People

John Kominoski – Professor. Ecosystem Ecologist and Biogeochemist, Lead PI of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program. Curriculum Vitae, Google Scholar, ORCID

Elena Solohin, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Fellow. Elena’s research will quantify sediment age and accretion rates in coastal mangroves. She earned a three-year fellowship from the National Park Foundation’s Scientists in the Parks program for this postdoc.

Christopher Feliciano, B.S. – MS Student. Chris’s thesis focuses on the dissolved organic carbon and gaseous carbon fluxes from urban freshwater and estuarine ecosystems.

Kevin Montenegro, B.S. – Ph.D. Student. Kevin is investigating the effects of marine wrack on soil chemistry, accretion, and elevation in coastal mangrove forests. His dissertation will continue a collaboration with the National Park Service’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventor and Monitoring Network.

Liz Ortiz, B.S. – Ph.D. Student. Liz is studying how dissolved organic carbon (DOC) composition, concentration, and bioavailability vary among urban streams and canals. She is participating in a NSF-funded cross-city urban DOC project that is analyzing 100 locations each in Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Salt Lake City, and Portland, Oregon.

Veronica Restrepo, B.S. – Ph.D. Student. Veronica’s dissertation research focuses on Everglades mangrove forest recovery from hurricanes and marsh transformation and productivity with hydrologic restoration and saltwater intrusion.

Nicholas Oehm, M.S. – Ph.D. Student. Nick’s dissertation research investigates how research experiences for middle and high school teachers influences their self-efficacy as scientists and how this impacts student classroom science assessment. Among many things, Nick is PI of a BioRET program funded through the National Science Foundation.

Chris Rizzie, Lab Manager.

Caitlin Reisa, M.S., Lab Manager.

Joseph Morales, B.S. – RET, Teacher, Miami Northwestern High School, Miami, Florida

Walfrido Valdes, B.S. – RET, Teacher, Miami Southridge Senior High School, Miami, Florida

Richard Dominguez, B.S. – RET, Teacher, Miami-Dade Middle School Science, Miami, Florida

Cristina Whelan, Ph.D. – RET, Teacher, Biotech High School, Miami, Florida

Beatriz Guimaraes RET, Teacher, Biotech High School, Miami, Florida

Amanda Hernandez. RET, Teacher, Southridge Senior High School, Miami, Florida

Lacey Simpson. RET, Teacher, Braddock Senior High School, Miami, Florida

LAB ALUMNI

Postdoctoral Associates

Matt Smith, Ph.D. Current: Biological Scientists, Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC

Aingeru Martinez, Ph.D. Former: University of The Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain. Current: University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Dong Yoon Lee, Ph.D. Current: Scientist, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, Florida

Mary Zeller, Ph.D. Current: Scientist, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Germany

Andrea Nocentini, Ph.D. Former: Data Scientist, South Florida Natural Resources Center, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida. Current: Data Scientist, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hollywood, Florida.

Graduate Students

Jordon King, M.S. Jordon earned an FIU Outstanding Graduate Award for his thesis on the biogeochemical structure and function of flocculent organic matter in ridge and slough wetlands of the Everglades. Current: Environmental Technician, SCS Engineers, Miami.

Matt Smith, Ph.D. Current: Biological Scientist, Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC.

Kenny Anderson, Ph.D. Current: Postdoctoral Associate, Kent State University, Ohio.

Sean Charles, Ph.D. Former: Postdoctoral Associate, Florida International University, Miami, Florida. Current: Postdoctoral Associate, East Carolina University, Coastal Studies Institute, Wanchese, North Carolina.

Shelby Servais, Ph.D. Former: National Academies of Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fairhope, Alabama. Former: Scientist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Kansas City, Missouri. Current: Program Analyst, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC.

Research Technicians

Julia Pope, Technician, Northeast Shark River Slough project.

Chris Rizzie, B.S. – Research Assistant. Chris formerly led the Northeast Shark River Slough project and the Urban DOC project. Current: Graduate School

Sophia Hoffman, M.S. – Research Assistant. Northeast Shark River Slough project. Current: Virginia Coast Reserve LTER, University of Virginia.

Ryan Bremen, M.S. – Everglades Mangrove Forest Hurricane Recovery Project. Current: Assistant Boating Safety Officer at the University of Miami, Miami, Florida.

Amanda Kuhn, B.A. – Texas Mangroves Hurricane Harvey RAPID Project. Current: Ph.D. Environmental Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Diana Johnson, M.S. – Northeast Shark River Slough, Everglades Restoration Project

Shishir Sarker, M.S. – Northeast Shark River Slough, Everglades Restoration Project. Current: Ph.D. Geological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky

Michelle Robinson, M.S. – Salinity x Phosphorus Experimental Wetland Mesocosms Project. Current: Biologist, Planning and Environmental Resources, Monroe County, Florida

Michael Kline, M.S, – Salinity x Phosphorus Experimental Wetland Mesocosms Project. Current: Environmental Sensor Manager, Baruch Institute, Clemson University, South Carolina

Hanna Campen Current: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

Undergraduate Students, High School Students, Volunteers

Barbara Moahamed Current: MS program at Charite Molecular Medicine Program, Berlin, Germany

Alexis Ramos Former: MS program, Institute of Plant Breeding, University of Georgia. Current: Laboratory Technician II, Auburn University, Alabama

Julio Pachon (FCE-LTER REU 2013, Society of Wetland Scientists Undergraduate Mentoring Scholarship). Former: 2Seeds Network, Magoma-Kijano, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Current: PhD program, Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida

Kristina Morales (FCE-LTER REU 2015, Society of Wetland Scientists Undergraduate Mentoring Scholarship). Current: MSc program, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Diana Segrera

Daniel Rivera

Andrew Menendez

Andrea Gutierrez (Felix Varela High School 2015)

Emma Singer

Gabrielle Cabral Former: MS program, University of Miami, Rosenthiel School of Marine Science. Current: Biological Science Technician, Biscayne National Park, Miami, Florida

Venus Garcia

Beatriz Sampaio

Patricia Leroy

Francisca Olmos de Aguilera

Marco Fernandez (FCE-LTER REU 2016, Society of Wetland Scientists Undergraduate Mentoring Scholarship, McNair Foundation Fellowship). Current: Ph.D. Biology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Daniel Read (UREx SRN REU 2017)

Suzy Roebling (FCE-LTER REU 2017)

Jonathan Lau (FIU Dual Enrollment Program 2017-2018)

Cate Patriarca (Felix Varela High School 2017-2018)

Alessandra Puig-Santana (FCE-LTER REU 2018). Former: Social Media Spanish Translator, Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, California. Current: MS Program in Environmental Science, Bren School, University of California, Santa Barbara