Reginald Blaylock, Ph.D.Research ProfessorFish Diseases and Aquaculture
Kelly Darnell, Ph.D.Assistant Research ProfessorEcology of coastal and benthic ecosystems
Luke Fairbanks, Ph.D.Assistant Research ProfessorHuman-Environment Geography
Leslie Acton, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorOceans Governance
FACULTY EMERITUS FACULTY
RESEARCH FACULTY
William Hawkins, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusMarine Organism Pathology
Wei Wu, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorLandscape Ecology
Patrick Biber, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorMarine Botany
Kevin Dillon, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorChemical Oceanography
Zachary Darnell, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorMarine Invertebrate Zoology
Joseph Griffitt, Ph.D.Director and Associate ProfessorToxicogenomics
Jay Grimes, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusMarine Microbial Ecology
Leila Hamdan, Ph.D.Associate Director and Associate ProfessorMarine Microbial Ecology
Frank Hernandez Ph.D.Associate ProfessorFisheries Oceanography
Robert Leaf, Ph.D.Associate Professor Fishery Science
Jeffrey M. Lotz, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusMarine Aquaculture
Chet F. Rakocinski Ph.D.ProfessorBenthic Ecology
Eric Saillant, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorMarine AquacultureConservation Genetics
Eric. Powell, Ph.D.ProfessorPopulation Dynamics Modeling
Robin Overstreet, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusMarine Parasitology and Pathobiology
Ervin Otvos, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusMarine Geology
Mark S. Peterson, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusFisheries Ecology
Harriet Perry, M.S.Professor EmeritusBlue Crab Fisheries and Aquaculture
Richard Heard, Ph.D.Professor EmeritusInvertebrate Zoology
at the Gulf Coast Research LaboratoryNICHOLAS ADAMSM.S. Area of interest - Marine Aquaculture, Fisheries Stock Enhancement and Aquaponics
Advisor - Eric Saillant
MELISSA BROCKM.S.Areas of interest - Use of bioinformatics and statistical ap-proaches to understand the im-pact of deep-sea shipwrecks on sediment microorganisms
Advisor - Leila Hamdan
MATTHEWBYRNESM.S.Areas of interest - Marine Fisheries Modeling and Ecology
Advisor - Robert Leaf
JUAN CARRILLO ÁLVAREZ Ph.D.Areas of interest - Blue crab health and non-invasive methods for diagnosing dolphin health
Advisor - Robin Overstreet / Joe Griffitt
ANDREW CLAXTONPh.D.Area of interest - Indicators of pollution, with an emphasis onparasites
Advisor - Robin Overstreet / Kevin Dillon
ALFONSO COHUOM.S.Area of interest - TBA
Advisor - Kevin Dillon
LILLIAN COLLINSM.S. Area of interest - Distribution, abundance, and trophic ecology of Anguilliform leptocephali in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
ADAM DAWPh.D.Area of interest - The development of a model(s) to predict copepod production trends in aquaculture, and larviculture methods
Advisors - Reginald Blaylock / Eric Saillant
PAVEL DIMENSPh.D. Area of interest - Population structure and sympatric speciation of migratory marine species
Advisor - Eric Saillant
SAMANTHA ELLSM.S.Area of interest - Aquatic
toxicology
Advisor - Joe Griffitt
EDITHROSE FAIRWEATHERM.S.Area of interest - Finfish aquaculture
Advisor - Eric Saillant
EMILY GIPSONM.S.Area of interest - Fisheries Ecology
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
ROBERT GONZALESM.S.
Area of interest - Aquaculture
Advisors - Reginald Blaylock / Eric Saillant
PATRICK GRAHAMPh.D. Area of interest - Broadly interested in life history characteristics, population dynamics, and stock delineation methods of coastal and estuarine finfish.
