Haley Addison Davis

512.705.1839 –HaleyDavis2020@fau.edu
EDUCATION
M.S. Biological Sciences
Florida Atlantic University, Vero Beach, Florida
June 2021- May 2023
Successfully defended thesis:
March 30, 2023
“Hyposalinity stress tolerances of Montastraea cavernosa and Porites astreoides corals in Southeast
Florida and implications for coastal freshwater management”
Pertinent Course Work:
• Biological Oceanography • Climate Change: Ecosystems to Human Health
• Aquatic Animal Health • Biometry and Statistics
• Coral Reef Ecology and Lab • Predator Ecology
• Natural History of the Indian River Lagoon
GPA: 3.955

B.S. Environmental Science, Concentration in Natural Science, Minor in Biology

Baylor University, Waco, Texas
August 2016-May 2020
GPA: 3.86

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Research Fellow – Dr. Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley
Central Caribbean Marine Institute; Little Cayman
June 2023 – December 2023
Will conduct thermal tolerance studies on a variety of stony coral and seagrass species at both
larval and adult stages, Conduct AGRRA surveys, Maintain coral nurseries, Act as a vital member of the
field and land-based research teams.

Graduate Research Assistant – Dr. Josh Voss

Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute; Fort Pierce, Florida
June 2021 – June 2023
Conducted ex-situ Master's Thesis research on the hyposalinity stress tolerances of several
prominent coral species through the use of coral husbandry skills and aquaria experimentation techniques;
Served as a member of the scientific diving team in which I surveyed for coral biodiversity and health at
reefs ranging from 15-85 ft deep, collected tissue samples for molecular work; collected coral colonies for
culture/ex-situ experimentation, monitored long term performance of outplants across multiple sites in
coordination with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, and other research partners across SE FL; Acted as Sole Operator of vessels
up to 30 ft, trailered Vessels up to 30 ft; Maintained vessels, SCUBA equipment, and other scientific
equipment used in field research missions; Networked with scientists from academic institutions in South
Florida; Managed and organized information; Analyzed coral fragment size using imageJ; Collected,
Fragmented, and Cultured up to 10 colonies of 2 species of stony corals; Assisted in the extraction and
preparation of genetic material from several species of coral.

Research Technician – Dr. Bryan Brooks

Baylor University Department of Environmental Science; Waco, Texas
February 2021 - June 2021
Collaborated with state and local partners to weekly collect wastewater samples representative of
populations across Texas; Quantified Covid-19 viral RNA load using QPCR; Assessed the stability of
Covid-19 RNA in preserved samples over time; Coordinated sample collection; Managed and organized
information; Wrote reports and a paper for publication.

Field Technician – Mandi Gordon M.S.

Environmental Institute of Houston; Clear Lake, Texas
June 2020 - October 2020
Conducted coastal surveys for the EPA’s five-year national coastal health assessments; Used
nationally standardized sampling methods to collect fish tissue, water, sediment, invertebrate, and
bacterial samples from designated sample sites; Entered data in collaborative EPA sample collection app;
Managed and organized information; Organized and tracked daily shipment of frozen and chilled samples
from various field locations; Conducted field research from boats in varying conditions including
inclement weather, Operated and trailered 21-26 ft vessels.

Hollings Scholar Undergraduate Researcher – Dr. Cheryl Woodley

NOAA Hollings Marine Lab, Charleston, South Carolina
May 2019-August 2019
Wrote protocols, coordinated logistics for, and conducted eight acute ecotoxicological
experiments exposing 5 coastal marine organisms to various concentrations of a systemic pesticide;
Analyzed data; Maintained live animal (including coral) culture; Managed and organized information;
Delivered oral presentation at NOAA Education Symposium in 2019 and at the Ocean Sciences Meeting
in 2020.

Undergraduate Research Assistant – Dr. Cole Matson

Baylor University Department of Environmental Science; Waco, Texas
February 2017-June 2020
Prepared and analyzed samples for ICPMS as a part of a multi-university mesocosm
ecotoxicology study regarding nanoparticulate metal uptake; Led independent project in documenting the
developmental stages of Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis) which involved coordinating multiple
researchers; Managed and organized information; Conducted preliminary toxicological studies to
determine embryonic resilience to PCB compounds in F. grandis; Assisted in conducting studies to better
understand the toxicological response of F. grandis to PCB and PAH compounds.

