Brendan Campbell
Growing up in New Jersey, I naturally became close with the marine world. Countless fishing trips and days at the beach guided me to pursuing an undergraduate degree in biological oceanography at Rutgers. While at Rutgers, I started to work with shellfish and developed a deep interest in aquaculture and fisheries. After graduating, I originally planned to start an oyster farm, but after several temporary jobs at different clam and oyster farms and hatcheries, all I had were more questions. How can I make farming easier and more profitable? Now I am a student working to better understand how to optimize oyster growth in aquaculture systems while developing physical tools that can help relay this information to farmers and researchers. I am unsure what the future holds for me, but I plan to continue
working alongside the aquaculture industry in some capacity.
Advisor: Matt Gray
Pursuing: Masters, Marine Estuary Environmental Science
Catherine Fitzgerald
I have lived in Maryland my whole life, fishing in its tributaries and fascinated by the complexity of the Chesapeake as a living estuary. I want to help further our understanding of that complexity in the
Chesapeake and in marine systems in general; that understanding can help us figure out how to best balance our interests as a society with our interests as beings who are part of the global environment. I am a Master’s student currently investigating the ecological interactions between Choptank larval fish, their zooplankton prey (tiny drifting animals), and their collective environment. After I complete my masters, I plan to continue researching the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay.
Advisors: Jamie Pierson, Louis Plough
Degree: Masters, Ecological Systems
Pinky Liau
Before arriving at Maryland for graduate school, I received my B.S. degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey. I was born in Malaysia and moved to the United States when I was 8 years old. Currently, I am pursuing my Ph.D. degree as I study microbial ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. My bacterial species of interest is cable bacteria, best known for long-distance electron transport, therefore, acting like a battery! Specifically, my research involves the interaction of cable bacteria with their sympatric microbial communities. After my graduate studies, I hope to serve as a scientist in the government and continue to raise environmental awareness. When I’m not in lab, you can find me in the woods hiking or camping!
Advisor: Sairah Malkin
Pursuing: PhD, Environmental Molecular Science and Technology
Lisa Ziegler
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. I completed my BS (undergrad and Hons.) in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, with a major in Marine Biology, and completed my Masters degree in
Oceanography. I believe that my love for the ocean and everything related to it, was sparked during the years I spent volunteering at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. Marine science is exciting and I love working with a particular problem that eventually yields results. My PhD research is to examine the potential influences of future natural and human-caused pressures on Coastal wetland-estuarine systems and biogeochemical exchange on ecology, under various environmental and human population change scenarios. I plan to continue scientific research to answer the unknown.
Advisor: Raleigh Hood
Pursuing: PhD, Earth and Ocean Sciences