Education
Through innovative education of talented graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, the I/UCRCs are providing the next generation of scientists with a broad, industrially oriented perspective on research and management practices.
Current SCEMFIS Funded Students
SCEMFIS provides affiliated university students the opportunity for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) as well as graduate student internships.
- Research Experiences for Undergraduates – Science Center for Marine Fisheries Supports Research Opportunities for Students
- Graduate Internships – Marine Fisheries Internships Pave Way for Future USM Scientists
Samantha Alaimo: Graduate Student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Samantha (Sam) Alaimo is a PhD student studying oceanography at Rutgers University under Dr. Josh Kohut. Working with Dr. Jeff Burst and his colleagues at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Sam hopes to better assess decadal and seasonal trends of frequently caught species compared to trends in oceanographic features, such as the cold pool. Comparing fish abundance and biomass to changes in the cold pool over time would identify key environmental factors that influence fish distributions and allow for a baseline to be established prior to the construction of offshore wind.
Garrett Bellin: Undergraduate Student at William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Garrett Bellin is a sophomore at William & Mary studying applied statistics and data science. He is a researcher for the William & Mary Center for Geospatial Analysis, performing GIS analyses for various clients. Currently, he is working with Dr. Roger Mann using GIS mapping to find cod spawning locations and determine how they are affected by ocean warming trends. Using the DOPPIO and GLORYS ocean temperature datasets, ideal temperatures for cod spawning will be ascertained and overlaid with substrate and cod location data. Garrett hopes to be able to create GIS models that can predict future cod spawning grounds as ocean temperatures continue to rise. Policy changes could ultimately be affected which address the location and boundary of the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area near Nantucket.
William & Mary News Article: No more cod on Cape Cod?
Reid Calhoun: Graduate Student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia
Reid Calhoun is a master’s student working with Dr. Andrew Scheld to study questions related to human use and management in fisheries and aquaculture. Reid is actively engaged in a variety of research projects that are aimed at understanding the impacts of offshore wind energy development on the seafood industry. These projects include assessing the potential for stranded capital and capital devaluation from reductions in fishing activity due to offshore wind energy development. Additional projects include researching the economic viability of multi-trophic aquaculture within offshore wind energy areas and a quantitative assessment of fishing behavior in scallop, Atlantic surfclam, and ocean quahog fisheries impacted by offshore wind energy development.
Ellie Carpenter: Undergraduate Student at William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Erin (Ellie) Carpenter is an undergraduate student studying biology and marine science at William & Mary. She is currently working with Dr. Roger Mann to use growth increments of clams on the Mid-Atlantic continental shelf to reconstruct bottom water temperatures. In addition to indicating past trends, this data could hopefully be used to predict future ocean temperature and clam growth trends in the midst of climate change.
Emma Coltman: Graduate Student at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Emma Coltman is a master’s student studying coastal sciences under Dr. Eric Powell. Her main research is located in the western region of the Mississippi Sound centered around modeling Eastern oyster larval performances. The model is based on environmental and food influences surrounding growth and development of Eastern oyster larvae. Emma hopes that research will demonstrate the importance of re-establishing Eastern oyster populations in response to recent declines within the Mississippi Sound; therefore, predicting future generations of successful metamorphosis and settlement of larvae.
Heng Lian: Graduate Student at William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Heng Lian is a Ph.D. candidate in Data Science at William & Mary, under the supervision of Dr. Yi He. His current research focuses on using cutting-edge computer vision models and large multi-modal models to automate the analysis of underwater photos, aiming to accurately predict the population distribution of benthic marine species.
Autumn Moya: Graduate Student at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Autumn Moya is a master’s student studying Coastal Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is working with Dr. Eric Powell to better understand the effects offshore wind energy developments could have on the future of the Atlantic surfclam fishery. Her research is focused on the Northeast US Continental Shelf, where near-term offshore wind energy areas are projected to overlap with commercially important species of clams. Autumn is modeling the potential habitat distribution of these clams for different scenarios of the offshore wind projects. This will be further analyzed for future impacts on the Atlantic surfclam fishery with the Spatially Explicit Fishery Economics Simulator (SEFES). She is interested in the implications of ocean multi-use with respect to the sustainability of marine fisheries and how these industries can successfully work with renewable energy developments.
Autumn Moya wins presigious 2025 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Award
Molly Spencer: Graduate Student at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Molly Spencer is a master’s student at the University of Southern Mississippi working with Dr. Eric Powell on the effects of climate-induced benthic warming on the commercially important Atlantic surfclam and the ocean quahog in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Her research includes modeling the future habitat distribution of clams along the Northeast Continental Shelf as warming temperatures on the bottom seafloor force both the ocean quahog and Atlantic surfclam into a rapidly expanding ecotone. The implications of this ecotone are further studied in the Spatially Explicit Fishery Economics Simulator (SEFES), where she analyzes potential fishery impacts of the projected geographic range shift in Atlantic surfclams. Molly is advancing the application of her research, through the support of SCEMFIS and NSF, by collaborating with the National Marine Fisheries Service-Northeast Fisheries Science Center to work with the Atlantic surfclam federal stock assessment team in addressing the impact of climate change on survey design.