Tanya Ramseyer

I was born in Colorado, and raised in Virginia. I earned a B.S. in Biology, and a concentration in Marine Biology from Old Dominion University in May 2013. During my time at ODU, I was able to become SCUBA certified and travel to Belize for a marine ecology course where I researched Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmata, and their relationship to territorial damselfish. After graduating from ODU, I worked on many projects during an internship in Long Key, FL. This internship allowed me to work on Caribbean spiny lobster disease transmission, life history, and morphology. I then moved to Florida where I worked as an aquarist for the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit (SMEE) and assisted in research projects at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, FL. I eventually left Florida to move down to the beautiful St Thomas, where I began my journey at the University of the Virgin Islands under Dr. Tyler Smith. While here at UVI, I have obtained four more SCUBA certifications, including becoming a Technical SCUBA diver! Under Dr. Smith, I am excited to continue working on my thesis project which will focus on discovering the environmental factors driving the abundance of the macroaglae Dictyota spp. and how those factors influence interactions with stony corals around St. Thomas, USVI.