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Education:
M.S. Texas A&M University, Oceanography B.S. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (now Stockton University), Geology B.S. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (now Stockton University), Marine Science My Story: As a kid, I was always the one collecting rocks everywhere I went, and would return from beach days with pockets full of shells and sea glass. From very early on, I was fascinated by earth sciences and was fortunate enough to grow up in an area of New Jersey with programs that really nurtured my drive to explore, including my high school experience at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) on Sandy Hook. I’ve spent the majority of my life either on or in the water, and understanding and protecting the ever changing shore has always been close to my heart. I have seen the ocean at perfect calm and sailed through named storms, racking up months of sea time on various research vessels, some of which took place during my M.S. research. One way to look at my work at Texas A&M is to describe it as studying how the land affects the sea; however, it wasn’t quite the coastal resiliency type work I really wanted to be doing. This brought me to Stevens, where the perspective is reversed and I am now studying how the sea affects the land, and how to best protect our beloved shores. Stevens was an easy choice for me after learning about the work being done by the Coastal Engineering Research Group, led by Dr. Miller. Now, as I work toward earning my PhD in Coastal Engineering, I am happy to say that nothing has changed from those formative years. I am still that kid at heart, collecting rocks and sea glass and dreaming of the ocean. |