Melissa Omand Assistant Professor of Oceanography
Melissa Omand applies her training in physics and physical oceanography to examine biogeochemical and ecological processes throughout the upper ocean and twilight zone. She most enjoys designing or combining sensors, vehicles and other instrument platforms in creative ways to tackle the challenges of making measurements in deep, sometimes harsh oceanic conditions.
Noah Walcutt M.S. (2018), PhD.
In 2018 Noah completed a MS in Oceanography at URI focused on developing underwater holographic microscopy methodology for marine ecological studies. He is now working towards a PhD in Oceanography with research that involves applying holographic techniques to the study of physical and biological interactions in the ocean. His research interests also include the development of ocean-going sensors, applying virtual reality to the practice of oceanography, and autonomous platforms
Melanie Feen M.S. & PhD.
Melanie is part of the NASA-led EXPORTS project to research the biological pump. Her project will link measurements from sensors deployed on the Wirewalker and remotely sensed imagery from satellites to measure biological ocean productivity.
Alexis Johnson M.S.
Jackson Sugar undergraduate URI Ocean Engineering.
Jackson is designing and building Minions; Low-cost floats that will be released in swarms to image marine snow and quantify carbon export processes in the Ocean twilight zone.
Ben Grassian PhD. Co-avised with Dr. Chris Roman.
Ben uses imaging and acoustic sensing platforms to observe biological communities in the midwater environment. He is currently developing tools to derive relevant information from these systems to interrogate the linkages between local hydrography and organismal habits in an environment that is often difficult to sample over the relevant scales. His larger goals are to render novel perspectives of hidden dynamics within the plankton/nekton that link these communities to larger-scale trophic, physical, and biogeochemical processes.