Sara Swaminathan

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	<title>Sara Swaminathan</title>
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	<pubDate>Wed, 01 Nov 2023 23:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>email: sswaminathan@bigelow.org
	
twitter: @SaraSwaminathan
github:&#38;nbsp;https://github.com/saraswaminathan
website: www.saraswaminathan.com
cell: +1 352 514 0538

				
EDUCATION

					
PhD – Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida
2019 - 2024
Dissertation: Potential for Coral Reef Community Resilience in the Anthropocene
Faculty advisor: Andrew AltieriGPA: 4.00/4.00

					
Bachelor of Arts – Science in Society Program, Wesleyan University
2013 - 2017
Minor: Art History


PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

	
Postdoctoral Scientist
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Advisor: Douglas Rasher
2024 - Present

				
STRI Fellow
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Advisor: Matthieu Leray

				
2025 - Present


Graduate research assistant
Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida
Advisor: Andrew Altieri

				
2019 - 2024

	
Laboratory manager -&#38;nbsp;Coral Ecophysiology and Ocean Acidification Lab
Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, RSMAS, University of MiamiAdvisor: Chris Langdon
2018 - 2019
Research fellow – Bahamas Marine EcoCentreDepartment of Marine Geosciences, RSMAS, University of Miami

Advisors: Pamela Reid, Amanda Oehlert

				
Independent research – Purkis Remote Sensing LabDepartment of Marine Geosciences, RSMAS, University of Miami
Advisor: Samuel Purkis

				
Independent research – Photomosaics LabDepartment of Marine Geosciences, RSMAS, University of Miami
Advisors: Art Gleason, Brooke Gintert
PUBLICATIONS
Swaminathan SD, Lafferty KD, Knight NS, and Altieri AH (2024). Stony coral tissue loss disease
indirectly alters reef communities. Science Advances, 10(18). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adk6808.
Swaminathan SD, Meyer JL, Johnson MD, Paul VJ, Bartels E and Altieri AH (2024) Divergentresponses of the coral holobiont to deoxygenation and prior environmental stress. Frontiers in Marine
Science 10:1301474. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1301474.Johnson MD, Swaminathan SD, Nixon EN, Paul VJ, Altieri AH (2021) Differential susceptibility of reef-
building corals to deoxygenation reveals remarkable hypoxia tolerance. Scientific Reports 11:23168.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01078-9.Altieri AH, Johnson MD, Swaminathan SD, Nelson HR, Gedan KB (2020) Resilience of Tropical
Ecosystems to Ocean Deoxygenation. Trends in Ecology &#38;amp; Evolution 36(3):227-238. doi:
10.1016/j.tree.2020.11.003.Swaminathan SD, Craig Z, Didderen K, Lengkeek W, Merck D, Muller E, Van Der Heide T, Altieri AH. Predator exclusion improves coral reef restoration success in a marine protected area. Restoration Ecology
IN REVIEW

FUNDING, HONORS &#38;amp; AWARDS

					
2022&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;


Tropical Conservation and
Development Travel Award, University of Florida Center for Latin &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;American
Studies ($500)&#38;nbsp;


2020 &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp; Tropical
Conservation and Development Field Research Award, University of Florida Center
&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; for Latin American Studies ($2500)2020 &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; 


Sally and William Glick Graduate
Research Endowment, University of Florida Department of &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; Environmental
Engineering Sciences ($1500)2019 &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; 


National Science
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;($144,000) 


2019&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; University
of Florida Graduate Student Preeminence Award, University of Florida Graduate
 &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;School ($36,000)2018 &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;Bahamas Marine EcoCentre Research Fellowship ($10,000)

					
OUTREACH &#38;amp; MENTORING


Workshop
organizer – Boston High School Marine Science Symposium; Boston, MA &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; 
April 2025
Facilitator
– Girls Who Code; Boothbay, Maine
&#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; September 2024 - Present


Mentor – Frost
Science Museum IMPACT Program; Miami, FL &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp;&#38;nbsp; 2018
Student teacher – Marine Research Club (middle and high
school); South Caicos, TCI &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; &#38;nbsp; 2016


Past and
present research mentees are listed below:
 
