Welcoming Entering Class of 2020

Six students have entered the JPBO in Summer and Fall 2020.With the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, the students have identified creative ways to engage in online learning and socially distanced research. We may find 2020 to be something of a mixed bag overall, but we have nothing but enthusiasm for our newest colleagues. We look forward to welcoming these students in person, but in the meantime, here are a few ‘fun facts’ about each of them.

Kharis Schrage graduated from William and Mary in 2017 where she studied biology and marine science and did research on intertidal community ecology and marine invertebrate development. After graduating she spent the last few years as a field technician including on a remote salmon monitoring project in Alaska, a sturgeon study in Georgia, and two different zooplankton groups in Antarctica. Kharis is now in Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser's lab hoping to study the reproductive ecology and larval biology of marine benthic invertebrates in the Arctic. Outside of science she loves to travel, dive, hike, and make anything from coffee tables to homemade pasta.	Caroline Rzucidlo graduated from Fairfield University with a B.S. in Biology where she studied the biomechanics and muscle physiology of fishes. She received her Master's in Biology with a concentration in Physiological Ecology from Sonoma State University, where she focused on the role of adipose-derived hormones in Northern elephant seals. Caroline is a student in Michelle Shero's lab where she will be studying the reproductive physiology of Weddell seals. In her free time, she enjoys backpacking, running, and gardening.
Isabel Honda graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Environmental Engineering and a minor in the Energy and Resources Group. Her undergraduate research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab focused on enhancing fungal enzyme secretion for biofuel production and mathematical techniques to model these processes. She is now a member of the Ji lab, where she is interested in modeling the impacts of climate change on coupled biological-physical interactions and plankton population dynamics. In her free time, Isabel enjoys analyzing classic novels, hiking, and playing the saxophone (fun fact: she performed in the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show with the Cal Marching Band!).	Zoe Aarons graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Earth and Oceanographic Science and a minor in Computer Science. As an undergraduate, she studied chemical proxies in bamboo corals as well as tropical cyclones in climate models. After spending a year as a research assistant at the University of Washington, she is excited to join the Follows lab where she will use numerical models to study phytoplankton ecology and investigate the impacts of climate change on phytoplankton diversity and productivity. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time outdoors.
Nadège Aoki graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Biological Sciences, concentrating in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. As an undergraduate she studied the biomechanics of marine polychaetes at the Smithsonian and wrote an honors thesis on the taxonomic diversity of West African weakly electric mormyrids. After undergrad she spent time working at the National Science Foundation. Nadège has joined Aran Mooney's lab to study the physiological and behavioral effects of the ambient soundscape on coral reef fishes and invertebrates. In her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, and watching movies with her tuxedo rescue cat, Algernon.	Evie Fachon is working with Donald Anderson studying harmful algal bloom dynamics in the Alaskan Arctic. She graduated Northeastern University in 2017 and has spent the past three years working as a research assistant at WHOI and at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand). When she is not cruising in the Arctic she can be found hiking with her dog or exploring the rocky New England coastline.