Geology Doctoral Student Carina Fish Named 2018 Foster Scholar
Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Becker
UC Davis graduate student Carina Fish has been named a 2018 recipient of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship.
As a geology doctoral student in the Hill biogeochemistry lab group at UC Davis' Bodega Marine Laboratory, Fish studies deep-sea corals to unlock the stories they hold of modern and past oceanographic change. As she seeks to understand how humans are impacting the ocean (and in particular, the waters below the surface), her dissertation work tracks human-induced changes to the deep-sea by looking at the chemical composition of coral skeletons, their food source, and the water itself. Corals record in their skeletons the environment in which they grew and the food they ate, thus they are excellent recorders of changes to the water they are bathed in and any changes to their food source that lives at the surface. Specifically, Carina seeks to quantify the perturbation of ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and changes in temperature to deep-sea communities in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California.
Carina’s research will help inform the management of new deep-water habitat from the 2015 expansion in Cordell Bank sanctuary. As a Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar, Carina is excited to engage underrepresented students by building their own water profiler to promote the next generation of marine stewards. She will also develop learning modules centered on her research to help illuminate the depths of the ocean and make Cordell Bank, an offshore sanctuary, more accessible.
Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program provides support for master’s and doctoral studies in oceanography, marine biology, maritime archaeology and all other science, engineering, social science and resource management disciplines involving ocean and coastal areas particularly by women and members of minority groups. Depending on funding, approximately two to four scholarships are awarded each year.
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