The Aleutian Arc: Integrated Exploration of Biodiversity at Priority Benthic Habitats

Amanda Demopoulos, Ph.D., is a research benthic ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, Florida. She received a bachelor’s degree in oceanography from the University of Washington, and master’s and doctoral degrees in biological oceanography from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Amanda joined USGS in 2007, where she leads research examining the ecology of coastal and deep-sea environments. For this expedition, Amanda served as the chief scientist and helped lead the collection of mapping, water column, and seafloor data and discrete samples to help improve our understanding of deep-sea environments along the Aleutian Islands archipelago.

Christina Bonsell, Ph.D., is a marine ecologist with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Alaska Region, specializing in benthic ecology, phycology, and Arctic coastal processes. She holds bachelor’s (2012) and master’s (2013) degrees from the University of California, San Diego and earned her doctoral degree in marine science from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019. Christina first came to Alaska in 2013 to conduct benthic ecology research in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, working from ships and small boats and underwater as a scuba diver. Before joining BOEM, she served as the inaugural project manager for the National Science Foundation-funded Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research program, where she coordinated fieldwork, community engagement, and research initiatives. Beyond her Arctic research, Christina has studied intertidal habitats, seagrass meadows, and kelp beds. At BOEM, she brings together her scientific expertise and project management experience to support resource management needs and science-informed stewardship. When she’s not working, Christina enjoys exploring Alaska’s mountains and waters alongside her husband and their two dogs.

Christina (Chris) A. Kellogg, Ph.D., grew up on a charter boat in the Virgin Islands with the Caribbean Sea as her backyard, so it was no wonder she pursued a career in marine biology. Chris is a research microbiologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), leading an environmental laboratory specializing in coral microbial ecology. Her research on tropical corals has taken her to the Florida Keys, Caribbean, Hawai‘i, and American Samoa, leading her friends to say that she specializes in “resort microbiology.” She has been working in deepwater coral ecosystems since 2004 and considers herself extremely lucky to have had the privilege of visiting these ecosystems personally using submersibles. Chris has served as a judge for the $2 million dollar Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE and the $7 million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competitions. She is active in shaping the direction of microbiome research in the United States, having represented the Department of Interior on the Federal Microbiome Interagency Working Group and the National Microbiome Data Collaborative and serving as subject matter expert on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy rollout of the National Microbiome Initiative in 2016. Chris holds a doctorate in biological oceanography from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Science cum laude in biology from Georgetown University. Her interests include stained glass, science fiction, colored gemstones, and the music of 80’s big hair bands.

Rhian Waller, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer (associate professor) of marine sciences at the Tjärnö Marine Laboratory, part of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. She received her bachelor’s degree in marine biology at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and her doctoral degree at the Southampton Oceanography Centre in Southampton (both in the United Kingdom). She then moved to the United States for a postdoc at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. After spending 20 years in the United States, Rhian and her family moved to Sweden in early 2022. Her research is mainly focused on the reproductive ecology of deep-sea organisms, primarily cold-water corals, and how this important process is affected by environmental change (natural and human caused). A large part of her research program looks at where cold-water corals live around the globe (biogeography), so that her research group can start to hypothesize larval transport linkages and what is possible given a species’ reproductive potential. Rhian has worked all over the globe and currently has projects in Alaska, Patagonia, Antarctica, Sweden, and the North Atlantic basin. Rhian spends most of her free time outside with her two boys, husband, and corgi, biking, hiking, and camping, as well as learning Swedish. Jag är exalterad över att delta i den här forskningskryssningen och utforska nya platser för kallvattenkoraller i Aleuterna!!

With 47 years of experience in the video production business, Emmy Award winner Art Howard has told stories from 84 countries across all seven continents. He’s documented colorful characters and scientific discovery, including new age brain surgery, the Gulf War medical treatments, and deep-sea exploration. With three years of cumulative sea time, Art was well-equipped to help tell the stories of this expedition’s scientists and their passions for data and discovery off the coast of Alaska.

