Current Fellows & Interns
Knauss Fellows
2025
Mary Beth Armstrong
Mary Beth Armstrong graduated from George Mason University in 2022 with a bachelor of arts in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and a Minor in Oceanice and Estuarine Science. She earned a master of arts in Marine Science from William & Mary in 2024. Armstrong will be working in the NOAA Office of Research, Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program as the Arctic Observations and Communications Fellow.
Jem Baldisimo
Jem Baldisimo graduated from Ateneo De Manila University in 2003 with a bachelor of science in Environmental Science and from the University of Melbourne with a master of science in Environment in 2011. She graduated from Old Dominion University with a PhD in Ecological Sciences in 2024. Baldisimo will join the Office for Coastal Management under the National Ocean Service.
Carly LaRoche
Carly LaRoche graduated from American University with a bacherlor of science in Environmental Science in 2018 and a PdD in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia in 2024. She will work as an International Policy Fellow with NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program.
Hannah Mast
Hannah Mast graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor of science in Biochemistry. She is pursuing a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia. Mast will join the office of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Abigail Sisti
Abigail Sisti graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor and master of science in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. She earned a PhD in Marine Science from William & Mary. Sisti will join the Office of the Assistant Administrator for the National Ocean Service.
Graduate Fellows
2024
Alyssa Bucci
Alyssa Bucci is an Ocean & Earth Sciences master’s student at Old Dominion University. She is interested in anthropogenic impacts on water quality in coastal environments. Her research analyzes the impact of land use on nutrient and bacteria loading to the Chesapeake Bay during tidal flooding. She utilizes citizen science to collect water quality data and promote community involvement. Bucci will be collaborating with local nonprofits and her professional mentor, Dr. KC Filippino from the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
Ella DiPetto
Ella DiPetto is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecological Sciences at Old Dominion University working in the Walters Community Ecology Lab. Her research is focused on living shorelines that balance ecological considerations with protection of coastal property. Ella is interested in both the ecological and social considerations of these projects, particularly along developed coastlines and residential property. During her fellowship, she will work with her professional mentor Dr. Wie Yusuf of Old Dominion University, a policy scholar who focuses whole-of-community approaches to coastal resilience, to advance the transfer of living shoreline design and implementation knowledge across the region.Â
Luke Groff
Luke Groff is an Environmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia studying ecosystem metabolism and algal carbon storage in seagrass meadows. His goal is to merge his background in education and science access with his work and passion as an ecologist, passing along opportunities to young students. Groff’s project centers around engaging with the community on the Eastern Shore. He plans to teach at the Eastern Shore Community College (ESCC) alongside his professional mentor, ESCC Science Program Chair Dr. Alex Foxworthy, and bring in ESCC students to collaboratively design research projects in the Virginia Coast Reserve.
Savannah Lynn
Savannah Lynn is a Ph.D. student in civil engineering at the University of Virginia. Through her research, she aims to implement an educational program that integrates high-resolution watershed modeling and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to empower middle school students in coastal Virginia to actively contribute to sustainable flood management solutions. Savannah and her mentor Venecia Ferrell, at Old Dominion University, will work with the students to collect real-time data on precipitation, water levels, and water quality using IoT sensors, which will be used to improve flood forecasting models and enable evaluation of green infrastructure mitigation strategies.Â
Rachel Kelmartin
Rachel Kelmartin is a master’s student in T. Reid Nelson’s fisheries ecology lab at George Mason University. She is interested in applied science that will aid in keeping fisheries sustainable so that they may be utilized and enjoyed equally by everyone. Partnering with David H. Secor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and Brendan Runde at The Nature Conservancy, Kelmartin’s project focuses on creating a fluid catch and release mortality estimate for the Atlantic striped bass population with a focus on how water temperature influences mortality. Her mentor, Brendan Runde, will help her promote fish welfare when using acoustic telemetry.
Matthew LaGanke
Matthew LaGanke is a Ph.D. student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a member of the Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Lab & Team (C-SALT). His research investigates the feasibility of integrating modern management tools into shellfish farming. LaGanke’s work aims to provide farmers with advanced methods for gathering, preserving, and analyzing data on their crop that, in turn, support better decisions related to production. Matt will work with professional mentors Mike Congrove from Oyster Seed Holdings in Virginia, Dr. Gary Fleener from Hog Island Oyster Company in California, and Perry Raso from Matunuck Oyster Farm and Bar in Rhode Island.
2023
Mahshid Ahmadian
Mahshid Ahmadian is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her goal is to expand scientific knowledge in fish movement analysis and its practical use in fisheries management. In her project, she focuses on developing a fish movement modeling tool for fisheries management, utilizing data from acoustic receivers. During her fellowship, she will collaborate with a Marine Spatial Ecologist, Dr. Daniel Crear, to study the movement patterns of Cobia in Virginia and the North Atlantic.
Megan BeeverÂ
Megan Beever is a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. During her fellowship, Beever will study which features of natural tidal inlets influence their long-term evolution and develop a model to predict long-term tidal inlet evolution. She will collaborate with her professional mentor at the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
Julia Grenn
Julia Grenn is a Ph.D. student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science interested in working with oyster farmers to identify mechanisms that improve farm efficiency and develop more streamlined husbandry practices. Grenn’s project examines how various husbandry decisions at commercial oyster farms affect water parameters inside off-bottom grow-out bags and baskets and if water parameters could be linked to sudden summer mortality events occurring at oyster farms. Grenn is working with Bruce Vogt from Big Island Aquaculture to better understand an oyster’s entire farm-to-table process and become more involved with larger outreach initiatives like the Virginia Oyster Trail.Â
Alyson Hall
Alyson Hallis a Ph.D. student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Her project focuses on how seagrasses and hard clam aquaculture are interacting on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She aims to holistically understand seagrasses and hard clam aquaculture from ecological and anthropological perspectives to promote healthy seagrass meadows and a sustainable hard clam industry. During her fellowship, she will work with a professional mentor from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to learn how to translate science for policy and share her research with communities on the Eastern Shore.
