FITS Welcomes New Communications and Outreach Coordinator

The officers and members would like to welcome Sarah Grasty as our new Communications and Outreach Coordinator! We are all looking forward to getting to work with and know Sarah better. Below she tells us a little bit about herself.

My name is Sarah Grasty and I am currently a senior biological scientist on a project called ‘C-SCAMP’ at the University of South Florida – College of Marine Science. I work alongside thirteen other individuals whose expertise ranges from geological oceanography to electrical and mechanical engineering; since 2015, we have been mapping select offshore regions of the seafloor in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. We then ground-truth and assess reef fish densities in these areas using a towed video camera system and water column acoustics. Our group is now currently working to synthesize all of these datasets into comprehensive habitat maps for use by marine resource managers.

I am looking forward to joining the FITS group as the communications/outreach coordinator because I’ve been working with various pieces of technology in my own research for several years. As such, I’ve developed an interest in learning about the other sorts of ways advanced technology is being used to study the oceans, rivers, and lakes around the country. I am also excited to connect with new colleagues outside of the Southeast region, where I am based, on a more consistent basis and help spread the word about all of the interesting, innovative projects going on in the community.

When I am not at work doing my nerdy fish research gig, you can find me biking (thank goodness Florida is so flat…), reading, and volunteering time towards my other passion – goat farming!

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.