Amanda Demopoulos, Ph.D.
Biography
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Biological Oceanography, Department of Oceanography, UH Manoa, August 2004
Thesis Title: “Aliens in Paradise: a comparative assessment of introduced and native mangrove benthic community composition, food-web structure, and litter-fall production”
Advisor: Craig R. Smith
M.S., Biological Oceanography, Department of Oceanography, UH Manoa, December 2000
Thesis Title: “Evaluation of excess 234Th activity in sediments as an indicator of food quality for deep-sea deposit feeders"
Advisor: Craig R. Smith
B.S., Oceanography-Biological emphasis (Minor: Chemistry), College of Oceanography, University of Washington, June 1996
RESEARCH
Amanda Demopoulos' research program spans from coastal wetlands to deep-sea environments, where she examines benthic invertebrate community structure and function, including food webs, and impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on benthic ecosystem health. Demopoulos is a principal investigator within the USGS Lophelia II project and chief scientist for the USGS Mid-Atlantic Canyons OCS project, and both projects fall under the USGS DISCOVRE program.
Research interests include: Biodiversity, community ecology, and food-web structure of benthic communities; Coastal wetlands ecology and restoration; Consequences of species invasion to ecosystem health; Impacts of climate change (e.g., increased storm severity, sea-level rise) on coastal ecosystem function; Animal-plant-sediment-geochemical interactions; Life histories and dispersal of marine invertebrates; Patterns of recruitment and succession of benthic invertebrates; Fate of terrestrial and marine organic matter inputs through nearshore food webs and ecosystems.
BACKGROUND
Professional Experience
2007-Present Research Ecologist (Benthic), US Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, Gainesville, FL.
2004-2006 Postdoctoral Scholar, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
2004-2005 Co-Investigator, Typhoon impact assessment on mangrove ecosystems, UCSD, UH Manoa.
2003-2004 Sea Grant Research Trainee, UH Manoa.
2002 Co-Investigator, Micronesian Mangrove Habitat Assessment, USDA Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry and UH Manoa.
1999-2004 Graduate Research Assistant-Lead Scientist, Hawaiian mangrove research program, Sea Grant, UH Manoa.
1999-2003 Graduate Research Fellow-Lead Scientist, NOAA/National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), Puerto Rico.
1997-1999 Graduate Research Assistant, Age Dependent Mixing in Deep-Sea Sediments Program, NSF, UH Manoa.
1996 Research Student, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), SIO, UCSD.
Teaching and Advising
2007-present Courtesy Assistant Professor, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida
2006 Lecturer, Life in the Ocean (ENVI 121), Department of Marine Science and Environmental Studies, University of San Diego.
2005 Advisor, Erin Mullen, UC LEADS Program, UCSD.
1999-2006 Invited Lecturer, Benthic Ecology (OCE 628-2-3 lectures/labs per annum), UH Manoa. Designed and presented course lectures and labs on mangrove ecology and invasion biology.
2004 Invited Lecturer, Communication of Research Results (OCN 490), Dept. of Oceanography, UH Manoa
2003 Co-instructor, Benthic Ecology (OCE 628-taught 50 % of the course) Lectured and discussed topics on benthic feeding and dispersal modes, community patterns, data manipulation, environmental sampling, pollution gradients, zonation and biogeography, mangrove ecology and invasion biology. Students participated in discussion sessions relating to above topics.
2003-2006 Co-Supervisor, Bryan Nakahara, M.S. Student, Dept. of Oceanography, UH Manoa
2002-2003 Co-Advisor, Kauaoa Fraiola, University of Hawaii-Hawaiian Internship Program (UH-HIP), UH Manoa.
2001 Co-Advisor, Lauren Crawford, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates, UH Manoa
1999-2004 Supervisor, undergraduate laboratory and field technicians, UH Manoa
1999 Co-Advisor, Mikhail Blikshteyn, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates, UH Manoa
Research Cruises
Accumulated 360 days of ship time, including 10 submersible dives.
