Making Waves: Graduate Students

	Jyotika Virmani Making Waves involvement: Senior author for El Niño article; co-author for Natural Disasters article
Jyotika Virmani is currently working on her Ph.D. in Marine Science at the University of South Florida. Her interest is in physical oceanography and climate studies. She did her MS in Marine Environmental Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Before coming to the U.S. she worked as an atmospheric research scientist at GEC-Marconi Research Centre in the UK. She did her B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, UK.
	Christina Holland Making Waves involvement: Senior author for Beaches under Attack article; co-author for El Niño article
Christina Holland is a Ph.D. student in Marine Science at the University of South Florida. She earned her BS at Eckerd College in Physics and Mathematics, and her MS at the University of Hawaii in Physical Oceanography. Her current research interests are El Niño and longer term climate fluctuations.
	Lizz Singh Making Waves involvement: Senior author for Red Tide article
Elizabeth Singh is a graduate student in the Department of Marine Science at the University of South Florida. She is studying the effects of red tide on marine organisms, and is also a research scientist at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection where she maintains the marine microalgae culture collection. Her recent awards include the von Rosentiel and Murtaugh departmental fellowships.
	Merrie Beth Neely Making Waves involvement: Senior author for Coral Reefs article; co-author for Red Tide article
Merrie Beth Neely graduated from the honors program at the University of Tampa with a bachelor's degree in marine science. In 1996 she earned an M.S. degree in marine science from the University of South Florida (USF) for her work on Tampa Bay seagrasses. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in marine science at USF after working for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Pinellas County (Florida) Department of Environmental Management.
	Lisa Young Making Waves involvement: Senior author for Satellites: The Big Picture article; co-author for Coral Reefs article
Lisa Renadette Young is a Ph.D. student in marine science at USF. She earned her bachelor's degree in biology from the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo. Her current research interests focus on mapping bottom communities using remote sensing techniques.
	Rich Young Making Waves involvement: Senior author for Natural Disasters article; co-author for Beaches Under Attack article
Capt. Rich earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of South Florida in 1977. In 1984 he was awarded an M.S. in chemical oceanography from USF's Department of Marine Science for his work on the geochemical redistribution of trace metals and nutrients (during the dredging of the Port of St. Petersburg, FL). He is currently finishing his Ph.D. work in Geochemical oceanography. His work focuses on how iron-rich dust from Chinese deserts stimulates prouctivity in the nutrient-poor North Pacific Ocean. For the past 5 years, he has helped develop underwater instruments as an electronic engineer at the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Center for Coastal Geology and Regional Marine Studies. He is nitrox scuba certified and holds a 100-ton captain's license to assist with deployments of underwater equipment from the USGS's 50-foot aluminum research vessel, the G.K. Gilbert.
	Dawn Service Making Waves involvement: Co-author for Satellites: The Big Picture article