Lab Members

Chris Noren
I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2010 with a Bachelors degree in Marine Biology and for the past 9 years have been accumulating experience as a marine 'Bio-Bum' following work and adventure in fields ranging from whale shark and manta ray surveys on the Mozambique coast to pacific halibut stock assessment surveys throughout Alaska and Canada. I find joy in experiencing and studying differing geographic ecosystems and discovering their underlying similarities and biological trends. My research in this lab focuses on analyzing local sea turtle lengths obtained using non-invasive stereo video technology.

Emma Roberto
I am from Chicago, Illinois, and study marine biology with a minor in psychology. I recently graduated with my BS in May 2019. This summer, as a HMCSE SURP intern, I will be assisting Tabatha Siegfried with her master's thesis on measuring juvenile sea turtle lengths along the Gulf Of Mexico and in Eleuthera, Bahamas. We will be doing this by taking underwater stereo video footage of the turtles and will then further analyze their measurements by using different software to compute average lengths. I plan on attending graduate school in 2020 to study marine mammal behavior and ecology; eventually, I would love to earn my PhD and teach marine biology at a university level.

Emma's Stereo-video SURP 2019 poster

Kristi Dixon M.S. Biology 2022
I am originally from Carrollton, GA where, after graduating high school, I went on to pursue a career in Nursing. I graduated from Kennesaw State University with my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing in July of 2015 and moved to Connecticut with my husband and our two children during his active enlistment with the U.S. Navy. In August of 2018 my husband was discharged from active duty and we moved to Milton, FL where I began my Master's in Biology program at the University of West Florida in the spring. I have worked with thesis students at UWF on their research ranging from fresh water turtle husbandry and data management to collection of field samples and survey data from artificial reef systems within the Gulf Coast. My research focus in the QMCE lab is sea turtle behavior and startle response near artificial reefs and piers in the gulf coast using stereo-video surveillance data. I also volunteer with the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center as well as the C.A.R.E. (Conserve, Act, Rehabilitate, Educate) Team at the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Fort Walton Beach, FL. My role with the C.A.R.E. team has involved assisting with treatments and measurements of sea turtles during their rehabilitation while at the facility, preparing and distributing their diet and supplements for the day, and assisting the veterinary team with any additional tasks as they arise. When I have any free time, I prefer to be SCUBA diving or snorkeling with my little ones, whenever possible. After graduating in May of 2022, my desire is to pursue a career in marine research and conservation with a primary focus in sea turtle conservation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jackson Reimer B.S. Biology 2021
I am an undergraduate student majoring in biology at the University of West Florida. I am from Mobile, AL, and my experiences at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab during high school led me to pursue a career in marine biology research. My passion for the outdoors has allowed me to gain unique experience in interdisciplinary research. I am currently studying parameters that influence sea turtle occupancy and bycatch at Northwest Florida fishing piers in the Quantitative Marine Conservation Ecology Lab. I look to continue my education after the completion of my undergraduate degree by going to graduate school for marine biology.

Sierra Landreth
SURP Intern Summer 2021 & 2022
Originally from Springdale, Arkansas I moved to Pensacola, Florida to attend UWF to study marine biology with a minor in statistics. I previously was a part of the SEA-PHAGES program where I collected environmental samples to obtain the bacteriophage "BeanBoy" and annotated bacteriophage genome. In Summer, 2021 I was a HMCSE SURP Intern working in the Quantitative Marine Ecology and Conservation Lab to create a photograph identification database of sea turtles found along the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier. I am continuing this research this school year as an OUR Works Intern. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I hope to continue my education at a graduate school to work towards a masters degree in marine biology as well as participate in research.

Kathleen McCrea
SURP Intern Summer 2022
I am an undergraduate Biomedical Science major at the University of West Florida. I moved to Navarre to begin my college experience, and fell in love with the community and its ecosystem! I will enter medical school when I graduate, but it is important to me to actively pursue marine conservation and science. I will be assisting Emma Roberto in obtaining sea turtle morphometrics at artificial reef sites within the Gulf of Mexico. This will aid in understanding the greater health implications regarding habitat and resource availability.

Former Students

Alex Vidal M.S. Biology 2021
Current position: US Fish and Wildlife Service
I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Maryland in 2016. Throughout my career, I have held positions for USGS, USFWS, and GA DNR, among others. This work has allowed me to conduct research on a wide range of taxa including waterfowl, seabirds, raptors, and sea turtles. As part of the Quantitative Marine Ecology and Conservation Lab, I am studying sea turtle ecology and satellite tag design. My other research interests include coastal, avian, and movement ecology.

Tabitha Siegfried M.S. Biology 2020
Current position: Sea Turtle Stranding Coordinator - Gulfarium C.A.R.E. Center
Tabitha Siegfried is originally from Warrensburg, Missouri where she began her undergraduate degree studying biology at the University of Central Missouri. Tabitha has always loved marine life and the ocean, so she transferred to the University of West Florida during her junior year to study marine biology. As an undergrad she worked with PhD student Christina Toms on her dissertation project where she learned how to use Finbase for photo-identification purposes and was able to assist in conducting boat surveys, sighting dolphins. She also spent a week on St. Andros Island, Bahamas at the International Field Studies Forfar Field Station. She graduated in May of 2017 with her B.S. in Marine Biology. Tabitha entered the graduate program at the University of West Florida in the fall of 2018. Her graduate research focuses on developing the methodology for using underwater stereo-video cameras to obtain length measurement data on local sea turtles in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Morgan DuBois M.S. Biology 2020
Current Position: Ph.D. Student, Laval University
I am a graduate student in Dr. Piacenza’s lab. I was born and raised in Colorado, but I have always been fascinated with marine biology. I earned my Bachelor's Degree in Biology from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. I am interested in wildlife conservation biology and how animal behavior, ecology, and demography influence the effectiveness of management strategies. I am also interested in how all of those fields are impacted by climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. My research involves modeling the drift of juvenile sea turtles hatching from Florida to examine how variable climate conditions affect their survival rates.

Chloe Huntley
I grew up on Pensacola Beach, and I have always had a passion for science and animals. I am a HMCSE SURP intern working with Alex Vidal studying satellite tag attachment on young turtles. Currently, I am working toward a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. I was a SEA-PHAGES student in cohort 8.5 where I discovered the bacteriophage “Sappho” and worked on the genome annotation of the bacteriophage “EugeneKrabs.” In the future, I plan to earn a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and work in wildlife conservation and medicine.

Tommy Akers B.S. Biology 2019
I grow up in the Pensacola, Florida Gulf coast area where I learned to appreciate the marine life by fish and surf. I am currently working on my Bachelor’s in marine Biology as an undergraduate at UWF and will graduate Fall 2019. I am a HMCSE SURP intern and my research will be on specimen identification and collection for the marine vertebrate collection.