Johanna Weston is a postdoctoral investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her research seeks to understand how biodiversity and connectivity shape ecosystem resilience in the deep ocean—an environment that provides critical ecosystem services but remains understudied—and is increasingly threatened by climate change and human activity. Her research investigates the ecological connections between fragmented, island-like … Continued
Leland is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware and a marine geochemist. Leland studies the organic matter in deep sea and hydrothermal ecosystems. The deep sea may seem empty, but is teeming with life on the microscopic level. Microbial communities in the deep sea may have a small effect on a local level, … Continued
Russ Shomberg is an Ocean Systems Engineer dedicated to advancing marine robotics through innovative, SWAP-C limited alternatives that enhance global accessibility to scientific research. Currently, he serves as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Maryland Robotics Center at University of Maryland. Russ earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and completed … Continued
Sandra Antonio is a biologist and deep-sea ecologist specializing in megafauna communities naturally exposed to hydrocarbons in the ocean. Her professional experience includes over 100 days of offshore navigation aboard RV Justo Sierra, contributing to baseline studies for the Gulf of Mexico Research Consortium and Petróleos Mexicanos, as well as supporting multidisciplinary research on deep-sea … Continued
Tanika Ladd is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Western Washington University. As a marine ecologist, she is broadly interested in understanding the structure and function of microbial and faunal communities and how environmental factors shape these communities with consequences for carbon and energy flow through ecosystems. She is particularly excited about exploring these topics at … Continued
Titus Cañete is a marine biologist based in the Philippines, specializing in shark research and deep-sea conservation. As shark populations decline, he and his team work to develop strategies that protect these species while ensuring local communities benefit from conservation efforts. Titus is dedicated to expanding local accessibility to deep-sea research and conservation technology, developing … Continued
Tremaine Bowman is a marine ecologist from Trinidad and Tobago. She obtained her PhD from the University of the West Indies. Her thesis focused on the composition, distribution, and ecology of a brackish water fish assemblage on the south coast of Jamaica. She is currently the Scientific Project Manager for Seafields Solutions Limited, a company … Continued
Maximilian Schrade is a doctoral researcher at the University of Oulu, Finland working on the use of eDNA in the assessments of biodiversity of aquatic environments. As part of this work the inclusion of citizen scientists is established and evaluated. Previous work had him investigating the bioturbation of Arctic deep-sea macrobenthos using both camera as … Continued
Javier Cristobo is a European PhD. in Marine Biology and a researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), Gijón Oceanographic Centre, in the specialty of benthic ecology. The main focus of interest is the Phylum Porifera in different aspects, including Taxonomy, Ecology, Sponge Grounds also the marine invertebrates, Deep Sea fauna, Antarctic research, vulnerable … Continued
I am a polar and deep-sea marine biologist with 15 years’ experience in sponge taxonomy, biogeography, and seafloor image analysis. I am originally from the UK having previously worked at the British Antarctic Survey as a marine biologist, via Germany’s Senckenberg Natural History Museum as a sponge taxonomist, to Australia, where I am in the … Continued
