Trisha Towanda

Biological Sciences
vita

Trisha came from the state of Washington where she studied marine science as an undergraduate at The Evergreen State College. She discovered her love of ocean life as a freshman in the tidepools of Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. During her summers on Puget Sound, she unraveled a symbiotic relationship between the graceful crab and the fried-egg jellyfish with her advisor, Dr. Erik Thuesen. As a senior project, Trisha conducted research on the behavior and physiology of jellyfish in hypoxic conditions. After graduating, she worked for the Washington Department of Natural Resources as a research technician studying eelgrass in Puget Sound. She continued her education at Evergreen in the Master of Environmental Studies program. Her thesis focused on the effects of ocean acidification on an intertidal, photosynthetic anemone. She presented her thesis research at the Second Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World in October 2008 and was a signatory on the Monaco Declaration on ocean acidification.

At URI, Trisha continues her work on ocean acidification through her research with Dr. Brad Seibel. On a scientific cruise in December 2008, she studied the physiology of organisms that inhabit the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern tropical Pacific. As of spring 2009, Trisha is working with The Nature Conservancy on a white paper regarding ocean acidification. She intends to use her experience as an IGERT fellow to translate her research into information that is relevant and comprehensible to the political community.

When Trisha is away from the ocean, she prefers to be trekking above timberline. She hiked nearly 3,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004 and 2005 and again is biting the bit to strap on a pack.