Advisor - Robert Leaf
EVAN GRIMES M.S.Area of interest - Herpetology, coastal wetland ecosystems, AI pattern recognition, GIS
Advisor - Wei Wu
CHRISTIAN HAYESPh.D.Area of interest - Variation in turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) habitat complexity, secondary pro-duction, and trophic dynamics across the northern Gulf of Mexico
Advisor - Kelly Darnell / Zack Darnell
KATHLEEN HEMEONPh.D.Area of interest - Molluscan population dynamics and ageing techniques of long-lived bivalve species, to inform fisheries man-agement and conservation
Advisor - Eric Powell
JANA HERRMANN M.S. Area of interest - Ecology of chaetognaths in the northern Gulf of Mexico, with an emphasis on competitive interactions with larval Gulf MenhadenAdvisor - Frank Hernandez
TAMI HILDAHLM.S.Area of interest - Population
genetics
Advisor - Eric Saillant
HAILONG HUANG Ph.D. Area of interest - Hydrochemical modeling of the response of high elevation watersheds to climate changes and atmospheric deposition
Advisor - Wei Wu
APRIL HUGIM.S.Area of interest - Fisheries, oceanography, and ecology
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
HEATHER KINGM.S. Area of interest - Aquaculture Genetics
Advisor - Eric Saillant
BRANDEN KOHLERM.S.Area of interest - Quantify-ing the trophic structure of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the northern Gulf of Mexico using stomach content and stable isotope analysis
Advisor - Kevin Dillon
LEIF KORTHM.S.Area of interest - Aquaculture
Advisor - Leila Hamdan
ZACHARY LANEPh.D.Area of interest - Fine scale drivers of invertebrate behavior, data analyses, and experimental design
Advisor - Zack Darnell
OLIVIA LESTRADEM.S.Area of interest - Abundance, distribution, and potential impacts of microplastics on fish early life stages in offshore habitats of the northern Gulf of Mexico
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
EMELIA MARSHALLM.S.Area of interest -
Coastal Ecology
Advisor - Zack Darnell
ANNA MILLENDER M.S. Area of interest - Life history characteristics of highly migratory species
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
LEAH MORGANM.S.Area of interest - Limitation of oyster larval recruitment to restored and natural reefs with relation to larval supply and post-settlement success in the western Mississippi Sound
Advisor - Chet Rakocinski
RACHEL MOSELEYM.S.Area of interest -Marine microbial biogeography of deep-sea historic shipwrecks
Advisor - Leila Hamdan
RACHEL MUGGEPh.D. Area of interest - Marine microbial ecology of deep-sea historic shipwrecks
Advisor - Leila Hamdan
NICKOLAS MURPHYM.S.Area of interest - Vegetative community and health assessment of a constructed Juncus-dominated salt marsh on Deer Island, MS
Advisor - Patrick Biber
HELEN OLMIPh.D. Area of interest - Migratory movements and fishing mortality of the Louisiana blue crab spawning stock
Advisor - Zack Darnell
MEGUMI OSHIMAPh.D. Area of interest - Understanding impacts of harvest strategies for Vermilion Snapper stock in the face of climate change, interspecific competition, and anthropogenic influences
Advisor - Robert Leaf
APRYLE PANYIM.S.Area of interest - Parasites and diseases of oysters, other invertebrates, and fishes
Advisor - Robin Overstreet / Kevin Dillon
LEANNE POUSSARDM.S.Area of interest - fisheries
population dynamics
Advisor - Eric Powell
SHUO SHEN Ph.D.Area of interest - Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes in the aquatic environment; use of models to analyze and predict resistant profiles
Advisor - Jay Grimes / Wei Wu
CAITLIN SLIFEPh.D.Area of interest - Coastal and marine ecology and biogeochemistry
Advisor - Kevin Dillon
JAIME SMITH M.S. Area of interest - Effects of time at initial exposure and concentration of Dermomycoides sp. on the Dusky Gopher Frog
Advisor - Robin Overstreet / Joe Griffitt
LAURA SOLINGERPh.D.Area of interest - Using management strategy evaluation to examine the effectiveness of quotas on Summer Flounder and Atlantic Surfclam
Advisor - Eric Powell
GABRIELLE SPELLMANM.S.Area of interest - TBA
Advisor - Patrick Biber
GEOFFRY SPOONERPh.D.Area of interest - Estuary Ecology
Advisor - Chet Rakocinski
COURTNEY STACHOWIAKM.S.Area of interest - Nursery habitat function of pelagic Sargassum for juvenile fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
JASON TILLEY Ph.D. Area of interest - Biophysical factors affecting habitat suitability for oysters
Advisor - Wei Wu
TALENE YEGHISSIANPh.D.Area of interest - TBA
Advisor - Zack Darnell
GLENN ZAPFE Ph.D. Area of interest - Relationships between environmental variability and ichthyoplankton dynamics.
Advisor - Frank Hernandez
School of Ocean Science and Engineering
Coastal Sciences
Photo: USM Fisheries Oceanography and Ecology Lab
Photo: USM Fisheries Oceanography and Ecology Lab