Jack Butler

jbutl033@odu.edu

Ph.D. Student

B.S. in Zoology

University of Florida, Florida

Jack is interested in the role of undersea soundscapes for recruitment of fish and invertebrates in tropical coastal environments and the potential impact of sponge die-offs on those processes in hardbottom communities in the Florida Keys.

Lester Gittens

lgitt002@odu.edu

Ph.D. Student

M.Sc. in Natural Resource Management
University of the West Indies, Barbados

B.Sc. in Zoology
University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Lester's research focuses on the ecological sustainability of contrasting commercial fishing methods used in the Bahamian Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, fishery. 

Gayathiri Gnanalingam

ggnan001@odu.edu

Ph.D. Student

MSc Otago University, New Zealand

B.Sc, Zoology
L.L.B.  in Law
Otago University, New Zealand

Gaya is a new doctoral student at ODU. She recently completed a Masters in ecology where she investigated reproductive development and localized management of the Blackfoot abalone (Haliotis iris) in New Zealand. At ODU she hopes to study larval connectivity and reproductive biology of the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) as related to strategies for the management of lobster fisheries in the Caribbean.

Ryan Knowles

rknow004@odu.edu

Ph.D. Student

Jason Spadaro

aspad001@odu.edu

M.S. Student

B.S. in Biology
Old Dominion University, Virginia

Jason is evaluating the utility of stock enhancement of the indigenous herbivorous Caribbean King Crab, Mithrax spinosissimus, as a means of reversing the phase shift from coral- to algal-dominated reefs in the Caribbean.

Marla Valentine

mvale017@odu.edu

Ph.D. Student

M.S. in Oceanography
Louisiana State University, Louisiana

B.S. in Biology
Salem College, North Carolina

Marla's dissertation research examines the complex associations of sponges and microbes in Florida Bay.

Adam Wood

awood049@odu.edu

M.S. Student

B.S. in Biology
Old Dominion University, Virginia