© 2019 Zofia Knorek 

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  • Zofia Knorek

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    Marine Educator.

    Ecologist.

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    advocate by heart // scientist by choice

     

    Hey, y'all. I'm Zo.

    about

    Zo

    I am a PhD student in Joel Fodrie's Coastal Fisheries Oceanography and Ecology Lab  at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill  Institute of Marine Sciences, and an MSc alumna of Aaron Galloway's Coastal Trophic Ecology Lab (CTEL) at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

     

     Before graduate school, I served a year as an AmeriCorps member at the  Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC). And though I am a Michigan native, I am also apparently a sucker for the south--I earned my BA in Biology from Hendrix College in Arkansas.

     

    My academic career is centered on scientific communication, what I consider to be one of the most powerful tools of service to the world. 

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    fast facts
    folks and links
     

    (I study the sharing of snacks in the ocean.)

     

    trophᐧic eᐧcolᐧoᐧgy 

    Research

    Broadly, I am interested in the trophic ecology of invasion--an emerging theme in marine systems. When a nonindigenous species is introduced, how does it shift food web dynamics? What are the impacts of these shifts on socioeconomics and biodiversity? I specifically seek to answer these questions in the context of Didemnum vexillum, a pervasive and invasive colonial tunicate in the Northwest Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. 

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    My initial exposure to trophic ecology research was through a project in Joel Llopiz's Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). During my AmeriCorps term, I served as the citizen science educator at PTMSC, where I worked on projects spanning harmful algal blooms to seastar wasting disease.  Several moons ago, I too studied the physiology of the beaked whale (Mesoplodon spp.) diaphragm and the microbial ecology of a restored urban watershed. 

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    Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. -Mary Oliver 

     

    Instructions for living a life.

     

    Teaching

    My pedagogy is centered around creating humbling, intriguing, and joyful intellectual spaces in which lifelong learning and exploration are encouraged, and in which students feel respected and safe. To accomplish these objectives, I design and implement hands-on science curricula. As an environmental educator (who frequently experiences 'the wiggles'), it is my priority to get students outside. 

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    I teach both formally and informally. While my former students encompass toddlers to retirees, my teaching experiences are now concentrated at the middle/high school and undergraduate levels. 

    philosophy statement
     

    ...only dull knives.

     

    Never a dull moment

    CV, Biological Illustrations, &

    blog

    You can keep up with me professionally via LinkedIn and ResearchGate, or by downloading my CV below.

    curriculum vitae

    I completed an intensive Invertebrate Zoology course in Spring 2017. Check out the product of that course--an extensive notebook of biological illustrations--below!

    biological illustrations

    For a more informal and up-to-date happenings, follow my Twitter feed or visit my blog. 

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    Drop me a note! I look forward to hearing from you.

    Have a wonder?