Laura Anthony
Award/Details
As a Montanan, Laura's first experience with the ocean was a trip to the Oregon Coast at eight years old. Upon spying a pod of orcas early one morning, she decided to become a marine biologist. Her passion for marine life led her to become a certified scuba diver, and eventually to Western Washington University. While at Western, Laura was involved in programs and clubs such as the Marine Science Scholars and Surfrider, which helped her to determine which areas of marine science she found most interesting. With her Hollings Award, Laura relished the opportunity to research general reef ecology, studying the impact of tropical species collection in shallow water reefs weakened by ocean acidification and the effects of ocean acidification on deep-sea corals. The summer preceding her award, Laura studied abroad in Mexico through a WWU tropical marine biology course.
Major
Minor
What are they up to now
Laura used her experiences at Western Washington University and the NAAO headquarters to achieve her goals of deep-sea coral research. As an undergrad, she was one of five students who participated in research on deep-sea larvae in the Gulf of Mexico. During her time as a Hollings scholar, she did similar work with the Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program team. As a current graduate student in the Biological Sciences Department at Florida State University, Laura continues her study of corals but intends on expanding her work to include restoration and conservation.