Daniel Lassiter
Daniel Lassiter is a civil engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia. Through his research, he hopes to help coastal communities address the challenge of increasing flood risk due to climate change and sea level rise. Daniel is combining physically-based computer simulations with machine learning techniques in a framework to generate and compare a collection of possible climate-adaptive coastal flood mitigation plans at a neighborhood-to-city scale. The development of this framework will benefit from the rich coastal resilience and stakeholder engagement experience of his mentor at Wetlands Watch.
Adrian Robins
Adrian Robins is a master’s student in landscape architecture at the University of Virginia. His research will utilize the tools and methods of landscape architecture to address the effects of sea level rise on the agricultural lands and communities of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. This will include assessing and spatially representing the threats of saltwater intrusion, Phragmites encroachment, and irrigation pond-salination from the farm to the regional scale. Adrian will accomplish this in collaboration with the agricultural community on the Eastern Shore, including his professional mentor Dr. Mark Reiter of the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Zlatka Rebolledo Sanchez
Zlatka Rebolledo Sanchezis an international Ph.D. student affiliated with the Coastal Plant and Ecotone Ecology Lab at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on studying blue carbon in Virginia’s salt marshes, employing a spatial variability perspective. Zlatka’s ultimate goal is to effectively communicate scientific concepts to a broad range of individuals, and she is particularly dedicated to translating her findings from English into Spanish, thereby expanding the reach and impact of her work. She will work with her professional mentor Alexandra Clayton from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Commonwealth Fellows
2025 - Chesapeake Bay Commission
Greg O'Connell
Greg O’Connell is from Bethesda, Maryland and attended the University of Maryland, where he got his B.S. in Government and Politics and a M.S. in Applied Political Analytics. O’Connell will support the Chesapeake Bay Commission in surveying the latest scientific findings impacting the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, conducting state and federal-level policy research, and planning for Commission meetings. Other responsibilities include supporting the Commission’s state directors, including Virginia Director, in developing and analyzing state policy proposals in advance of and during the General Assembly sessions.
2024 - Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation
Gabrielle Rosario
Gabrielle Rosario attended the University of Virginia where she received a B.A. in Global Sustainability & Foreign Affairs, and a Master of Public Policy from the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy. Rosario is supporting the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation to develop the adaptive management plan for the Coastal Resilience Master Plan. The fellow is responsible for tasks such as conducting research, interviewing key stakeholders, presenting findings, and developing adaptive management plan content. Rosario also participates in other activities to support the work of the office, supporting the development of the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan.
NMFS Sea Grant Fellow
2024 - Population Dynamics
Rebecca Mestav
Rebecca Mestav is a PhD student at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS. Mestav is evaluating the impacts of climate-induced range shifts on the assessment and management of spot and Atlantic croaker. Her faculty advisor is Robert Latour, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and her mentor is Cassidy Peterson, Management Strategy Evaluation Specialist, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
VASG Communications Fellow
2025
Bayleigh Albert
Bayleigh Albert is a master’s student at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS. She is responsible for a variety of communications-related tasks including photography, videography, social media management, science writing, web design, and graphic design. She also assists the Aquaculture Information Exchange community manager with webinars, activity feed posts, and other duties.
VASG Outreach Fellow
2025
Jade Sevelow-Lee
Jade Sevelow-Lee is a master’s student at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS. She is responsible for developing and designing outreach-related materials for Virginia Sea Grant. Her research interests include shellfish aquaculture and the habitat ecosystem services it provides, and shellfish aquaculture outreach and education.
VASG Internships
2025
Emma Boyden - Old Dominion University - Salt Marsh Intern
Emma Boyden is an Environmental Science and Policy major at George Mason University. Her internship offers a unique opportunity to work closely with VASG Graduate Fellow Zlatka Rebolledo Sanchez, tracking carbon through salt marshes. Boyden will gain hands-on experience by completing sediment, stem, and root analysis, as well as carbon fluxes across different salt marshes in coastal southeastern Virginia. (Photo by Sydney Brown/George Mason University)
Emily Burgess - VIMS Marine Advisory Program - Education Intern
Emily Burgess is a Biology major at Virginia Wesleyan University. As the education intern, she will work closely with the VIMS-MAP education team to prepare, implement, and evaluate three key summer education initiatives designed to promote hands-on, experiential learning in marine science. There will also be an opportunity to assist in the coordination of the Virginia Coastal Ecosystem Field Course for Teachers, which immerses educators in field and laboratory experiences at the Wachapreague, Virginia field lab, including habitat exploration, water sampling, organism observation, and classroom activity integration.Â
Layla Jones - University of Virginia/Eastern Shore Community College - Seagrass Intern
Layla Jones is a student at Eastern Shore Community College. Her internship involves collaboration with UVA graduate student coastal scientist Luke Groff investigating carbon storage, seagrass restoration, and ecosystem valuation of seagrass meadows of South Bay, VA. Jones will assist in designing and carrying out a field-based research project over a ten week period.Â
Rachel Nimitz - Virginia Tech - Aquaculture Intern
Rachel Nimitz has a master’s in Food Science and Technology from Virginia Tech. Nimitz is working as a research assistant with Dr. Yiming Feng at the VT Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hampton, VA.
Measure the Muck Intern TBD
TBD
Contaminants of Emerging Concern Graduate Researchers
2025
Ava DiVita - Virginia Tech
Ava DiVita
Brandi Williams - George Mason University
Brandi Williams
