Dr. Jamie McDevitt-Irwin
Principal Investigator
My first research experience was at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre as an undergraduate student at Queen's University studying the behavioural ecology of hermit crabs. I completed my MSc at the University of Victoria with Dr. Julia Baum evaluating how local and global stressors alter coral microbiome diversity in Kiritimati, Kiribati. I completed my PhD at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station working with Dr. Fiorenza Micheli evaluating top-down control by consumers on coral reefs and the rocky intertidal, working locally in California and the Chagos Archipelago. I then completed a post-doc with Dr. Deron Burkepile at the University of California, Santa Barbara evaluating how coral reef health alters reef fish diversity through a lens of eDNA metabarcoding in Moorea, French Polynesia. I am currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Madigan Boborci
PhD Student
Madigan graduated with her B.S. in Aquatic Biology and a Minor in Feminist Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2023. She worked on various projects involving herbivorous fishes and their role on algae dominated coral reefs during her time at UCSB. During her graduate studies, Madigan hopes to continue to explore coral reef ecosystems and the role fish play in those communities.
Natalie Goeler-Slough
PhD Student
Natalie, originally from Northampton, Massachusetts, is a PhD student in Marine Biology. She earned her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Haverford College, where her senior thesis focused on microbial dynamics in phytoplankton. As an undergraduate, she also interned with Dr. Kuʻulei Rodgers in the Coral Reef Ecology Lab at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, sparking her commitment to coral reef research in Hawai‘i. After graduating, she worked with the Coral Restoration Foundation in Florida, conducting scientific diving to support coral outplanting and nursery maintenance. Natalie is broadly interested in how coral reef ecosystems respond to anthropogenic stressors, particularly through changes in the coral holobiont. She’s curious about how microbial communities, algal symbionts, and macro-symbionts interact under stress and influence coral resilience. She hopes to investigate these dynamics through a combination of fieldwork and molecular techniques, and is committed to community-engaged science and expanding access to marine research
Annemarie Wood
MSc Student
Annemarie grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Haverford College. She first became interested in marine science as an undergraduate researcher and examined the impact of biofouling on marine plastic debris for her thesis. After graduating, she worked in the Coral Lab at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, where her work focused on characterizing deep-sea invertebrate communities in the Gulf of Mexico. Annemarie's research interests include investigating the primary factors involved in the ability of coral ecosystems to resist and recover from environmental disturbance, especially how interspecific interactions influence overall ecosystem health. She is also curious about the role of biodiversity in ecosystem resilience and in applying her research to inform local management and conservation strategies.
Maclaine Powell
Undergraduate student
Maclaine is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S in Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Currently, she is involved in undergraduate research on the rocky intertidal and how temperature and herbivore presence can influence algal populations. She is interested in how symbiotic relationships evolve over time and how interactions between algal symbionts, mollusks, and corals may influence resilience to ocean warming. She hopes to study the diversity and evolution of these relationships by comparing molecular data to behavioral observations in wild populations.
Lab Alumni
Maya Sabo, Undergraduate Directed Research Student, Summer 2026
Elle Freer, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, Summer 2026
Yasmin Nazir, Undergraduate Directed Research Student, Spring 2026