Melanie was hired as a research assistant at the PIFSC in Feb. 2007. She received a BSc in Physics from the University of Paris XI in 2004, and a MSc in Oceanography and Engineering from the University of Paris VI and the Engineering School ENSTA in 2006. She also did a 6-month internship at the PIFSC in 2006 as a part of her MSc. Melanie specializes in tag and oceanographic data analysis.
Research interests include reef fish communities, mesophotic communities and marine debris. Specific projects include studying the reef fish communities of mesophotic reefs, black corals and artificial reefs; marine debris survey and removal; and impacts of catch and release fisheries. Responsibilities of Unit Dive Supervisor include training and certification of divers; and overseeing all dive operations.
Adrienne received her BS in Biology and Certificate in Mathematical Biology from Washington State University and her MS in Zoology with Marine Biology specialization from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Currently, Adrienne is a doctoral student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research interests include active and passive acoustics, marine mammal behavior, fish and micronekton distribution. She is specifically interested in the relationship between deep sea scattering layers and marine mammal foraging presence.
Research interests include the effects of physical processes on pelagic organisms and the use of active acoustics as a tool to estimate fish and micronekton distribution and abundance in a pelagic environment. Specific projects include the study of tuna and their forage distribution and abundance in the American Samoa and Hawai'i fishing grounds, the effects of physical features such as mesoscale eddies, fluctuating currents, and seamounts on these organisms, and an investigation of juvenile opakapaka (pink snapper) abundance and distribution in nearshore nursery grounds off East Oahu, Hawai'i.
Jamison received his MS in Physical Oceanography and PhD in Biological Oceanography, both from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His historical research focused on physical-biological interactions in coral reef ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on assessing the importance of physical drivers in determining coral reef benthic community structure. His current research is principally in association with the Kona Integrated Ecosystem Assessment program, where he is assessing the effects of both natural environmental and human drivers on the coastal marine ecosystem of West Hawaiʻi.
Research interests include pelagic larval ecology, metapopulation connectivity, mathematical modeling, fishery oceanography, stock assessment, and protected species mitigation in commercial fisheries. Specific projects include loggerhead sea turtle movement modeling using satellite tag data and remotely sensed environmental data, larval transport in the Hawaiian archipelago, and sea turtle/cetacean mitigation in the Hawaiʻi-based longline fishery.
Phoebe's research interests include physical-biological interactions, investigating large ecosystems with remotely sensed data, and climate variability. She is particularly interested in the potential impacts of climate variability and change on pelagic ecosystems.