Port Aransas, Texas · Gulf of Mexico
Marine and coastal ecologist working on seagrass loss, fisheries, and what it takes for a Gulf shoreline to recover after it's been pushed too hard.
Associate Professor · Department of Marine Science · Coastal Bend University Marine Science Institute
About
I grew up on the Texas coast watching the same bay get clearer some summers and murkier others — and I've spent my career trying to explain the difference.
My lab studies seagrass meadows and the fisheries that depend on them across the Gulf of Mexico. We pair long-term field monitoring with experiments that ask a deceptively simple question: when a coastal system gets disturbed — by a storm, a dredge, a heatwave — what makes it bounce back, and what makes it cross a line it can't return from? The answers shape how state agencies and coastal towns decide where to restore, protect, or let go.
Selected Publications
A representative slice. A complete list lives in my CV; reprints available on request.
Current Fieldwork
A ten-site, year-round monitoring network from Aransas Bay to the Laguna Madre, run with state biologists and a rotating crew of undergraduates. We track meadow density, water clarity, and juvenile fish counts — the longest continuous record of its kind on the Texas coast, and the data behind two state restoration decisions.
Teaching & Mentoring
Public Writing & Talks
Get in touch
The fastest way to reach me is email. Journalists on deadline, please say so in the subject line and I'll prioritize.