Baylor Aquatics System Research - Dr. Thad Scott and Dr. Jacquelyn Duke
Baylor University Department of Biology; Waco, Texas
August 2018- May 2019
Took on a lead role in the 2018-2019 cohort of Baylor’s Aquatic Systems Research program;
Researched the anaerobic activity of facultative anaerobes in freshwater systems in response to varying
nutrient levels and suspended sediment concentrations; Led community outreach educating the public
about important biological concepts; Orally presented results at ASLO 2019 conference; Wrote paper for
publication.

Coral Reef Intern - Jennifer Keck M.S.

Roatan Institute for Marine Science; Roatan, Honduras
July 2018 - August 2018
Led independent research project on the biodiversity of reef corals and correlated biodiversity of
foundational corals; working in coral rearing, outplanting, and restoration; Coordinated dives and dive
plans for multiple scientists conducting different assessments on a single dive; Surveyed, entered and
assessed data on the status of biological diversity on reefs; Statistically analyzed effect of Marine Park
protection on fish and coral biodiversity; Identified Caribbean sponge, coral, invertebrate, and fish
scientific names.

WORK AND INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

Master Scuba Diver Trainer - PADI
Pura Vida Divers; Riviera Beach, Fl
June 2021-June 2023
Instructed classes ranging from Open Water through Divemaster, and the following specialties:
Night, Deep, Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Coral Conservation, Fish Identification, Enriched
Air Nitrox, Project Aware, EFR, Care for Children with AED; Coordinate logistics of excursions and
dives keeping objectives, skillset of participants, risk management, environmental conditions, and
available resources in mind.

Virtual Student Federal Service Intern

NOAA Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; Waco, Texas // Galveston, Texas
September 2019-September 2020
Created content for Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary’s Facebook and Twitter
pages as an internet-based intern; Used NOAA’s photo library to illuminate the importance of marine
sanctuaries and the creatures of the Flower Garden Banks; Created content for FGBNMS website.

American Chemical Society Conference of the Parties Representative

Waco, Texas // Madrid, Spain
August 2019-May 2020 // December 2019
Selected as one of 9 undergraduate students to represent the American Chemical Society at the
25th annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties;
Blogged and used social media to increase climate change literacy in the college-aged population.

Aquatics Intern/volunteer
Cameron Park Zoo; Waco, Texas
May 2017 -May 2020
Cared for coral culture tanks; Dove and cleaned exhibit tanks; Created presentations to engage
and inform public; Prepared diets and enrichment for fish; Logged daily activities; Assessed water
chemistry.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Davis, H.; Voss, J. D. Hyposalinity stress tolerances of Montastraea cavernosa and Porites
astreoides corals in Southeast Florida and implications for coastal freshwater
management. Master’s Thesis. Published at Florida Atlantic University May 2023.
Davis, H.; Voss, J. D. Taking freshwater releases with a grain of salt: How hyposalinity may
be affecting Southeast Florida’s corals. Oral Presentation. Benthic Ecology Meeting
2023. Maimi, Florida
Langan, L. L.; Thapar, I.; Davis, H.; Norman, R. S.; Bojes, H. K.; Brooks, B. W. Influence of
Storage Conditions and Multiple Freeze-Thaw Cycles on N1 SARS-CoV-2, PMMoV,
and BCoV Signal. Science of the Total Environment. In preparation.
Davis, H.; Voss, J.D. Hyposalinity stress tolerance of two coral models provide support for
altered freshwater reservoir management in southeast Florida. Three-minute lightning
talk. Indian River Lagoon Symposium 2023. Fort Pierce, Florida.
Davis, H.: Voss, J.D. Hyposalinity thresholds for stony corals Montastraea cavernosa, and
Porites astreoides in Southeast Florida. Poster Presentation. Lake Worth Lagoon Science
Symposium 2022. Lake Worth, Florida.
Davis, H.; Voss, J. D.: Hyposalinity thresholds for stony corals Montastraea cavernosa, and
Porites astreoides in Southeast Florida. Poster Presentation. International Coral Reef
Society Meeting 2022. Bremen, Germany.
Langan, Laura; O'Brien, Megan; Lovin, Lea; Scarlett, Kendall ; Davis, Haley; Henke, Abigail;
Seidel, Sarah; Archer, Natalie; Lawrence, Eric ; Norman, Robert; Bojes, Heidi; Brooks,
Bryan: RT-qPCR surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in wastewater of two
counties, Texas, USA. ACS ES&T Water. Feb 2022. Status: submitted
Davis, H., Voss, J.D.: Hyposalinity stress tolerance and associated disease susceptibility for
common coral species in southeast Florida. Poster Presentation. Benthic Ecology Meeting
2022. Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Davis, H.: Rescue Skill Modifications. Alert Diver Q3/4 2021.

