Aislinn is interested in marine ecosystem functions in order to understand how humans impact and benefit from the sea. Growing up on the southwest coast of the United States, she has always had a personal connection to ocean life and processes, which led her to pursue a BS in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating with a mixture of research experiences in kelp forest, coral reef, and freshwater environments, she came to KAUST for an internship in the Water Desalination and Reuse Center where she studied biological nutrient removal technologies for wastewater treatment. Aislinn later returned to KAUST as a masters student and completed an assessment of offshore aquaculture impacts on water quality in the Red Sea. 

As a PhD student, Aislinn is studying how biological and oceanographic connectivity between seagrass, mangrove, and coral reef habitats affect their ecosystem service delivery. She hopes to get a better understanding of how these ecosystems interact with each other in order to inform marine spatial planning and management policies.

Find Aislinn on Twitter @fun_dunne

​Co-advised by Prof. Burton Jones ​​