Alison was born far from the ocean in Aurora, Ohio, USA. When
it came time to choose a college Alison picked the University of North Carolina
Wilmington (5 miles from the ocean) pursuing a BS in Marine
Biology. During her four years as an undergraduate, she took the
opportunity to spend five months in Australia where she fell in love with coral
reefs and the underwater world of the tropics. After returning to
Wilmington she continued studying coral by researching the sub-lethal effects
of ocean acidification on corals from the North Carolina coast. Her
interest in researching tropical coral reefs lead her to KAUST in 2014.
Alison completed her Master’s degree at KAUST in 2015 with a
project on population genetics of two Red Sea corals at different spatial
scales. Following graduation she decided to stay at KAUST and is now pursuing a
PhD in Marine Science. Her main focus is on genetic and epigenetic changes in
fish caused by environmental factors such as warmer temperatures and ocean
acidification. Alison is also continuing to study coral through surveying the
effects of the 2015 and possibly 2016 bleaching events on the coral communities
in the Central and Southern Saudi Arabian Red Sea. She is excited to again be
focusing on the effects of climate change on reef organisms.
Co-advised by Prof. Timothy Ravasi