Davis, H., Peterman, K., Foy, G.: The cost of increasing atmospheric CO2 on the economy and disaster
mitigation of island nations. Prepared for the ACS 2020. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Davis, H., Bain, F., Walkup, R., Mansfield, C. M., Matson, C.: Metabolic rate and developmental pace
in pollution-tolerant populations of Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Poster Presentation. SETAC
2020 Young Environmental Scientists meeting. Waco, Texas

Davis, H., Woodley, C., May, L., Barnet, A., Miller, C.: Coral reef organisms: differential sensitivities
to an agricultural pesticide. Oral Presentation. SETAC 2020 Young Environmental Scientists
meeting. Waco, Texas. 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting. San Diego, California. NOAA Education
Symposium 2019.
 Davis, H., Costanza, C., Alderman, D., Canava, K., Goehring, L., Jaffery, R., Leng, B., Spore, P.,
Duke, J., Scott, T.: Denitrification by facultative anaerobes in oxic waters. Oral Presentation.
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting.
San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Canava, K., Spore, P., Alderman, D., Costanza, C., Davis, H., Goehring, L., Jaffery, R., Leng, B.,
Duke, J., Scott, T.: Denitrification rates of facultative anaerobes in oxic turbid waters: a study of
microhabitats on suspended sediments. Oral Presentation. Association for the Sciences of
Limnology and Oceanography. 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting. San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Jaffery, R., Leng, B., Alderman, D., Canava, K., Costanza, C., Davis, H., Goehring, L., Spore, P.,
Duke, J., Scott, T.: The combined effect of suspended sediment and nitrate concentrations on
water column denitrification rates of facultative anaerobes. Poster Presentation. Association for
the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting. San Juan, Puerto
Rico.

Alderman, D., Goehring, L., Canava, K., Costanza, C., Davis, H., Jaffery, R., Leng, B., Spore, P.,
Duke, J., Scott, T.: Water Column Denitrification by facultative anaerobes increases with organic
matter and nitrate concentration. Poster Presentation. Association for the Sciences of Limnology
and Oceanography. 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting. San Juan, Puerto Rico.

SKILLS
• Project Planning and protocol design; leadership, teamwork, and communication
• Field Research Skills
o Lead diver
o Operating and working from vessels up to 33’, trailering and launching vessels up to 30’
o Preliminary processing and preservation of biological samples under water and at surface
o DPV usage
• Marine vertebrate and invertebrate ID and husbandry
• Spanish comprehension and translation
• Software Skills
o Coral Point Count, Adobe photoshop, ImageJ
o GIS, GPS integration
o Basic familiarity with R, and HTML coding languages
• Website creation, editing, and design
• General lab research skills
o Coral tissue regeneration assay
o Sample preparation and analysis using ICPMS, MIMS, and GCMS
o Gene extraction, gel electrophoresis, PCR, and rtQPCR
o Fluorometric and colorimetric assays
o Familiarity with electron microscopy
OUTREACH AND VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT
• Cox science Center Cretaceous Cocktails (March 2023) - tabled at a community education
event for Pura Vida Divers representing the dive community as a stakeholder in environmental
conservation efforts.
• To Dive For (March 2023 - present) – Founded and co-host a podcast with the goal of Making
the intersection of marine science and professional diving accessible by amplifying the voices of
the diverse people who live it first hand
• Manateefest (Feb 2023) – tabled at an event for Pura Vida Divers representing the dive
community as a stakeholder in environmental conservation efforts.
• Broward County Libraries (July 2022) – presented on the life of a marine biologist to local
elementary-aged children attending summer camps through the Broward County Libraries
• Science Night – Pura Vida Divers (July 2022) – presented an hour-long seminar on the impact
of seasonal weather patterns on coral reef health in southeast Florida
• SOS ocean Conservation Day (April 2022) – Tabled at an event along with Florida Department
for Environmental Protection and their sister group Friends of Our Florida Reefs
• Science Saturday (April 2022) – created interactive displays to educate public about coral reef
ecosystems and local stressors, with an emphasis on sustainable practices as solutions
• Guest Lecture for undergrad Marine Bio class (March 2022) – guest lecturer in an
undergraduate marine biology class on marine worms and Bryozoans
• Pints With Professors (February 2022) – planned and organized a campus-wide networking
event to increase face time between students, faculty and staff at Harbor Branch
• Student Representative on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee for Harbor
Branch Oceanographic Institute (January 2022) – served on the committee for DEI efforts as a
student body representative voicing concerns for under-represented groups on campus
• Florida Public Archaeology Network training (September 2021) – attended training with
FPAN to conduct archaeological surveys underwater
• DiveN2Life/Mote Marine Lab (October 2021) – assisted in coral tree fragmentation propagation
in coordination with Florida Atlantic University’s Scientific Diving program
• Letters to a Pre-Scientist (August 2019-January 2023) – created videos and letters with
scientific content for middle-school aged audiences with a focus on students of under-represented
demographics
• Volunteer at Mayborn Museum (April 2018) – designed interactive displays at stations around
the museum to engage school age children in learning basic concepts in biology and chemistry
• Lab Teaching Assistant (January 2018 – June 2018) – designed, taught, and tested lab activities
for an undergraduate Ecology for Non-STEM majors class
• Cameron Park Zoo (October 2016- May 2020) - designed and presented several different
interactive displays to teach public about wildlife interactions and sustainable practices
• ESL Spanish Translator for Middle School Students (August 2016 – December 2016) –
translated class activities across several different subjects

