Hi, my name is Philip Gravinese and I am a biological sciences Ph.D. student in the Biological Sciences Department at Florida Institute of Technology. I received my B.S. (2003) and M.S. (2007) from Florida Tech’s biology department. After earning my master’s degree, I taught high school in Brevard County and served as an adjunct for Eastern Florida State College. I taught for five years and then realized that I missed the research. So, I decided to come back to Florida Tech to pursue my Ph.D. in marine science.
Currently, I am a teaching assistant for the invertebrate zoology and biometry courses within the department. Many of the research projects I am involved with are focused around the interactions among the ecology, physiology and behavior of larval crustaceans. Specifically, my research interests focus on the impacts of changing climate on the growth and survival of larval and juvenile crabs.
Despite being a full time student, I still actively collaborate with middle and high school teachers on a regular basis. Through my collaboration with teachers I can couple my passion for science and outreach. I have participated in K-12 classrooms in Brevard County by creating films, designing activities for classrooms and presenting my research. I hope that being an online ambassador will help promote ocean education and dismantle communication barriers between the scientific community and the public.
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