Stephanie Bush, Ph.D., is a support scientist in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. She received her doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation focused on deep-sea squid defensive behaviors as a member of the Midwater Ecology Lab at MBARI (the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute). She is fascinated by speciation in the open ocean, has used molecular tools to discover species of pteropods, and explores biodiversity of invertebrates in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. During this expedition, Stephanie collected genetic material from biological samples for next generation sequencing and preserved samples as vouchers for housing at the NMNH.

Katlin Bowman Adamczyk, Ph.D., is a marine geochemist and oceanographer with the Global Seabed Mineral Resources group at the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. She has doctoral and bachelor’s degrees in environmental sciences from Wright State University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to joining USGS, her work focused on mercury biogeochemistry in the global ocean. She has completed over 15 expeditions, including a 65-day voyage to the North Pole, thousands of miles of hydrographic transects in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and seafloor exploration via human occupied and remotely operated vehicles. In 2024, she was named to the Explorers Club 50 list and has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2018. Her recent work includes measuring environmental impacts of a pilot deep-sea mining operation in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, discovery of a new deep-sea hydrothermal vent field in the western Galápagos Spreading Center, and exploration of hydrothermal controls on caldera explosivity in Santorini, Greece.

Brian Andrews is a geographer in the Seafloor Mapping Group with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His work focuses on the collection, processing, and analysis of high-resolution marine geophysical data. His research interests include coastal geomorphology, seafloor classification, topobathy terrain models, data visualization, and data models. Brian has a bachelor’s degree in physical geography from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in geography from East Carolina University. He is a former U.S. Coast Guard licensed deck officer and sailed as mate and master on numerous vessels in the sail training and historic sailing ship fleet.

Aaron Aunins, Ph.D., is a research fish biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Eastern Ecological Science Center at the Leetown Research Laboratory in West Virginia. His research interests lie within the field of molecular ecology and focus on conservation genomics and environmental DNA (eDNA) investigations. He earned his master’s degree in marine science (2006) from the College of William and Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where he studied the migration of American shad in the James River, Virginia, and his doctoral degree in integrative life sciences (2011) from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he investigated genetic impacts of hatchery supplementation on American shad in Chesapeake Bay. A lot of Aaron’s research is in freshwater systems, including studies comparing eDNA metabarcoding in National Capital Region streams to traditional indices of stream health from kick-netting and development of eDNA markers to detect fish in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In the ocean, he has worked on metabarcoding of deep-sea metazoans off the Atlantic Coast of the United States and within the Gulf of America. In his spare time, Aaron fly fishes for trout in Pennsylvania and Maryland as much as possible while keeping an eye out for mountain bike trails.

Tamara Baumberger, Ph.D., is a marine geochemist studying methane seeps, underwater volcanoes, and hydrothermal vent systems. Tamara has a special interest in the carbon cycle and noble gas chemistry and studies the origin and fate of these volatiles in extreme environments and their impact on the surrounding ocean. During this project, Tamara was responsible for collecting gas-tight samples and processing them at sea and then determining their sample composition in analytical laboratories on shore to geochemically characterize hydrothermal vent and seep systems. Tamara received her doctoral degree in earth sciences from ETH Zurich in Switzerland in 2011. She then held a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Bergen in Norway and a National Research Council research fellowship hosted by NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). Tamara is now employed by the Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resources Studies (CIMERS) at Oregon State University (OSU) and leads the NOAA PMEL/OSU CIMERS Helium Isotope Laboratory in Newport, Oregon. 

Jill Bourque, Ph.D., is a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, Florida. She received a bachelor’s degree in marine science from Rider University and master’s and doctoral degrees in marine bioscience from the University of Delaware. After focusing on intertidal worm reefs during her graduate career, Jill began her journey into deep-sea ecology when she joined USGS in 2011. Since then, she has conducted research across a variety of ocean habitats, including beaches, mangroves, submarine canyons, deep-sea corals, cold seeps, and hadal trenches. Her research focuses on sediment macrofauna, investigating the role of biogenic habitats and biogeochemical gradients on sediment community composition and connectivity, characterizing local and regional controls on biodiversity, and studying community response and recovery from anthropogenic disturbance and restoration. For this expedition, Jill served as the science lead for sediment collections, targeting benthic communities associated with deep-sea corals, chemosynthetic habitats, and geohazards. Discrete sediment samples will enable characterization of the biological communities living within the sediment and their associated geochemical environment to improve our understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem function on the Aleutian margin.

