Meet The Team
Project Leads
Jason Somarelli
PhD, Department of Medicine
Dr. Somarelli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and Associate Member of the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. Somarelli also serves as the Director of Research for the Duke Cancer Institute Comparative Oncology Group and is the Director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory Scholars in Marine Medicine Program. His research team studies a range of topics, including the evolution of cancer therapy resistance, evolution of hypoxia tolerance in marine mammals, and bioengineering new ways to break down plastic pollution.
In addition to his scholarly activities, Dr. Somarelli is active as a mentor, leading multiple outreach and research training programs for high school students and undergraduates. He is the site director for a NCI U54 Cancer Systems Biology Consortium Outreach Core (PI: Wang), director of the Duke Scholars in Marine Medicine undergraduate research training program, co-director of the Diversifying Research and Experiential Learning in Cancer Training, a gap year program funded by Emerson Collective, and co-director of Duke’s BioSTEMs program for high school students.
Nicola Quick
PhD, Marine Conservation
Dr. Quick is a Lecturer in Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth, UK and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Marine Science and Conservation at the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. Her research focuses on the behavioral responses of marine mammals to anthropogenic noise, in particular the effects of navy sonar systems on deep diving cetaceans. This research uses a range of innovative technologies to study the diving behavior of wild cetaceans and to help inform conservation management of cetacean populations.
In addition to her research, Dr Quick leads teaching on marine biodiversity and the effects of human exploitation on the oceans. Dr Quick mentors undergraduate and graduate students on a range of research programs and is heavily involved in public outreach of science. Dr Quick has received external funding for outreach activities in schools and sits on the Diversity and Inclusion committee for the Society of Marine Mammalogy, specifically aimed at increasing the inclusion of women in science.
Thomas Schultz
PhD, Marine Molecular Conservation
Dr. Schultz is broadly interested in how organisms adapt the their environment at a molecular level. His research is largely focused on conservation genetics in wild populations of marine organisms and his lab employs a combination of molecular, genetic, and genomic tools. His lab is currently working on conservation genetics and hybridization in river herring, populations of juvenile summer flounder using the Pamlico Sound as a nursery, environmental selection of blue crabs in Lake Mattamuskeet, identifying genes involved in barnacle adhesion, and use of environmental DNA to detect anadromous fish and species composition in the ichthyoplankton.
Andreas Fahlman
PhD, Comparative Physiology
Andreas Fahlman is a comparative physiologist who studies the physiological traits of diving. He has experience estimating field metabolic rate of marine vertebrates and tries to develop both ethically and logistically viable methods to estimate energy requirements in cetaceans through measures of body condition, or respiratory frequency. He is particularly interested in the effect of pressure on lung function, and is investigation the cardiorespiratory physiology in marine mammals. He uses: what could be called “modern physiology”, where tools of other disciplines such as biochemistry, molecular biology and mathematics are applied to complement physiological data. This interdisciplinary approach enables a more complete picture of the mechanism to solve central physiological questions.
Ashley Blawas
PhD Candidate, Marine Science and Conservation
Ashley’s research focuses on the physiological adaptations that enable cetaceans to dive for extended periods of time underwater. By measuring both physiological rates and related molecular markers during resting and active behaviors, she aims to understand how cetaceans adjust their cardiovascular and metabolic processes on a fine-scale to support differing needs during diving and surfacing intervals and the limits of their physiological adaptations. Ashley obtained her B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke in 2018 and is currently a 4th year Ph.D. Candidate in Marine Science and Conservation at Duke.
Jillian Wisse
PhD Candidate, Marine Science and Conservation
Jillian is working to improve our understanding of acute and chronic environmental stressors so we can better manage our oceans. Her dissertation research specifically focuses on the effects of anthropogenic ocean noise on whales and dolphins, and measures these changes through hormone indicators.
Greg Merrill
PhD Candidate, Marine Science and Conservation
Greg’s dissertation research is broadly focused on assessing the impacts of plastic pollution on the energy mobilization and thermoregulatory capacities of blubber in marine mammals. His previous work has focused on investigating maternal foraging behaviors of Alaskan northern fur seals in an effort to establish an effective and relatively inexpensive long-term monitoring index of foraging success and pup survival.
Zach Swaim
Research Scientist
Zach Swaim is a research scientist in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University Marine Lab (DUML). He has over 15 years of experience as a field biologist studying wild populations of marine mammals ranging from humpback whales in Antarctica, vaquita porpoise in the Gulf of California, and North Atlantic right whales and Cuvier’s beaked whales along the US east coast. Zach is a licensed vessel captain and field team coordinator for several ongoing US Navy-supported projects, including the Atlantic Behavioral Response Study, North Atlantic right whale monitoring and tracking, a behavioral response of humpback whales to vessel traffic, and cetacean monitoring and tagging on the Jacksonville Shallow Water Training Range.
At DUML, Zach provides hands-on training in marine mammal field techniques to undergraduate and graduate students that focus on vessel operation, data collection, photo-ID, biopsy sampling, tracking, and tagging.