Current students
Emily Nixon
3rd year PhD Student
My research revolves around coral holobiont symbioses during early coral ontogeny. Specifically, I am interested in utilizing molecular techniques to study the role of microbial community assemblage on recruitment success, growth and survival. Currently, I work alongside restoration practitioners to study symbiont (Symbiodinium spp.) community shifting in juvenile corals and the potential of artificial symbiont inoculation for increasing post-settlement survivorship.
Catherine Mullenmeister
3rd year PhD Student
Catherine graduated from UC San Diego in June 2020 with a double major in Marine Biology (B.S.) and Environmental Chemistry (B.S.) She is now a first year PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography whose research involves characterizing interactions between coral, algae, and microbes on coral reef ecosystems. She is interested in analyzing how different classes of producers and their unique microbial communities change the dissolved organic matter pool through untargeted metabolomics. Through this work, Catherine hopes to connect these biological interactions with physical dynamics on coral reefs such as oxygen concentration, pH, and dissolved organic matter diversity that may influence benthic community structure.
Bibi Rennsen
Post-bac research intern
I graduated in May 2021 from the University of San Diego with a B.A. in Environmental and Ocean Sciences with an emphasis on Marine Ecology. I am currently a post-bacc intern in Kelly’s lab, assisting in collecting, processing, and analyzing samples from diverse marine ecosystems to help research and better understand their microbial community dynamics. I am particularly fascinated in coral reproduction and larval settlement, and aim to better understand what external factors accrue to the survival and success of these organisms during this pivotal growth time.
Mitch Smelser
1st year MS student
Mitch is a Master’s student studying coral reef ecology and coral population genetics on reefs across the Maui Nui region. His research currently focuses on using molecular approaches to better understand species boundaries between Porites lobata and Porites compressa and their respective reproductive strategies. Centering around long term-monitoring sites, Mitch works with the Smith Lab at SIO to map demographic patterns across time onto virtual 3D models made for coral reefs. Pairing his genetic findings with morphometric and photometric color data, he hopes to offer more-concrete evidence for field identification used for in-situ management practices. Mitch completed his B.S. in Zoology at Miami University in 2018 and worked as a professional diver in San Diego prior to joining the lab. In his free time, Mitch enjoys mountain biking, trail running, playing the drums, and his favorite – visiting National Parks!
Alumni
Zach Quinlan
PhD – Summer 2023
Zach is extremely fascinated by coral exometabolomes and the hidden insights they can give us into the functioning of the coral holobiont. During his PhD he leveraged our collaborations with mass spectrometry community to pursue greater insights into how chemical ecology can help with coral reef management and restoration. Zach’s research has developed new open-source tools to enable researchers to utilize untargeted metabolomic tools as well as investigating the dynamics of labile dissolved organic matter in coral reefs, biomarkers of stress exuded by corals, and natural settlement cueing metabolites. In his free time Zach is an obsessive climber, cyclist and baker.
Sabrina Sauri
MS Marine Biology – Winter 2023
Sabrina graduated from UC San Diego with a BS in Molecular biology in Spring 2021. She joined the Wegley Kelly Lab as part of the BS/MS program for Marine Biology where her project focused on the interactions of microbial communities between coral and turf algae during stress events like bleaching.
Our Fearless Leader
Dr. Linda Wegley Kelly
PhD
Always in search of her next dose of sugar.