AWARDS AND HONORS

Indian River Lagoon Symposium Outstanding Student Presentation Award (February 2023); $200
Women Divers Hall of Fame Instructor Advanced Education Training Grant (February 2023); $2,000
Fulbright Future Award Semi-Finalist (January 2023)
Art of Science: Third place photo submission (December 2022)
Three-Minute Thesis: first place in preliminary round, second runner-up in championship round (June
2022); $2,000
Indian River Lagoon Graduate Research Fellow (June 2022 - June 2023); $10,000
Rotary Club Dritenbas Memorial Environmental Fellowship (August 2021- August 2022); $5,000
NOAA Hollings Scholar (January 2018- May 2020); $30,000
Baylor’s Environmental Science Departmental Scholarships (August 2017- May 2020);
Baylor President’s Gold Scholarship (August 2017- May 2020); $64,000
Excellence in Student Leadership Award (January 2018 – June 2018)
Student Engagement Scholarship (August 2016- May 2020; four-time recipient); $4,000
Ampersand Honor Society (August 2017- May 2020)
Dean’s list (August 2016- May 2020; eight-time recipient)

CERTIFICATIONS
Aquatic Species Collection
Florida Marine Science Educators Association
March 2022

National Weather Service SKYWARN

Florida Atlantic University Department of Emergency Management; Fort Pierce, Florida
March 2022

Master SCUBA Diver Trainer (PADI)

Pura Vida Divers; Riviera Beach, Fl
February 2022

Scientific Diver - American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS)

Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch
September 2021
• Cross-trained as a CCR dive buddy (January 2023)
• Depth certification to 100 ft (December 2022)
• DPV usage (December 2022)
• Lead diver status (April 2022)

Motorboat Operator Certification - Florida

Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch
August 2021

Divers First Aid for Professionals

Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch
July 2021

Open Water SCUBA Instructor (PADI)

Cozumel Dive Academy; Cozumel, Mexico
January 2021

Divemaster (PADI)
Mammoth Lake; Lake Jackson, Texas
December 2020

Texas and Louisiana; Florida Boater Safety

Boat US
June 2020; August 2021

GIS
Baylor University; Waco, Texas
January 2020 – June 2020
• ESRI Basics of Map Projections
• ESRI Intro to Spatial Analysis
• FEMA Emergency Management
• UCAR Geodesy and Mapping

SSI Nitrox Certification

Salty Endeavors; Cozumel, Mexico
January 2020

Rescue Diver Certification (PADI)

Scubaland; Austin, Texas
July 2018

Riparian Zone Management

Texas A&M AgriLife; Salado, Tx
March 2018

Texas Watch Stream-Team Citizen Scientist/Volunteer

Baylor CRASR; Waco, Texas
February 2018

Advanced Open Water Diver Certification (PADI)

Scubaland; Austin, Texas
August 2016

Open Water Diver Certification (PADI)

Scubaland; Austin, Texas
March 2016

REFERENCES – More available upon request

• Dr. Joshua Voss – Master’s Advisor
o Jvoss2@fau.edu
• Jillian Blakkan-Strauss – Director of Training
o Training @Puravidadivers.com
• Dr. Dennis Hanisak – Master’s Committee Member and Instructor
o DHanisak@fau.edu
• Dr. Cole Matson – Undergraduate Research Advisor
o Cole_matson@baylor.edu