Team

Dr. W. Ryan James

Postdoctoral Scholar

Ryan is an interdisciplinary scientist interested in understanding the drivers of ecosystems at multiple scales. He has developed expert knowledge of Gulf coast estuarine ecosystems, receiving his B.S. in Biology at the University of Alabama and M.S. at the University of Alabama Birmingham. He went on to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Lafayette, titled "A Seascape Approach to Understanding Coastal Food Web Dynamics and Species Distributions" under advisor Dr. James Nelson, who is also a collaborator with the lab. His research takes an integrative approach asking questions across multiple scales to understand the response of biodiversity, fisheries, and ecosystem function to spatial variability in biotic and abiotic factors and future change to inform effective conservation strategies.

email: wjames@fiu.edu

Website Link

Dr. Jonathan Rodemann

Postdoctoral Scholar

Jon is a seascape and movement ecologist focusing on the impacts of disturbances on multi-scale processes such as recovery and habitat selection. He obtained his B.S. in Marine Science and Biology from the University of Miami, and subsequently attended a non-thesis based Master’s program at Northeastern University called the Three Seas Program, spending time in Boston, Panama, and Washington state learning about the marine ecosystems of the regions. This program ended with an internship with the Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network looking at the variation in marine consumption pressure along a latitudinal gradient. He then transitioned back down to south Florida, to complete his Ph.D. at FIU in the Coastal Fisheries Lab. Currently, his research uses multiple approaches such as remote sensing, acoustic telemetry, and causal modelling to understand the impacts of press (lack of freshwater inflow) and pulse (seagrass die-off and hurricanes) disturbances on the Florida Bay ecosystem. Whether it is investigating the sources of nutrients driving persistent algal blooms or mapping seagrass with satellites to determine preferred habitat of Spotted Seatrout, the goal of Jon’s research is to inform Everglades conservation, management, and restoration.

email: jrodeman@fiu.edu

Nicolas Rivas

Ph.D. Candidate

Nico is an ecologist from Chile with an M.S. in Marine Biology and Ecology, currently working on his doctorate’s degree in the Santos Seascape Ecology Lab. Nico completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He then completed a master’s degree at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science with a concentration in coral restoration, under the guidance of Dr. Diego Lirman. His M.S. focused on protecting coral outplants from corallivorous fish. Now, he works on reefs in Culebra, Puerto Rico and is involved in restoration and monitoring projects that use novel techniques like 3D printing and photogrammetry to assess coral reef states.

email: nirivas@fiu.edu

Website Link

Gina Badlowski

Ph.D. Candidate

Gina, a third-year Ph.D. candidate, is a budding marine ecologist interested in trophic food web dynamics across seagrass-reef ecosystems. Her work primarily occurs in south Florida, specifically in Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys. She uses stable isotope analysis and metabarcoding tools to elucidate the energy flows and species interactions within seagrass-reef ecosystems, which provides insights into their trophic connectivity and responses to environmental changes. Gina received her bachelor’s degree in Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy and a minor in GIS from Monmouth University, where she first got involved in research evaluating the demographics and post-release movements of sharks captured in the recreational land-based surf fishery in the Dunton Lab. She went on to complete her master’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans in the Fish Morphology and Behavior Lab, where she completed her thesis entitled “Repeated boat noise exposure damages inner ear sensory hair cells and decreases hearing sensitivity in Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias undulatus).” Gina loves fieldwork and helping out fellow students where she can, including making maps! She also takes pride in mentoring and is currently serving as FIU’s Marine Science Program’s Marine Biology Advisor for Undergraduates on top of mentoring multiple volunteers who help with the processing of her dissertation samples.

email: gbadlows@fiu.edu

Marine Biology Advisor email: mbioadv@fiu.edu

Marianna Coppola

Ph.D. Candidate

Marianna is an international PhD candidate from Italy interested in elucidating seagrass habitat structure and dynamics in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys. She started her doctoral degree in the Santos’ Seascape Ecology lab in 2022 when she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship. Marianna earned a master’s degree in marine biology and ecology from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, where she applied GIS in the framework of algal bed restoration and maritime spatial planning in the Mediterranean Sea. Marianna's research at FIU focuses on seagrass seascapes from a spatially explicit perspective. She is currently working on two projects funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that aim to understand the impacts of water quality on seagrass seascape structure, dynamics and stability in Biscayne Bay, and to inform the protection of seagrass meadows in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to support commercially important fish species through collaborative research. Marianna applies remote sensing principles to map coastal habitats and quantify seascape structural characteristics at different spatiotemporal scales using a variety of multispectral image data from satellite and drone sensors. Marianna’s work requires in situ ground truthing data, and she has been leading the fieldwork necessary for her project involving undergraduate and graduate FIU students, yachters, and non-profit organizations. Marianna is a member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) FIU Student Chapter, which aims to support the community of students applying remote sensing at FIU and connect with other Student Chapters. When Marianna is not at work, she is probably wearing her snorkeling mask and exploring a new reef, or enjoying some good live music!

