Ph.D. Candidate at Boston University

Alia received her B.S. (2010) in Biology and M.S (2014) in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia. Alia is now a 4th year Ph.D. candidate at Boston University in the Fulweiler Lab of Coastal Ecology and Biogeochemistry. For her dissertation research, Alia is interested in the role of seagrass meadows in the global carbon budget. She is specifically interested in greenhouse gas (methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide) emissions from seagrass meadows and the mechanisms behind these emissions.

Watch Alia's recorded OCEAN talk HERE

Research Associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Dr. Gomaa obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland where she pioneered the phylogeny and symbiosis in testate amoebae. Dr. Gomaa then joined the Cavanaugh lab at Harvard University to study bacterial symbiosis in protists and is currently working with Dr. Bernhard and Dr. Edgcomb at WHOI. Her current research focuses on understanding the physiology and the adaptive metabolic pathways in protists that inhabit hostile environments, including deep-sea sediments and arsenic-polluted freshwater bodies. She addresses these questions with diverse approaches, ranging from measuring gene expression of deep-sea foraminifera to the effects of arsenic pollution on the model laboratory ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila to developing CRISPR/Cas genome editing systems in marine protists.

Watch Dr. Gomaa's recorded OCEAN talk HERE

Quantitative Modeler at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

André obtained his undergraduate degree from Elizabeth City State University and his Master's from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. His atypical academic path allowed him to take time off from college to explore career options, transfer schools, change his major and delay graduation to pursue internships and opportunities before landing as a graduate student researching the feeding ecology of black sea bass at natural and artificial reefs using stomach content and stable isotope analyses. André is currently a quantitative modeler at NOAA, creating models for managers and decision-makers to prevent Right Whale entanglements in fishing gear.

Watch André's recorded OCEAN talk HERE