Claire grew up in California USA. In 2017, she earned her B.A. from Occidental College in Biology. She was fortunate enough to study abroad at James Cook University in Australia where she gained an appreciation for coral reefs. During her time at Occidental she was member of the Vantuna Research Group and the Computational Biology Lab. As part of an honors research project, Claire investigated the correlation between rising sea surface temperature and changes in the fish assemblage in southern California. Her thesis project involved researching the effectiveness of using MPAs to help endangered marine populations recover. After graduating from Occidental, Claire was hired by the State of California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She worked for the California Recreational Fisheries Survey, and collected species and biological data of fish in and around the San Francisco Bay. The data she collected was actively used in the management of those species. Claire attended the RSRC summer course in 2017 and was amazed by everything KAUST has to offer. Now back at KAUST as a master’s student, Claire’s thesis work focuses on how changes in fish communities on coral reefs can impact the ecosystem service delivery of Red Sea reefs.