Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office GIS Lab

The GARFO GIS Lab includes students, interns, and affiliates.

New England/Mid-Atlantic

The GARFO GIS Program and Lab is led by Dr. ten Brink. The lab members have conducted research, applications, analyses, and created storymaps and reports.

2024 INFISH Scholar

Edgard Díaz Bobé

Edgard is an undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico in the Humacao campus studying Coastal Marine Biology. Growing up along the coast, Edgard was curious about the effects invasive species have on their new environment. He found himself starting an investigation on lionfish and hopes to publish his results before he graduates come 2025. He is interested in invasive species management and overall ocean conservation; he believes that addressing invasive species spread will lead to more healthy reefs, safer fishing, and higher stock count of commercially important species. Edgard hopes to prepare outreach programs for communities affected throughout the coast to better execute management plans for invasive species. He hopes to be able to produce more helpful research and empower communities under NOAA after attaining his Masters degree.

Research and Analysis Project: Best Practices to inform GARFO's Community Engagement and findings from HMS West Coast Workshop

2023 Yale Conservation Scholar

AJ Villaruel

AJ is from Brooklyn, NY and is an uprising sophomore in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is a double major in Biological Engineering and Environment & Sustainability with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. His academic interests lie within the intersection of engineering and sustainability, and how they can be used to more equitably develop underprivileged communities. He hopes to attend graduate school in the future in a related field and use his passion for STEM as a force for good in the world.

Research and Analysis Project: Analysis of Climate Change Resilience on the Mystic Coast of Connecticut

2021/2022 Virtual Student Federal Service Intern:

Vanessa Mahan

Vanessa Mahan is a current graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in a Masters program studying Environmental Science and Policy for Conservation Biology. She received a Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences from the Missouri University of Science Technology in 2020. She's interested in conservation for marine and coastal ecosystems and hopes to provide a better understanding of resource and habitat needs for endangered species.

Research and Analysis Project:

Guidance for Integrating GIS Analyses Into ESA Section 7 Federal Consultations

2020/2021 Virtual Student Federal Service Interns:

Michelle Boone

Michelle is a 4th-year PhD student in the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She studies bumble bees, specifically the federally endangered rusty-patched bumble bee. She earned an Associate's in Liberal Arts from North Hennepin Community College in 2010 and a Bachelor's of Science in Biology from the University of St. Thomas in 2016 and began her graduate studies at the University of Minnesota in 2017. She’s interested in endangered species conservation and working with communities to find ways in which humans and wildlife can coexist, especially in urban areas.

Storymap Projects:

Sharing Seal Space by the Seashore: An Introduction to the GAR Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Traveling Turtles: Rescue and Rehabilitation of Cold Stunned Sea Turtles

Darryl Acker-Carter

Darryl is a Senior at George Mason University. He is majoring in Environmental Sustainability Studies with a concentration in Conservation and Sustainability. Darryl grew up in Annapolis, Maryland exploring all of what the Chesapeake Bay has to offer. He enjoys beekeeping, gardening, hiking, and podcasts. His academic interests are sustainable food systems, urban sustainability, behavioral ecology, disease ecology, and the food water energy nexus.

Storymap Projects:

The Atlantic Sea Scallop: A Fishery Success Story

The Northeast Shelf: A Changing Ecosystem

Emma Bonanno

Emma is from Southern Maryland and currently resides in College Park, Maryland where she attends the University of Maryland. She is a Senior majoring in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science with a minor in GIS, and interested in anything marine/ocean/coastal science related. Post-graduation, she hopes to earn a graduate degree in marine science or GIS and hopefully work for NOAA. She is excited to learn more about fisheries management and create memorable story maps for GARFO this year.