Pensacola, Florida

September 2015 - August 2017

Artificial reef research funded by the RESTORE Act grant to study productivity before and after artificial reefing structures have been put in place. Fish population and community structure, biogeochemical aspects, and planktonic and microbial productivity are all included in this study. The principal investigators on this project are Dr. Jane Caffrey, University of West Florida, and Dr. Will Patterson, University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Robert Turpin, a representative of Escambia County Marine Resources Department, is a collaborator in this project. In this study, my role is to examine effects on the water column and sediments.

Pensacola, Florida

October 2015 - January 2017

Project investigators include: Dr. Paul Carlson, Jr., Dr. Laura A. Yarbro, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; Dr. Wayne Magley, Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Dr. Jane Caffrey, University of West Florida; Ms. Alison McDowell, Choctawhatchee Bay Alliance; Dr. Linda Fitzhugh, St. Andrew Bay Resource Management Association; Mr. Timothy Jones, FDEP Big Bend Seagrass Aquatic Preserve; Dr. Chuanmin Hu, University of South Florida.

Goals of this project are to assess, map, and model natural and human stressors and roadblocks to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) recovery in six priority estuaries in Florida’s Panhandle and Big Bend regions.

Pensacola, Florida

October 2015 - April 2016

Monthly wintering waterfowl survey between the University of West Florida and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Santa Rosa Sound, Perdido Key, and Big Lagoon (Florida and Alabama). This project aims to collect data necessary to efficiently monitor the breeding and migratory habits of wintering waterfowl.

Pensacola, Florida

July 2015

Herpetological community survey for the Gulf Islands National Seashore conducted by the Inventory & Monitoring Program Gulf Coast Network, United States Park Service, and Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation (CEDB) at the University of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola, Florida. Monthly surveys include capture, identification, and morphometric measurement of reptiles and amphibians for sites within the Naval Live Oaks units of Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)

Moss Point, Mississippi

May 2015

Simulated industrial spill in Grand Bay NERR

This study includes analysis of water column and sediment biogeochemical processes within the estuary. Due to its proximity to a highly industrialized area, the effects from the industrial plants are taken into consideration in this project.

Florida Everglades

March 7-15, 2015

Philip M. Coppola's Master's thesis: Quantifying Habitat and Apple Snail Density Effects on Prey Availability to Snail Kites Advisor: Dr. Philip C. Darby, Department of Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida. Field protocol included collection of apple snails (Pomacea spp.) in Florida Everglades wetlands using an established throw trap sampling method. This project used field data to produce estimates of site-specific Everglades snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus).

University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute (UTMSI)

Port Aransas, Texas

June through August, 2013

During the summer I spent at the University of Texas Marine Science Insitute (UTMSI), I participated in research conducted under Dr. Kenneth Dunton and with Kimberly Jackson, Kelly Darnell, and Sara Wilson. Through this experience, I participated in the following tasks:

• Collection of Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass), Halodule wrightii (shoal grass), and Syringodium filiforme (manatee grass) from the Mission-Aransas National Research Reserve (MANERR) and Corpus Christi Bay

• Water quality samples take from the MANERR and Corpus Christi Bay for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) testing and assessment

• Seagrass biomass assessment based on blade densities, blade lengths, and species abundances

• Seagrass and algae characterization of specific locations within the MANERR and Corpus Christi Bay

• Assessment of seagrass seed and reproductive structure abundances

• Hydrodynamic regime assessment with utilization of flowmeters, lightmeter measurement, and datasonde measurements corresponding to date, time, and location within the MANERR and Corpus Christi Bay

University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute (UTMSI)

Port Aransas, Texas

Summer 2013

Obtained samples of sediment-water interface with corer (30 cm diameter) deployable from research vessel, R/V Katy

Characterized sediment based on locale, hydrodynamic regime, biota, and nutrient concentrations

Techniques included the following:

• CHN analysis

• Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy

• Sieving

• Ash-Free Dry Weight Sediment Analysis

• High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) / Austin, Texas

February through August, 2012

During my employment at TABC, I was a part of the Alcoholic Beverage Testing and Label Approval department, which was responsible for processing the alcoholic beverage label applications. In order for label approval, the alcohol percentages for beverages in the beer, wine, and spirits categories have to be tested in the laboratory in order to confirm adherence to state requirements for alcoholic beverage labels and classification.

University of Texas at Austin / Austin, Texas

Fall 2010 through Spring 2011

I was a part of the "Functional Genomics" research stream of the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) program. FRI provides undergraduate freshman students the opportunity to participate in research in conjunction with faculty members and graduate students. More information about the programs can be found at the following link: cns.utexas.edu/fri.

In this research stream, we examined the evolutionary relationships between yeast species belonging to the genus, Saccharomyces. Moreover, we focused on the characterization of molecular processes that specify cell cycle transcriptional regulation and progression.

Our techniques focused on utilizing high-throughput next-generation technologies.