Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley

 

ABOUT ME

I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2001 with a degree in Biology. As an undergraduate at UGA I worked in the department of Marine Sciences with Dr. Meryl Alber as a laboratory technician. This position allowed my to travel to coastal Georgia and gain valuable experience in the field. Dr. Alber along with several other professors at UGA, namely Dr. Gene Helfman and Dr. William Fitt sparked my interest in pursuing a career in science and academia. Following graduation I participated in the East/West Marine Biology Program through Northeastern University. This program travels to 3 distinct ecosystems, exposing its students to a wide array of topics within marine science all taught in the field. Upon completing the program I took a job as a Faculty Research Assistant for Dr. Kenneth P. Sebens at the University of Maryland. Working with Ken confirmed my determination to continue with my studies and peaked my interest in coral reefs and island systems, particularly Bermuda. I am currently working with Dr. Robert M. Woollacott as a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My interests broadly encompass coral reef biology. I am particularly interested in the evolution of scleractinian corals and go about answering questions related to this through ecology experiments dealing with life history traits such as reproductive timing, competency periods, settlement and growth. I also use a molecular approach, and am currently working on a large scale phylogeography study of corals across the Caribbean, including remote sites such as Bermuda. Coupling life history strategies with genetic diversity, I hope to gain insight to processes effecting species distribution and evolution, particularly in more isolated ecosystems.

FUTURE GOALS

Altough my dissertation work focuses soley on scleractinian corals, I am interested in marine invertebrates in general. I hope to continue working in both marine ecology and molecular biology as I feel it is important to bridge the gap between these two disciplines in order to fully understand experimental results from either.

NEWS

I am looking forward to being the teaching fellow for two great upcoming courses.

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences: Coral Reef Ecology, July 9 - 28.

Harvard University: Marine Biology (Science B-53), Fall Semester

I will also be attending the Western Society of Naturalists meeting this coming fall.