I am a Project Scientist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory based at UC Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute. Our lab leverages new technologies to address some of the most pressing threats to ocean health such as climate change, plastic pollution, and emerging extractive industries.

I lead some of our local coastal health work, such as our SharkEye program utilizing drones and machine learning to monitor the juvenile white shark aggregation in Carpinteria. I also manage our collaborative field program to identify and recover underwater marine debris, specifically lost lobster traps, across the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

The remainder of my work lies at the nexus of ocean policy and science, where I work to both understand and communicate the impacts of deep-sea mining on benthic and pelagic communities. I received my B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University in Earth Systems with a focus on marine biology and policy.