School of Ocean Science and Engineering
Spotlights
Page Content
Meet some of our students and faculty who share their journey, expertise, and research
as members of the School of Ocean Science and Engineering at USM.
Students
Coastal Sciences
A Lifelong Passion for Sharks: Turning Interest into Impactful Research
Master's student Lindsay Bomgardner has a particular passion for sharks, as they are often misunderstood and play an incredibly important role in many ecosystems. She is currently studying juvenile lemon sharks under the guidance of Dr. Mike Andres. Inspired by a high school documentary on shark finning, Lindsay has dedicated her studies to understanding threatened species and their habitats. Follow her research journey as she works to uncover the mysteries of fish movement ecology and contribute to sustainable conservation efforts.
Marine Science
Unveiling Solutions for a Cleaner Marine Future
Meet Rachel Lancaster, a dedicated marine science researcher at USM whose groundbreaking work focuses on developing a universal method for analyzing microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic systems, paving the way for a cleaner and healthier marine environment.
Marine Science
Becoming a Hydrodynamic Modeler
Nahruma Mehzabeen Pieu wants to become hydrodynamic modeler and be able to predict and understand flood scenarios due to storm surges, tsunamis, dam breaks, sea level rise, inland river flooding, compound flooding, etc. with the help of computer simulations.
Coastal Science
GIS and Ecosystem Modeling
Born and raised in Wisconsin, David May's dream of one day becoming a marine biologist always seemed out of reach. To get where he wanted to be, he dedicated each summer of his undergrad career to at least one field of research experience. From interning at an aquarium to volunteering at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands, he's now found his way into geospatial science.
Coastal Science
Examining Eastern Oysters
Paul McDonald's current research is examining eastern oysters from the northern Gulf of Mexico for tolerance to high thermal and low salinity conditions.
Ocean Engineering
I chose Ocean Engineering as a major, here's why.
Undergraduate Marthonette Aguilar shares why she chose Ocean Engineering as her major, after attending USM’s Hydrography Day during her Junior year in high school.
Coastal Science
From Seagrass Systems to Turtle Sightings Surveys in Roatán, Honduras
Christian Hayes, Ph.D. student, has conducted meaningful and practical research in the marine environment, which has prepared him for a future career in academia.
Coastal Science
Lab Work Opens Doors
As a graduate student in Coastal Sciences, Alfonso Cohuo, discovered his passion through his work in an ecology lab.
Marine Science
Research Scientist with the Ocean Modeling Group
As a staff research scientist with the ocean modeling group, Brandy Armstrong is working to develop a Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave Sediment Transport (COAWST) model of the Mississippi Sound and Bite.
Marine Science
Building Ocean Forecasting Products for the Navy
After first year of graduate school, Lea Locke-Wynn lands a job at the Naval Oceanographic Office.
Ocean Engineering
Joining the New Program
After starting off as a Marine Biology major, Steven Ates discovers his career path when he changes to the new program in Ocean Engineering.
Faculty
Coastal Sciences
Blue Crab Fishery Discard Mortality
Dr. Zachary Darnell's research seeks to quantify and reduce discard mortality in the Gulf of Mexico blue crab fishery.
Hydrography
Navigating Excellence: A Journey Through Hydrography and Education
Embark on a voyage with a seasoned hydrography professional, Calvin Martin, who is shaping the future of marine science education and inspiring the next generation of hydrographers.
Marine Science
Remotely Generated Internal Waves in Observations and Global Ocean Simulations
Dr. Maarten Buijsman, postdoc Dheeraj Varma, and graduate student Mujeeb Abdulfatai comprise the USM team that is part of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program project titled, "A Global Multi-agency Experiment on Internal Wave Energy, Mixing and Interactions in the Ocean and Their Representation in Global Ocean Models and Operational Forecasts."
Marine Science
Paleoenvironmental Studies of the Mississippi Shelf
Dr. Chelsea Pederson's research involves the formation and alteration of carbonate sediments. Much of the work involves using the geochemistry of marine deposits to better understand the environment when they were formed.
Hydrographic Science
Deep Ocean Exploration and Imaging
Dr. Leonardo Macelloni's research deals with all the aspects of deep ocean exploration and imaging of the seabed and the sub-seabed. Projects span from the search of the first WWII in the Gulf of Mexico the freighter Norlindo (funded by NOAA OE), to deploy seabed landers to assess the damage of the oil spill in fragile deep sea benthic communities (funded by NRDA).
Ocean Engineering
The Next Generation of Autonomous Platforms
Dr. Gero Nootz’s research, which is carried out within the Ocean Exploration Lab (OEL), revolves around expanding the capabilities of a new generation of small autonomous platforms, be it Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) or Autonomous Surface vehicles (ASVs).
Ocean Engineering
An Interdisciplinary Study of Scientific Importance
Mahdi Razaz's research focuses on developing and deploying new classes of acoustic and optical sensors to perform measurements where currently available instrumentation is not adequate.
Developing Ecosystem Models in the Gulf of Mexico & the Mississippi River Delta
As a new faculty member, Dr. Kim de Mutsert, will use her research expertise in coastal
and estuarine fish ecology and ecosystem modeling to mentor graduate students.
READ ABOUT DR. MUTSERT'S RESEARCH
NASA Venture: Controlling Ocean System Function
Dr. Kristina Mojica was recently involved in a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital mission focused resolving key processes controlling ocean system function, their influences on atmospheric aerosols and clouds and their implications for climate.
