Lexie Sturm successfully defends her dissertation!

Voss Lab Ph.D. candidate, Lexie Sturm, successfully defended her dissertation with the support of her lab mates, colleagues, friends, and family in an in-person and broadcast seminar on August 22. During her time at Harbor Branch, Lexie combined multiple field-based approaches including ROV, scuba, and technical diving surveys and sample collection with lab-based molecular techniques including microsatellites, RADseq SNP genotyping, and ITS2 sequencing approaches to study the ecology of shallow and mesophotic (30—150 m) coral communities. The ultimate goal of her dissertation research was to characterize the population genetic structure of the great star coral, Montastraea cavernosa, and their algal symbiont communities across shallow and deeper, mesophotic reefs throughout the Tropical Western Atlantic. Lexie hopes that the high-resolution and geographically diverse genetic datasets she generated will be used by other researchers and reef managers alike to: assess the refugia potential of mesophotic coral populations, generate baselines of natural genetic diversity which can be used as benchmarks for restoration and outplanting, and to optimize and support the implementation of international networks of coral reef marine protected areas.
 
This project was funded primarily through the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology and Lexie was also supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and scholarships from Florida Sea Grant and Women Divers Hall of Fame. Following her graduation in December, Lexie is thrilled to continue working at the intersection of coral reef science, conservation, management, and policy as a Knauss Fellow in NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program!

Some of Lexie's fondest memories of her time at HBOI and a link to her website to keep in touch!