People
Katie Cramer
Katie Cramer is an Associate Research Professor at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, an Ocean Science Fellow at the Center for Oceans at Conservation International, and a National Geographic Explorer. Katie is a marine conservation ecologist whose work reconstructs long-term change in marine ecosystems and predicts their future states to motivate and inform conservation. Her current research is focused on improving the health of coral reef ecosystems by pinpointing the social and ecological mechanisms of recent declines and identifying strategies that can improve the sustainability of coral reef fisheries and the food security of reef-dependent communities. Her work is interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of marine ecology, paleobiology, marine policy, and fisheries science.
Katie.Cramer@asu.edu
Zachary Whaley
Zac Whaley is an undergraduate in the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University studying Conservation Biology, Global Health, and Political Science. Zac is a conservation biologist who has a passion for the intersectionality of ecosystem health, human health, and politics. His current research in the Cramer Lab is focused on (1) historical trends in coastal water quality and their effect on coral reef health in the Caribbean and (2) the potential for community-led marine protected area management to increase local food security in Indonesia. Zac was awarded an ASU Sage Scholarship to support his field work in Indonesia.
Erin Murphy
Erin is a marine conservation ecologist conducting policy-driven research to improve the social and ecological health of coastal communities. She is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher with Ocean Conservancy and University of Toronto to study ecological consequences of plastic pollution and the benefits of marine debris removal.
She completed her Ph.D. in Biology at Arizona State University, advised by Dr. Leah Gerber and Dr. Beth Polidoro. Her dissertation research focused on the impacts of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems. Specifically, she conducted research and developed tools to inform more effective, cost-efficient, and equitable intervention strategies for marine plastic pollution.
Outside of academic research, Erin is committed to policy research and development. Before entering her Ph.D. program, she worked as an ORISE research fellow in the EPA's Ocean and Coastal Management Branch, in Washington D.C. In this role, she developed recommendations for federal vessel sewage standards and Florida turbidity standards. For the past five years, she has worked with several organizations to inform plastic policy across scales of governance. She is collaborating with the Cramer Lab on integrating water quality monitoring programs into the management of coral reef marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Caribbean.
Megan O’Quinn
Megan is a graduate student at the Ohio State University studying Invertebrate Paleontology, Paleoecology, and Conservation Paleobiology. Their current work with the Cramer Lab focuses on paleoecological reconstructions of Caribbean coral reef environments, focusing on macro invertebrates, in order to establish an ecological baseline of changes and trends throughout historic time as well as determine drivers for the causes and consequences of changing reef ecosystem conditions.
