Brooke Benson

NSF Sustainable Oceans intern

she/her/hers

Brooke is a 2020 NSF Sustainable Oceans NRT intern at California Ocean Science Trust. She is a marine ecologist who is passionate about augmenting the role of sound science in facilitating sustainable human-environment relationships.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies in 2017 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied how tropical corals record environmental proxy data within their calcareous skeletons. Following graduation, Brooke moved to Boston, MA and worked as a lab manager for two years at Boston University where she studied the impact of temperature variability on the health and growth of a Caribbean coral. She is currently a second year Ph.D. student in the Population Biology program at the University of California, Davis. As a member of Dr. Rachael Bay’s ecological genomics lab, Brooke’s dissertation research will focus on the evolution of coral reefs under rapid environmental change. Brooke is dedicated to collaborating with partners across disciplines and management structures to improve ocean governance into the next century. Her work with OST will include a systematic review of recent products and outcomes that will identify future needs and detail recommendations for strengthening the organization’s strategy and efficacy at the nexus of research and policy.

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