Amanda Demopoulos is a Research Benthic Ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, Florida. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and completed postdoctoral work with Lisa Levin at Scripps Institute of Oceanography.  Amanda has a long history working with ROVs, AUVs, and DSV Alvin and with telepresence-enabled science. She has also served in leadership roles in the deep submergence community. Her research at USGS examines the community structure and function of animals found on the seafloor or in sediments within coastal wetlands, seagrass, shallow and deep-sea coral habitats, seeps, seamounts, and submarine canyon environments.  Amanda serves as Co-Chief Scientist on “Observing Seafloor Methane Seeps at the Edge of Hydrate Stability” and is responsible for leading ROV sampling and imaging operations. Her specific research objectives will include sampling benthic communities and sediments near seeps and acquiring imagery for characterization of seep sites.

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