Oct 2013 Nautilus/Hercules ROV; Puerto Rico marine hazards, seamounts- 15 days
Aug 2013 Okeanos Explorer/D2 ROV; NE US Atlantic Canyons, Seamount – 18 days
June 2013 Nautilus/Hercules ROV; Deep-sea Coral Communities, Oil-Spill Impacts-14 days
May 2013 Ron Brown/Jason II ROV; Deep-sea Coral Communities, Atlantic Canyons-28 days
Aug/Sept 2012 Nancy Foster/Kraken ROV, Deep-sea Coral Communities, Atlantic Canyons-30 days
Oct/Nov2011 Holiday Chouest; Deep-sea Coral Communities-Oil Spill Impact-21 days
Dec. 2010 Atlantis/Alvin HUV; Deep-sea Communities-Oil Spill Impact – 9 days
Oct/Nov 2010 Ron Brown/Jason II ROV; Deep-Coral Communities, Gulf of Mexico – 21 days
Sept/Oct 2010 Cape Hatteras/Kraken ROV, Deep-sea Coral Communities, Gulf of Mexico – 13 days
Jul/Aug 2010 Chief Scientist, Nancy Foster/Global Explorer ROV; Deep-Coral Communities, GOM-18 days
Dec. 2009 Cape Hatteras, Deep-sea Coral Communities, SEUS, Cape Lookout – 9 days
Sept. 2009 Seward Johnson/Johnson Sea Link; Deep-Coral Communities, Gulf of Mexico-12 days
Aug./Sept. 2009 Ron Brown/Jason II ROV; Deep-Coral Communities, Gulf of Mexico – 25 days
Aug. 2009 Seward Johnson/Johnson Sea Link, Deep-Coral Communities, SEUS, Cape Canaveral – 12 days
Oct. 2008 Nancy Foster/SeaEYE Falcon DR ROV; Deep-Coral Communities, Gulf of Mexico – 18 days, collected sediment push cores located in proximity to deep-coral community.
Aug. 2007 Cape Hatteras; Chemosynthetic Communities, Gulf of Mexico – 21 days, collected organisms, sediments and hard substrates associated with seep communities.
Nov. 1999 Lawrence Gould; Drake Passage, Antarctic Peninsula – 22 days, sampled Antarctic shelf for benthic fauna and sediments for chemical analysis.
Oct. 1999 Atlantis/DSV Alvin; Southern California Borderland Basins – 7 days, collected organisms and sediments associated with organic food falls (e.g., dead whales), using sediment corers and submersible.
July 1998 Atlantis/DSV Alvin; Juan de Fuca Hydrothermal Vents – 19 days, sampled bacteria, other microorganisms associated with hydrothermal vents and ODP bore holes.
June 1998 Atlantis/DSV Alvin; Southern California Borderland Basins – 7 days, collected organisms and sediments associated with organic food falls.
April 1998 New Horizon; Southern California Borderland Basins – 8 days, collected sediments for macro- and meiobenthos, Th-234 analysis, and various sediment parameters for food quality assessment using multiple corer, box corer, and sediment collections.
Aug. 1997 Atlantis/DSV Alvin; Santa Catalina Basin – 5 days, sampled deep-sea sediment for benthos, Th-234 analysis, various sediment parameters for food quality assessment.
June 1997 New Horizon; Southern California Borderland Basins – 8 days, sampled deep-sea sediment benthic organisms and various sediment parameters for food quality assessment.
Professional Memberships
2004-2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science
2003-2013 Ecological Society of America
2002-2013 American Society of Limnology & Oceanography
2002-2013 Estuarine Research Federation
2002-2003 UH Commission on the Status of Women-Substitute Graduate Student Representative
1997-2004 Oceanography Department Graduate Student Organization, UH Manoa (1998-1999 President)
1995-1996 Women in Oceanography, University of Washington