Current Projects
Helping Eelgrass Adapt to Temperature
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a critical foundational ecosystem along the US East Coast now severely threatened by rising sea temperatures. Partnering with the National Parks Service, we are leveraging the concept of assisted gene flow to identify thermally resilient genotypes for proactive climate restoration. To validate these adaptations, we established a network of common garden experimental plots spanning from North Carolina to Massachusetts—tracking seed performance across latitudes to future-proof coastal restoration strategies.
Drivers of seagrass ecosystems in the Gulf Islands National Seashore
Seagrass meadows across the Gulf Islands National Seashore span a complex environmental gradient from Mississippi to Florida. Co-produced with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Park Service (NPS), this initiative pairs multi-year habitat mapping with forage biodiversity assessments to safeguard critical sea turtle, migratory bird, and fishery resources. Ultimately, these biological data provide the foundational living marine resource inventory required to anchor the park’s inaugural marine management plan.
Past Projects
Donor Paradox of Restoration
Restoring degraded marine habitats frequently requires harvesting wild donor stocks, generating generally unrecognized impacts at the source site. Partnering with The Nature Conservancy, FUNDEMAR, and Grupo Puntacana, this initiative evaluates the systemic impacts of donor-system extraction across diverse coastal environments. By quantifying these hidden consequences, we are developing the empirical frameworks and sustainable sourcing guidelines necessary to scale up global restoration without compromising donor ecosystem integrity.
Next-Gen Methods for Fish Surveys
Characterizing marine communities accurately is vital for conservation oversight, yet traditional sampling can be invasive and resource-intensive. In partnership with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, this project evaluates environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding against conventional, destructive trawling in the Gulf of Mexico. By pairing eDNA with traditional metrics, this comparative analysis delivers a more sensitive, comprehensive, and low-impact toolkit for next-generation biomonitoring