Welcome: My First Post

My overarching goal for this blog is to document my progress throughout my graduate studies. My committee is comprised of a biophysicist who explores fluid flows within and around marine invertebrates, a cementitious materials engineer who investigates chemical admixtures and cement hydration, a coral reef ecologist with expertise in coral response to global change, and a marine disturbance ecologist whose research has helped shape the field of coral restoration. I believe this team is best suited to help guide my research and foster my scientific career as I begin to answer important questions understanding intraspecific variation of coral calcification and the persistence of coral reefs. Using interdisciplinary tools and leveraging the expertise of my advisors, I plan to increase our understanding of todays’ and tomorrows’ corals from the nano to bulk scale. The categories of each notebook entry will help archive how I investigate corals through the lens of an engineer, a biophysicist, and an ecologist to answer fundamental ecological questions.

Soon, I plan to create a new entry detailing my goals for Fall of 2021 and how I plan to prepare for graduate school beginning January 2022.