Jessica Gephart (PI, American University) 

Jessica Gephart is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Science at American University. She received her PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center. Her research focuses on the intersection of seafood globalization and environmental change, evaluating how seafood trade drives distant environmental impacts, as well as how environmental shocks disrupt seafood trade. 
​
Website

Christopher Golden (co-PI, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health) 

Chris Golden is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Planetary Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. With a background in ecology and epidemiology, he studies the human health impacts of environmental change. Golden is the founder and director of Madagascar Health and Environmental Research (MAHERY), a 501(c)3 focused on the training and capacity building of scientists in Madagascar, a country he has worked in since 1999.
​
Website

Alex Godwin (co-PI, American University) 
​
Alex Godwin is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at American University. He received his PhD in Human-Centered Computing from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His primary area of research is Information Visualization, with a focus on methods for displaying and interacting with geographic data. His lab at American University, the Digital Cities lab, develops systems for civic data collection and analysis. His students specialize in web visualizations and systems that incorporate tangible and tactile interfaces.

​Website

Postdoctoral Scholars & Staff

Althea Marks (Data Scientist, University of Washington)
​
Althea is a data scientist whose professional origins are rooted in environmental science, water quality, fisheries, marine ecology, and field work. She completed her Master's research at California State University Fullerton investigating the in situ water filtration functions of native Olympia oyster habitat and Pacific oyster aquaculture. During this research she was inspired by the vast potential and value of data management, reproducible workflows, and open-science. In 2022 she was a Data Science Fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) where she honed her expertise in Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse (FAIR) of digital assets. When she isn't tinkering on the computer she may be in the mountains exploring via various modes of human powered transportation.

Rahul Agrawal Bejarano (Data Scientist, University of Michigan) 

Rahul Agrawal Bejarano is a data scientist at the University of Michigan and was formerly a data scientist in American University’s Seafood Globalization Lab. During his time at the University of Michigan he received a BSE in Computer Science and Engineering and a MS in Environment and Sustainability. Past work includes making data analytics and programming more accessible in the fields of Ecology, Urban Development, Energy Equity, and Computer Science Education.

Jessica Zamborain Mason (Postdoctoral Scholar, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health) ​

Jessica Zamborain Mason is an interdisciplinary marine scientist who uses quantitative methods to increase our understanding of human-environment interactions, the performance of natural resources, and inform resource management and policy. Jessica's current research takes a nutritional lens to fisheries, integrating nutritional outcomes into fisheries reference points and examining the consequences of climate change, human use, and trade on natural resources, human nutrition and public health. Overall, she aims to improve our understanding on nutrition-sensitive approaches to fisheries management and policy. 

Website

Whitney Friedman (Research scientist, UC Santa Cruz) ​

Whitney Friedman is an an interdisciplinary marine scientist working to inform effective and equitable management and conservation of marine resources. She completed her PhD at UC San Diego and Postdoctoral research at the National Center for Ecological Synthesis and Analysis (NCEAS, USCB), NOAA Fisheries, and UC Santa Cruz. Whitney works with diverse teams to design and conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of marine social-ecological systems, addressing questions relating to climate resilience, nutritional security, global trade, and community-based management of marine resources. She is also a co-founder of Thriving Oceans Collective.

​Website​

Student Researchers

Current
Colby Belmarsh (Undergraduate Researcher, American University)
Philip Maxson (Undergraduate Researcher, American University)

Past
Joe Barnes ​(Graduate Researcher, American University)
Parthav Easwar ​(Undergraduate Researcher, American University)
Taraji Ellington ​(Undergraduate Researcher, American University)
Lily Fowler ​(Undergraduate Researcher, American University)
​Aileen McDonald (Undergraduate Researcher, American University)
​Hannah Cohen (Undergraduate Researcher, American University)