I have fulfilled teaching assistantships for two undergraduate courses at Rice: Introductory Biology II (EBIO 202) in 2018 and Animal Biology and Physiology (BIOC 329) in 2019. I have mentored several Rice undergraduates conducting independent research over the past three years, including two senior theses addressing topics coral reef ecology and microbial ecology. I conduct outreach through three separate programs: 1) A Rice graduate student-led program that brings interactive science lessons to inner city grade school classrooms in Houston in order to increase the accessibility of science and scientists (http://owlls.blogs.rice.edu/), 2) A collaboration with the Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston through which we provide monthly interactive sessions on the ecology and conservation of coral reefs, with a focus on the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, 3) Individual visits to—and from—Houston grade schools about a variety of marine science topics.

Rice undergradaute researcher Rebekah Bryant presenting a poster at the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium in 2019. Under my supervision she conducted an independent project on the abundance and diversity of virus-like particles in heat-stressed coral colonies

Graduate students working within the Mo'orea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research site presented research posters to Tahitian high school teachers in June 2019. Photo credit: Lauren Howe-Kerr

Visiting the Yorkshire Academy in Houston in December 2018 to listen to their presentations about marine conservation

Students in the SEEDS program at the Yorkshire Academy prepared several activities to learn about the benefits of marine conservation