Lehigh

I pulled off the highway and followed my phone's instructions to turn on Fourth Street. The rolling hills of Bethlehem, PA carried me into town like waves rippling onto a sandy seashore. A church steeple made of dark stone rose from the sidewalk on my left, piercing the evening sky with its spire. Low, square-ish homes lined the street on both sides, bearing architectural signatures from decades gone by. I stopped at a red light, and a man carrying a plastic shopping bag slumped across the street in front of me. As I approached downtown, the buildings became denser, the blocks shorter, all perpendicular lines that chafed against the organic arcs of the green hills surrounding. This gritty steel town in the smooth, rolling hills seemed an unlikely host for a marine biology research lab, but host it was. I had arrived at Lehigh University. 

Nicole (center) with her advisory committee after her 
dissertation defense. Congratulations, Dr. Pittoors!

For the past several years, I have served on the advisory committee for a Lehigh PhD student, Nicole Pittoors. Nicole did an internship with me in 2017, back when I was a postdoc at WHOI. She helped out with my research on fouling communities that summer, and we've been in contact ever since. When she started her dissertation research in the Herrera lab at Lehigh, Nicole asked me to be on her committee, and I excitedly agreed to lend my expertise and guidance to shaping her research trajectory. 

Nicole's dissertation focused on the dynamics of mesophotic communities in the Gulf of Mexico. She used molecular biology approaches to study community ecology, connectivity, and reproduction in mesophotic habitats. Her work was massive in scope, employed a wide range of molecular tools, and found clear patterns in environmental factors shaping mesophotic communities. It was absolutely incredible work. 

Nicole gave her final presentation in a classroom at Lehigh, and then we the committee sat with her for a couple hours to discuss her work. When the newly-minted Dr. Pittoors emerged from our closed-door session, we celebrated with cake and champagne. Lehigh's campus sits at the top of a hill, and our gathering was held in a window-lined room in a high tower. Beautiful views to the valley around us topped off the victorious day. 

My trip to Lehigh was motivated by a tangible goal - graduating a PhD student - but it was also an exercise in community. Nicole's advisor, Santiago Herrera, did his own PhD at WHOI. We met on an oceanographic expedition way back in 2013, when I was a grad student myself at the University of Oregon. I love watching colleagues succeed, and Santiago has built an incredible lab at Lehigh. His students do incredible work, support one another, and work together. He was an excellent advisor to Nicole. Congratulations to Dr. Pittoors, and thank you to the Herrera Lab for hosting me!