Alexandra
Grant (2023 – present) – Current Masters student, Department of Environmental
Engineering Sciences, University of Florida. Thesis
title: Key Drivers of Growth and Survival for Coral
Outplanting Success in the Florida Keys
Julie
Fernandez (2021 – present) – Current undergraduate research assistant, Department
of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida. Thesis title: Responses of the Coral Microbiome to Warming and
Deoxygenation
Hailey
Vaughan (2021 – 2022) – Former research assistant, Department of Environmental
Engineering Sciences, University of Florida
Garret
O’Donnell (2021) – Current Knauss Fellow at National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Association
Will
Ferrell, Mikey Orense, Claire Hiaasen, Hunter Kaminski (2019 – 2020) - Former
undergraduates at the University of Florida, Department of Environmental
Engineering Sciences
Tessa
Vekich (2019-2020) – Former staff biologist at Smithsonian Marine Station
(2019-2021)
Emily
Nixon (2019) – Current PhD Student at Scripps Oceanographic Institute


TEACHING EXPERIENCE
							

Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institution, McGill NEO program — Co-instructor, ENVR 451:
Research in Panama, Summer 2025
						
							
Curriculum
development – Reefologies, an educational
card game about coral reef ecology for &#38;nbsp; 
middle/high school students, April 2025


CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS &#38;amp; INVITED TALKS


“Recent
heatwave shifts coral reef communities in unexpected ways” Oral presentation; Western
Society of Naturalists meeting. 10 Nov 2023, Monterey, California.“Stony
Coral Tissue Loss Disease alters coral reef communities” Oral presentation; Ecological
Society of America. 10 Aug 2023, Portland, Oregon.“Stony
Coral Tissue Loss Disease threatens reef fish by altering benthic communities”
Oral presentation; North Florida Marine Science Symposium. 03 Mar 2023, Marineland,
Florida. Award for Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation.“Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease threatens reef fish by altering benthic communities” Oral presentation, Western Society of Naturalists annual meeting. 13 Nov 2022, Oxnard, California.
						“Resilience of the Acropora cervicornis microbiome to hypoxia and host physiological stress” Oral
presentation, International Coral Reef Symposium. 06 July 2022, Bremen, Germany.
						“Responses of benthic and reef fish assemblages to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease” Oral presentation, Benthic Ecology Meeting. 31 March 2022, Portsmouth, NH.

					
						“Resilience of the coral microbiome to hypoxia and host physiological stress” Oral presentation, 


Coastal Hypoxia
Research Program Advisory Committee Meeting


. 26 April 2021, Gainesville, FL.
						“Light exposure mediates susceptibility of juvenile P. astreoides to oxygen depletion” Oral presentation, 


Coastal Hypoxia
Research Program Advisory Committee Meeting. 10 April 2020, Gainesville, FL.
						“Light exposure mediates susceptibility of juvenile P. astreoides to oxygen depletion” Poster presentation, North Florida Marine Science Symposium. 23 January 2020, Marineland, FL.
						“Site and genotype influence success of A. cervicornis outplants in the Florida Keys” Oral presentation, Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics Seminar . 19 November 2019. Gainesville, FL.
						“Assessing the relationship between Spirobranchus giganteus presence and health of coral hosts.” Oral presentation delivered to academic panel and local community. 05 December 2016. Center
for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, TCI.TECHNICAL SKILLS
							

Fieldwork: Over 300 AAUS research dives in
the Florida Keys, Panama, Belize, Bonaire, French Polynesia. Field experiment design
and deployment, underwater census methods (coral taxonomy and demography
surveys, fish surveys, habitat surveys, benthic community surveys), underwater
photography, biological sample collection, water quality instrument deployment.
5+ years boat operation experience. 5+ years of coral reefrestoration
experience.Research
diving: AAUS
Scientific Diver since 2019. NAUI/SSI Drysuit diver since 2025. NAUI Master,
Rescue, &#38;amp; Nitrox certified since 2019. Advanced open water certified since
2016.Field
instrumentation: 8+
years experience with deployment, maintenance, calibration, and data management
of a variety of field instruments such as multiparameter YSI sondes, MiniDOT oxygen
and temperature loggers, light sensors, and temperature loggers.Laboratory
skills: 8+ years experience
with coral husbandry; wetlab mesocosm operation and maintenance for
multistressor experimentation; sampling/processing of coral tissue; fish
dissection and sample processing; Pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry.Molecular
skills: Preparing
samples from fish and corals for microbial analyses; Performing DNA extractions,
PCR library preparation, Gel electrophoresis.Analytical
skills: Expertise
with Bayesian multilevel modeling, bioinformatics of metabarcoding data, multivariate
community analyses, image and video analysis of ecological datasets, and DNA
reference library curation; Highly proficient in R, data visualization, Bayesian
and frequentist statistical methods, LaTex, MATLAB, TagLab, ArcGIS, GitHub, Adobe
Creative Suite, Microsoft Office.


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		<link>https://saraswaminathan.com/science-illustrations</link>

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SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS


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