Micaela Gonella

I am a marine biologist from Argentina, currently a PhD candidate supported by CONICET, where I study coastal planktonic communities and how they respond to environmental variability. I grew up far from the ocean, in a landlocked region of the country, but early experiences with the sea sparked a deep curiosity that eventually shaped my … Continued

Mattia Da Fieno

Mattia Da Fieno is a research technician for SUBSEA with a B.S in Global Environmental Science from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. His background in oceanography started as a student assistant for the Hawai’i Ocean Timeseries (HOT) program, where he continues to work today, having totaled over 100 days at sea. His duties include … Continued

Matthew Church

I study the ways that microorganisms catalyze the movement of elements through aquatic ecosystems. Most of my effort focuses on linking specific microorganisms to transformations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. Much of my research focuses on marine ecosystems and I enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of oceanography. My group has spent a lot of time working … Continued

Maria Luz Torres Alberto

María Luz Torres Alberto holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with a specialization in Biological Oceanography, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP, Argentina). Her focus is on ocean productivity and carbon cycling, with particular interest in net community production (NCP) derived from O₂/Ar and its … Continued

Kelly George

Kelly George is a Senior Faculty Research Assistant in Dr. Maria Kavanaugh’s Seascape Ecology Laboratory at Oregon State University, where they contribute to research on phytoplankton biodiversity and seascape dynamics in the Northern California Current. Kelly began working with Dr. Kavanaugh as an undergraduate volunteer in 2019, focusing on the use of an Imaging FlowCytobot … Continued

Katie Coates

Katie Coates is an early-career biological scientist and recent graduate of the University of Montana, where she earned a B.S. in Wildlife Biology in May 2025. She currently works as a lab and field technician in the Church Lab at the Flathead Lake Biological Station at the University of Montana, supporting the SUBSEA project. With … Continued

Jared McGourty

Jared McGourty hails from Hamilton, Montana, and graduated from the University of Montana in 2023 with a degree in microbiology. After graduating, he worked at NIAID, a division of NIH, studying how Salmonella affects the gut microbiome in mice. He then joined the Flathead Lake Biological Station at the University of Montana in 2025 and … Continued

Hunter Adams

I’m an early-career ocean technician with the SUBSEA project at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Originally from Texas, I earned my B.S. in Oceanography and M.S. in Business from Texas A&M University. As an undergraduate, I researched trace gas concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico and worked on reduced biogeochemical modeling at Los Alamos … Continued

Hilary Close

Dr. Hilary Close is an Associate Professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science at the University of Miami. Her lab uses field sampling and an array of laboratory techniques to develop and apply organic and natural isotopic indicators for identifying the sources and degradative pathways of organic matter in marine water … Continued

Frank Xavier Ferrer González

I’m fascinated by the ocean and the microscopic world that shapes most of the processes defining life as we know it, even though we cannot see it with our eyes. My research focuses on microbial interactions in the surface ocean, particularly metabolite exchange between phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria. I am interested in how these interactions … Continued