Contact:
Biography:
Dr. K first worked at Mote back in 2017 as a college intern in the Ocean Acidification Program and joined the Coral Health and Disease Program as a Coral Resilience Postdoctoral Researcher in March 2025. Dr. K completed her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in December 2023 and then worked as an International Policy Knauss Fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Acidification Program. Her dissertation research focused on physiological and ecological mechanisms underlying coral reef resilience in the face of ocean warming both in the Florida Keys and in Palau, Micronesia. While at Mote, she has expanded her skillset to include interventions to improve survivorship and resilience of early-life stage corals, coral microbial communities and their implications for outcomes during global bleaching events, and the impact of nursery location on restoration coral energetics.
Education:
Ph.D. in Biology; University of Alabama at Birmingham, December 2023
BSc. in Marine Science and Biology with minor in Chemistry; University of Miami, May 2012
Additional Publications
H. S. Findlay, R. A. Feely, K. