Meet the Scientific Divers
The Scientific Divers at Florida State University conduct research from the blackwater rivers of northwest Florida to the coral reefs of French Polynesia. Let us introduce you to these incredible scientists and what makes Florida State University one of the top idea incubators in the nation.
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Eli Myron
Eli Myron is a graduate student whose research focuses on the spatial management of marine ecosystems. His current work focuses on the role of artificial structure design in supporting hard bottom habitat communities in the northeastern Gulf. Prior to his graduate studies, Eli was a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Artificial Reef Program and continues to work closely with local artificial reef stakeholders to inform artificial reef management decisions. Eli uses scientific diving to monitor marine communities in-situ and collect supplemental data for these stakeholder partners.
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Cullen Morris
Cullen Morris is FSUCML’s Lab Manager who assists faculty, graduate students, and visiting researchers with their diving needs. As a scientific diver and divemaster he provides research teams with dedicated logistical support, expert vessel operations, and invaluable local ecological expertise.
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Lauren Calvin
Scientific diver and research technician Lauren Calvin completes research leads dives for the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative (ABSI) that focuses on oyster monitoring to understand oyster health and causes of decline in the Apalachicola Bay fishery. She has also lead an independent research project to quantify the effects of reef relief on oyster abundance and average biomass per square meters under various reef reliefs.
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Don Levitan
Dr. Don Levitan’s diverse research on sea urchins includes conducting field experiments on gamete fertilization and reproductive isolation, molecular studies of paternity, hybridization and protein evolution, phylogenetic analysis of trait evolution as well as theoretical explorations of sexual selection and gamete evolution. He conducts research at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Center (British Columbia); the Virgin Islands Research Station in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and at the Smithsonian field stations in Panama and Belize.
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Laurel Field
Graduate student Laurel Field's research areas include estimating the climate vulnerability of nearshore ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, cumulative impact mapping, and the development of adaptive management responses to climate impacts. She conducts research in Bonaire, a Dutch island in the Caribbean, where she works closely with the conservation organization Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire that manages the National Marine Park that encircles the island. As part of the climate resilience-focused research she is conducting in Bonaire, she is tracking the outcomes of coral bleaching events in Bonaire, with particular focus on quantifying bleaching severity by depth and species.
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Morgan Hawkins
Morgan Hawkins is a PhD Candidate at FSUCML who focuses on restoration research with the use of aquaculture. She is investigating what limitations may be present when using cultured bay scallops in restoration practices. Her work begins in the shellfish hatchery by breeding and growing bay scallop offspring and then moves to the field to monitor released bay scallops' dispersal, growth, and survival to better inform restoration practices in the North Florida Panhandle.
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Sarah Lester
Dr. Sarah Lester’s current research focuses on the effectiveness of marine protected areas, designing ocean zoning and fisheries management around small island states, understanding global marine aquaculture development, mapping ecosystem services from seagrass habitats, and examining feedbacks and linkages between fisher behavior and coral reef ecosystems. She is engaged in underwater research in seagrass beds along the Florida Gulf Coast and coral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia.
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Adin Nahoa Domen
Divemaster and graduate student Adin Nahoa Domen's research interests are developing around how the local marine communities are adjusting and adapting to oyster reef restoration efforts done by the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative.
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Sandra Brooke
Dr. Sandra Brooke's research primarily focuses on sessile benthic fauna associated with hard-bottom habitats and chemosynthetic ecosystems. She has worked throughout the US Pacific and Atlantic coasts including the Gulf of Mexico and also in international waters off Costa Rica, Samoa, Bahamas and Italy. Research topics include characterization of communities associated with shallow and deep sea habitats and biology of benthic invertebrates.