Graduate Students & Postdocs

Graduate Students

Tyler Barnes

Ph.D (Wiberg)
Email:
barneste1@appstate.edu

Lauren Brideau

Ph.D (Castorani)
Email: ysd4wx@virginia.edu

Luke Groff

Ph.D.(Berg/McGlathery)
Email: hmq2xm@virginia.edu

Caroline Troy

Ph.D (McGlathery)
Email: nxh2wg@virginia.edu

Caitlin Zimmer

Ph.D.(Castorani)
Email: rps5jw@virginia.edu

Seagrass Alumni

Lillian Akoi

Ph.D. & Post Doc, 2018 – Advisor: Karen Mcglathery
Dissertation: Seagrass as a Coastal Filter: Investigating the Role of Seagrass Meadows in Mediating Nitrogen Cycling in Shallow Coastal Lagoons.
Current Location: Assistant Professor, University of Oregon

Amelie Berger

Ph.D., 2021 – Advisor: Peter Berg
Dissertation:  Long-term aquatic eddy covariance measurements of seagrass metabolism and ecosystem response to warming oceans
Current Location: Project Manager at the Environmental Institute, University of Virginia

Luke Cole

Ph.D., 2011 – Advisor: Karen Mcglathery
Dissertation:  Inputs and fluxes of nitrogen in the Virginia coastal bays: Effects of newly-restored seagrasses on the nitrogen cycle.
Current Location: Program Director, Santa Cruz River, Sonoran Institute

Michael Cornish

Ph.D., 2025 – Advisor: Max Castorani
Dissertation:  Return of foundation species: effects of large-scale seagrass restoration on hard clam population dynamics and secondary production across spatiotemporal scales
Current Location: Post Doc at UC Santa Barbra

Marie Lise Delgard

Ph.D & Post Doc., 2018 – Advisor: Peter Berg
Dissertation: Major biogenic elements in coastal zones and on the interactions between macrophytes and biogeochemical cycles in these environments
Current Location: Project Manager at Veolia Water Technologies

Carolyn Ewers-Lewis

Post Doc., 2023 – Advisor: Karen McGlathery
Topics: Dynamics and drivers of “blue carbon” sequestration in seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests
Current Location: Assistant Professor of Biology in the Natural Sciences Department at Flagler College


Kayleigh Granville

Ph.D., 2024 – Advisor: Peter Berg
Dissertation: Gas exchange, ecosystem metabolism, and carbon flows in a temperate seagrass meadow
Current Location: Physical Scientist, EPA Office of Water

Jennifer Hansen

Ph.D., 2013 – Advisor: Matthew Reidenbach
Dissertation: The effects of waves and turbulence on sediment suspension and mixing within seagrass ecosystems.
Current Location: Conservation Research Coordinator at Brevard Zoo

Sean Hardison

Ph.D., 2024 – Advisor: Max Castorani
Dissertation: Coastal fish dynamics across scales: roles of warming and restoration, and interactions with fisheries
Current Location: Research Associate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

Kim Holzer

Ph.D., 2010 – Advisor: Karen Mcglathery
Dissertation: Interactive effects of herbivory and nutrient enrichment on seagrass ecosystems
Current Location: Instructor at Hilltop Ski Area in Anchorage, Alaska

Andrew Hume

M.S., 2008 – Advisor: Peter Berg & Karen McGlathery
Thesis: Dissolved oxygen fluxes and ecosystem metabolism in an eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadow measured with the novel eddy correlation technique
Current Location: Senior Environmental Specialist at Global Environment Facility

Ieva Juska

M.S., 2021 – Advisor: Peter Berg
Thesis: Examining Metabolism in Seagrass Meadows: Trends in Respiration and Non-Dissolved Gas Ebullition
Current Location: Senior Director, General Assessment Lead at MBDC

Kylor Kerns

Ph.D., 2025 – Advisor: Karen McGlathery
Dissertation: Evaluating Heat Stress, Disease, and Economic Value in Temperate Seagrass Meadows
Current Location: Post Doc at Blue Carbon Canada (UBC)

Carly Laroche

Ph.D., 2024 – Advisor: Scott Doney
Dissertation: Understanding variability and drivers of seawater inorganic carbonate chemistry across temperate nearshore marine systems in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic
Current Location: 2025 Knauss Fellow

Matt Long

Ph.D., 2018 – Advisor: Peter Berg & Jay Zieman
Dissertation: Using Eddy Correlation to Understand the Impacts of Hydrodynamics, Irradiance, and Surface Area on Ecosystem Metabolism Dynamics in Coral Reefs, Seagrass Meadows, and Ice Sheets
Current Location: Associate Scientist at Woodshole Ocean Geographic Institute, Ocean Carbon Working Group, and the Iceland Scientific Advisory Board

Meredith Ferdie Muth

Ph.D., 2009  – Advisor: Karen Mcglathery & Jay Zieman
Dissertation: Disturbance, gap recovery and patch dynamics of
species-rich tropical seagrass communities
Current Location: Drought Program Manager and Regional Drought Coordinator at NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System



Matthew Oreska

Ph.D., 2018 – Advisor: Karen McGlathery
Dissertation: Blue Carbon Benefits of Seagrass Restoration
Current Location: White House Office of Management and Budget

Laura K. Reynolds

Ph.D., 2012  – Advisor: Karen Mcglathery
Dissertation: Genetic diversity and structure of natural and restored seagrass meadows on the Eastern Shore of Virginia: Causes and ecological consequences
Current Location: Associate Professor for the Coastal and Marine Ecology Laboratory at the University of Florida

Jennie Rheuban 

M.S., 2013  – Advisor: Peter Berg & Karen Mcglathery
Thesis: Oxygen metabolism in restored eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows measured by eddy correlation
Current Location: Research Specialist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 

Spencer Tassone

Ph.D., 2023  – Advisor: Mike Pace
Dissertation: Quantifying Heatwaves and Seagrass Recovery Dynamics in Aquatic Ecosystems
Current Location: Biologist, United States Geological Survey

Kinsey Tedford

Ph.D., 2023  – Advisor: Max Castorani
Dissertation: Restoring and sustaining oyster reefs: drivers of spatial dynamics in oyster populations
Current Location: Fisheries Program Manager at the Oyster Recovery Partnership

Emily Thomas

M.S., 2014 – Advisor: Matthew Reidenbach
Thesis: Influence of Zostera marina on Wave Dynamics, Sediment Suspension, and Bottom Boundary Layer Development within a Shallow Coastal Bay
Current Location: Hydrologic Engineer working at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation-San Joaquin River Restoration Program

Ross Timmerman

M.S., 2014 – Advisor: Matthew Reidenbach
Thesis: Biophysical Controls on Sediment Suspension in a Shallow Coastal Bay
Current Location: Asset Management Consultant at Arcadis

Elise Frazier (Turrietta)

M.S., 2022 – Advisor: Matthew Reidenbach
Thesis: The effects of seagrass edges on hydrodynamic conditions, sediment transport, and bivalve recruitment
Current Location: Coastal Planner at Virginia DEQ