Savannah Goode

Growing up in Florida, I've always had an interest in the ocean and everything that inhabits it. While working on my Bachelor's degree, I pursued this passion by volunteering in a deep-sea ecology laboratory on campus, where I was able to work on several projects. As part of a larger project investigating the recovery of seamount coral communities from historical fishing disturbance near Hawaii, I completed dives with the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory in two submersibles. This allowed me to see the incredible biodiversity of the deep sea with my own eyes, and motivated me to continue studying deep-sea coral communities. Now as a Ph.D. researcher at NIWA and Victoria University of Wellington, I am working to determine whether deep-sea biological communities are resilient to human disturbance, and if so, to what extent. My hope is that my research will inform responsible management of vulnerable marine ecosystems in New Zealand.