Blair serves as the Science and Monitoring Program Lead, where she coordinates with stakeholders on the long-term evaluation of ecosystems throughout watersheds of Mobile Bay. As a key component of this work, she helps to oversee the MBNEP’s Science Advisory Committee (SAC) – an interdisciplinary group of researchers and scientists experienced in the estuarine environments of Southern Alabama.
Despite her origins in the rolling hills of Kentucky, Blair has always wanted to be a marine scientist. This passion for the ocean brought her to Alabama, where she graduated with a B.S. in Marine Science/Biology from the University of Alabama in 2018 and an M.S. in Marine Sciences from the University of South Alabama in 2021. Based at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, her master’s thesis focused on the interactions between environmental factors, plankton communities, and Vibrio bacteria in the eastern Mississippi Sound. Although her research has taken place over a variety of localities and a wide array of study organisms, Blair’s work features the central themes of estuaries, disturbance, water quality, and climate change. Outside of the workplace, she enjoys hiking, birdwatching, taking care of far too many plants, and spoiling her pet turtle, Freddy.