Shannon Cofield, Ph.D., is a geological oceanographer with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management where she manages U.S. Outer Continental Shelf non-energy minerals, including coastal sediment resources and deep-sea critical minerals. She earned her doctoral degree in geological oceanography under the guidance of Dennis Darby from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Her research focused on Arctic Ocean sedimentology and paleoclimate during past glacial maxima.

Ev Coit is a graduating master’s student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, where he has been studying microbial community ecology at hydrothermal vents. Ev received his bachelor’s degree in marine science from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. While at Eckerd, he participated in the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program. He hopes to continue exploring community ecology in extreme environments through further education and employment.

Maria Figueroa, Ph.D., is a marine geochemist and Mendenhall postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. Her research focuses on metal enrichment in mineralized seabed deposits, especially seafloor massive sulfides, and on developing machine learning models to estimate metal abundances in the deep sea. She earned her doctoral degree in geochemistry from University of California, Riverside, and her bachelor’s degree in geology from University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (Maria is from Puerto Rico). Maria’s seagoing experience ranges from continental margins to the deep ocean, investigating authigenic mineral formation on the seafloor. Her favorite minerals? Iron sulfides, particularly pyrite.

Ashton Flinders, Ph.D., is a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). His work focuses on imaging and modeling magma reservoirs and crustal structures across diverse tectonic settings, integrating marine and terrestrial geophysics to understand magma transport and storage. He earned master’s degrees in geophysics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and in ocean engineering from the University of New Hampshire. He completed his doctorate at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, focusing on high-performance computing and seismic tomography. He is a Presidential Management Fellows Program alumnus, and prior to HVO was a Mendenhall postdoctoral fellow with the California Volcano Observatory. Ashton supports national seafloor mapping and hazard initiatives through interagency work with NOAA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the National Science Foundation. His efforts aim to advance our understanding of uncharacterized and hazardous submarine volcanoes and tsunamigenic threats. He has participated in more than 16 research expeditions spanning academic research, sonar testing, ocean exploration, and mineral resource studies. In his free time, Ashton enjoys gardening, glass blowing, pottery, metal sculpture, and spending as much time as possible with his 12-year-old dog, Boomer.

Philip L. Hoffman is the NOAA Ocean Exploration Technology Portfolio lead and uncrewed maritime systems research and development coordinator. He also serves as the office’s primary research and development liaison to the NOAA Uncrewed Systems Operations Center and manages the NOAA/Navy CENOTE (Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology) working group. In these roles, he leverages the broad relationships that he developed in previous roles as the NOAA Research Evaluation Team lead and the NOAA Cooperative Institute Program director. Prior to NOAA Research, Philip served as the NOAA Fisheries Protected Species Program coordinator and was part of the writing team for the original NOAA autonomous underwater vehicle roadmap (2009). He started his federal career as a biological scientist and project coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, focusing on salmon habitat restoration, Dungeness crab dredging mortality mitigation, salmon fish passage construction, and military construction environmental compliance. In addition, he worked for the State of Florida, Pinellas County Florida, and a coastal nongovernmental organization on Tampa Bay. Philip holds a bachelor’s degree in marine science from Eckerd College and a master’s degree in oceanography and coastal science from Louisiana State University. Philip is married to a NOAA Satellites oceanographer and is the proud father of five kids. In addition to pursuing marine fish recreationally with a variety of gear, he serves as a scout leader, enjoys woodworking, and builds railroad models.

