SkIO faculty to advise 6 new graduate students

Editor’s Note: Soon after the publication of this article, Zhihan Zhang switched programs. She is no longer a SkIO graduate student. 

University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SkIO) faculty will serve as advisors for six new graduate students starting this fall semester 2024, with four students based at the SkIO campus and two at the main UGA campus in Athens. 

Alyssa Fritz, doctoral student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in natural resource science and management with an emphasis in fisheries and wildlife, University of Missouri.
  • Faculty Advisor: Marc Frischer
  • Research Interests: “My research interests are mainly centered around using trace DNA as a tool to study ecological interactions in the pelagic environment. I’ll be working with Marc to analyze doliolid diets at different times of the year and from various depths by analyzing DNA found within the gut.”
  • Location: SkIO campus, Savannah
Isaac Stone, master’s student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in ocean sciences, University of Georgia. 
  • Faculty Advisor: Sara Rivero-Calle
  • Research Interests: “My research thus far has pertained to many places all over the world, ranging from surgeonfish herbivory in French Polynesia to bacterial community compositions within the Amundsen Sea. My current and future research focuses on population dynamics of the giant barrel sponge found in mesophotic reefs in Puerto Rico.”
  • Location: UGA main campus, Athens
Abigail (Abby) Swierz, master’s student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in marine biology, Florida Institute of Technology.
  • Faculty Advisor: Adam Greer
  • Research Interests: “I have done research on biofouling, oyster filtration, neurotoxin tissue analysis and foraminifera. I will be studying zooplankton with Professor Adam Greer this fall — specifically the different larvae in each sample.”
  • Location: UGA main campus, Athens
Gabrielle (Gabi) Tutelo, doctoral student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in marine biology, College of Charleston. Master’s in marine biology, College of Charleston.
  • Faculty Advisor: Jay Brandes
  • Research Interests: “My overarching research is in food web ecology and ecology at large. At SkIO, I’ll be working with Jay Brandes, using stable isotopes to assess zooplankton communities.”
  • Location: SkIO campus, Savannah
Nele Weigt, doctoral student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Germany). Master’s in biological oceanography, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research GEOMAR.
  • Faculty Advisor: Adam Greer
  • Research Interests: “My main research interest is zooplankton. I spent both my bachelor’s thesis and my master’s thesis on researching different aspects and groups of zooplankton in different regions of the Atlantic Ocean with varying methods. Starting this fall, I will be working within the Greer Lab to look at the fine-scale zooplankton ecology with in-situ imaging and other techniques.”
  • Location: SkIO campus, Savannah
Zhihan Zhang, doctoral student
  • Education: Bachelor’s in engineering, Northeast Forestry University (China). 
  • Faculty Advisor: Natalie Cohen
  • Research Interests: “My PhD research will focus on investigating the evolved metabolic capabilities of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, particularly their transcriptomic responses to variations in trace metal availability, leveraging both laboratory cultures and metatranscriptomic databases to explore nutrient strategies across marine environments.”
  • Location: SkIO campus, Savannah

About SkIO

The UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SkIO) is a multidisciplinary research and training institution located on Skidaway Island near Savannah, Georgia. The Institute was founded in 1967 with a mission to conduct research in all fields of oceanography. In 2013, SkIO was merged with the University of Georgia. The campus serves as a gateway to coastal and marine environments for programs throughout the University System. The Institute’s primary goals are to further the understanding of marine and environmental processes, conduct leading-edge research on coastal and marine systems, and train tomorrow’s scientists. For more information, visit www.skio.uga.edu.