly at the molecular level. During my grad degree I was fortunate enough to participate in a marine research cruise, where I was exposed to the effort and interdisciplinary collaboration that goes into understanding our world’s oceans. I have continued to become more enamored with marine research, the complex questions it helps to answer, and the community of researchers that has been built around it. 

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

My work is focused on environmental characterization of marine environments. This work is divided across both Narragansett Bay, utilizing two autonomous buoy platforms to collect high resolution environmental data, as well as the characterization of cold-water coral reef ecosystems through the deployment of large benthic lander platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. 

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work? 

My work has given me the ability to participate in research cruises around the world, as well as many opportunities to develop new skills such as small boat operations and research scuba diving certifications. 

What is one fun fact about you?

Before going to graduate school, I worked as a veterinary technician and am still a huge animal lover with three cats of my own. In my free time I enjoy competing with friends in both fighting games and tabletop games.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Probably controlling the weather, no more cancelled field days!

I joined the MarEcoTec lab (and am jointly part of the Echinonerd Lab) in 2021 to pursue my doctorate in biological and environmental sciences. I completed my bachelor’s in environmental studies and economics and my master’s in conservation biology before moving to the Ocean State. 

Sarah is a graduate student studying microplastics and is funded by NOAA and the USGS.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

The ocean is a life-sustaining resource for humankind, and as the sink for most anthropogenic waste, it is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of pollution. I’m interested in learning more about the sources, movement, and fate of plastic pollution within our planet’s marine areas and helping protect those habitats most at risk. As a former professional science educator, I’m passionate about engaging local communities in hands-on science research and facilitating environmental literacy in coastal areas.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

My research focuses on building robust assessments of microplastics in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island’s freshwater resources, including conducting extensive field work and managing laboratory processing. My field methods include seasonal manta trawl surveys, pump filter system sampling, and event-responsive grab sampling. In addition, I am undertaking experimental trophic transfer work to better understand the movement of plastics through coastal food webs. I think the most important takeaway from my research is that pollution is very difficult to address once it is in the environment – prevention is the key to sustainability. 

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

I designed and implemented aquarium experimentation using both indoor and outdoor flow-through seawater systems. Through this work I learned new skills I never had the opportunity to develop before, including plumbing, electrical work, and carpentry. 

What is one fun fact about you?

I won a betta fish at a carnival in 2nd grade and it lived for 8 years. R.I.P. Sushi – gone but never forgotten.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

To make a parking space appear on campus whenever I want. 

Welcome to our research group website! I am an ecologist with a background and active research career in the marine environment. I mostly work on reef formers, organisms that build structures that influence the surrounding environment.

I started the lab in 2009 when I was an early career academic at the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University in the United Kingdom. My initial vision was to fuse my interests of ecology and oceanography with a life long passion for technology and computing.

I graduated from my PhD back in 2004, where I worked on the interaction between a common intertidal grazer and the long-lived brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum. I used GIS and remote sensing tools to help understand how the dynamics of this interaction changed over several decades, building in experimental and observational work to help support my search for these drivers. Once I completed, I moved to the Scottish Association for Marine Science as a post-doctoral researcher where I was exposed to cold-water corals and from there I continued to develop my career, culminating in where we are today.

What made you decide to go into marine science?

I think I am very lucky to have had all the opportunities that I have had to date, and I can trace back my route to when I was looking at colleges after finishing high school. I really had no clue about what I wanted to do and marine biology seemed interesting as I was always interested in how ecological and biological processes worked.

What is the focus of your research/work? What do you think is the most important takeaway from your research?

The one thing that ties together all the different aspects of our group is the word “reef”. Everything else revolves around that, why do we build technology? To study reefs. Why do we work with remotely sensed or GIS data? To study reefs. I see reefs as an interesting ecological and physical conundrum, many individuals working together to create habitat, competing against one another whilst facilitating space, complexity and resources for others. It is a truly amazing and dynamic ecosystem to study.

What is the coolest thing you’ve done through your work?

Cool is all relative. I like fixing things and figuring out problems. So generally, that makes me feel cool when I can solve something that has been bugging someone for a while.

What is one fun fact about you?

I like to mow my lawn on the weekend.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Teleportation, as I hate traveling.

I am a profoundly deaf cochlear implant user, fully oral and also a BSL user. In recent years, I have acted as a deaf role model for the National Deaf Children’s Society, and volunteer on many events with the NDCS during the year. I am also on the Welsh NDCS Advisory Committee.