Seamus Jameson is a Navy veteran from Benicia, California. He has a bachelor’s degree in oceanography from the California State University Maritime Academy and is pursuing a master’s degree in marine science at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. His research focuses on developing a pH analyzer that he will then incorporate with programmable flow injection (pFI) technology for the autonomous collection of pH as well as other oceanographic parameters. In 2022, Seamus spent three weeks at the Roatan Institute of Marine Science in Roatan, Honduras, studying the Mesoamerican Reef system. In 2023, he was a chemical oceanographer on the A16N GO-SHIP expedition on NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown. Contracted by the University of Miami, he sampled and analyzed nearly 3,000 pH samples along the 20W longitude from Spain to Iceland. In 2004 and 2005, he was contracted by the U.S. Geological Survey as a chemical oceanographer on four expeditions on NOAA Ship Pisces and Research Vessel Point Sur in the Gulf of America studying mesophotic and deep-benthic communities. Seamus is a certified scientific diver with the American Association of Underwater Sciences as well as a master diver and rescue diver. He is a father of three daughters and enjoys biking, walking his dog, and scuba diving in his free time.

Ashley Marranzino is an associate scientist at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). She has been studying marine and deep-sea biology for over 10 years, focusing predominantly on fish biology and ecology. Ashley received her Master of Science from the University of Rhode Island, studying the sensory biology of deep-sea fish. She has conducted deep-sea research and exploration on interdisciplinary expeditions throughout the United States.

Nancy Prouty, Ph.D., is a research oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. She received her doctoral degree at Stanford University in the Oceans Program and was a postdoctoral scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She joined USGS in 2006. Nancy’s research focuses on complex geochemical processes at the land-sea interface and how these processes influence both shallow- and deep-water environments in the present day and in the past. She uses a variety of geochemistry tools, including isotopes, trace metals, amino acid, and lipid geochemistry to understand deep-sea environments.

Lauren Rice, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory. Her research interests center on the reproductive ecology of marine invertebrate species, with additional considerations given to community ecology, organismal interactions, and symbioses. She often uses integrative approaches including microscopy (histology, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy), genetic barcoding, stable isotopic and microbiome analyses, and larval culturing techniques to examine when and how successfully a species reproduces in the context of its community and environment. She has conducted research in various habitats, including mudflats, oyster reefs and aquaculture farms, cold-water corals, and chemosynthetic environments, such as hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps.

Samantha (Sam) Schlegel is an early-career scientist working at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, Florida. She graduated from the University of Tampa in May 2024 and began working for the USGS shortly after. In her year at USGS, she has processed various fauna, sediment, and particulate organic matter samples from the Gulf of America and contributed to characterizing deep-sea infaunal invertebrate communities from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf. Her goal is to go to graduate school to continue studying applied marine ecology.

Alexis Weinnig, Ph.D., is a deep-sea ecologist and marine scientist with over a decade of experience across academia and government. She has participated in or led over 20 oceanographic expeditions in locations ranging from the Southeast United States continental shelf to equatorial Pacific Islands. Her background includes a doctorate in biology and a strong track record of developing and implementing innovative research — from post-Deepwater Horizon impact studies to cutting-edge environmental DNA techniques. Alexis is chief scientist of NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program, where she guides national deep-sea coral efforts and ensures sound science is provided to resource management decision makers.

Cathleen Yung is a geospatial analyst with NOAA’s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) program, where she has served since July 2022. In this role, she helps coordinate national mapping priorities across agency, state, and academic partners by leading spatial priorities studies, managing and developing the U.S. Mapping Coordination website, and providing geospatial and hydrographic support for regional mapping campaigns such as Seascape Alaska. Cathleen earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from Saint Louis University and began her journey in public service as a GeoCorps America fellow with the Bureau of Land Management. As a GeoCorps fellow, she contributed to projects including the Abandoned Mine Lands survey in eastern Oregon and the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan in the western Mojave desert. She currently resides in Brevard, North Carolina. In addition to her work with IOCM, Cathleen volunteers with the Cave Research Foundation and the National Speleological Society, sharing her cartographic and geological expertise in support of ongoing cave mapping and research projects in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, and western Virginia.