email: mcopp016@fiu.edu

Hannah-Marie Lamle

Ph.D. Student

Hannah-Marie spent the first two decades of her life in Northern Indiana, spending every day of the summer on the lake catching turtles, ID'ing seaweeds, and also wakeboarding and surfing, where she developed a love for water. She went on to Indiana University for her B.S. in environmental science, and became heavily involved in the Center for Underwater Science. There she specialized in monitoring coral recruitment on shipwreck sites in the Dominican Republic. She spent a year after graduating as a visiting lecturer and research associate, where she taught the open water scuba classes and assisted with monitoring of the critically endangered pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus. She has transitioned to FIU for a Ph.D. in biology and is focusing her dissertation on understanding how environmental gradients alter variation in the coral community trait space. Specifically, she is focused on how select physiological traits converge to create a spectral signature. She hopes to use hyperspectral imaging to detect changes in spectra intensity and relate that back to individual traits, creating a new, noninvasive measure of coral health.

email: hlamle@fiu.edu

Victoria Goldner

Lab Manager

Victoria currently serves as lab manager for both the Santos Seascape Ecology Lab and our sister lab, the Rehage Coastal Fisheries Lab.

Victoria is a Florida native who received her bachelor’s degree in marine biology from New College of Florida, where she developed a passion for acoustic telemetry through her undergraduate honors thesis research on blacktip shark migration patterns over time and their relationship with climate change. In addition to being a PADI certified divemaster, she has a background in animal husbandry and science communications & outreach. Over time, she has worked in the Everglades, Biscayne National Park, the Florida Keys, Florida Bay, the Tampa Bay area, and Culebra, Puerto Rico, and her favorite animal she’s had the opportunity to work with is a smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). In addition to supporting the labs in all their day-to-day operations, she has been involved in nearly every project our labs have to offer. Overall, she loves the new experiences and learning opportunities she has been exposed to as the result of her work, and strives to never stop developing new skills. In the future, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree and continue working with movement ecology.

email: vgoldner@fiu.edu

Valentina Bautista

Research Associate

Valentina is an ecologist from Colombia, holding dual degrees in Environmental Studies (B.S.) and Sustainability (B.A.) from Florida International University. During her undergraduate studies, she gained valuable experience as an intern and later as a research technician in our sister lab, the Rehage Lab, where she contributed to projects focused on coastal Everglades ecology. In 2022, Valentina joined the Santos Lab to pursue a master's in biology, with a research focus on applying functional ecology to quantify changes in Puerto Rican marine benthic communities and their implications for ecosystem function. She successfully defended her Masters thesis and graduated in December of 2024, and is now assisting research and finishing her own graduate research projects, which she hopes to publish. She will be performing a demographic analysis of selected stony coral species over a time series of photogrammetric plots in the Northeast Marine Corridor, Puerto Rico. As a research associate, Valentina actively participates in scientific diving operations, aiding critical research across South Florida and Puerto Rico.

email: vbaut001@fiu.edu

Christine Nation

Research Associate

Christine is a biologist from Venezuela, with an M.P.S. in Fisheries Management and Conservation, currently serving as the Santos Lab technician. Before moving to Miami to pursue her M.P.S. at the University of Miami, she lived in Colombia. During her studies, she completed her M.P.S. internship report with the Santos Lab and continued working there after graduating. Christine is dedicated to supporting the team and assisting students with their research projects. She has been involved in conservation efforts in Culebra, Puerto Rico, where she analyzes BRUVs data to study reef fish abundance and participates in fieldwork for BRUV setup and deployment. She is currently using BRUVs data to study the abundance of target snapper and grouper species across different habitat complexities. Christine also assists with calibrating coral reef photomosaics using Viscore and outlining the reef’s macroalgal cover. In the lab, she helps process stable isotopes from various samples, including seagrass, algae, invertebrates, and fish, for food web ecology.

email: cnationg@fiu.edu

Brenden Ramiz

Research Technician

Brenden is an ecologist from Ft. Lauderdale Florida, with a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from Florida International University. He volunteered in the Santos lab during his undergraduate and completed an independent study about the population trends of the invasive fish species found in Northern Florida Bay with Dr. Santos. After graduation he continued to work as a Lab Tech in the Santos Lab. Brenden has been committed to assisting in fieldwork within Biscayne Bay and working on the stable isotopes processing field samples collected from the multiple ongoing projects. His current career goals are to continue working under Dr. Santos as Lab Tech and pursue a graduate degree in niche ecology or ecotoxicology in South Florida.

email: bramiz@fiu.edu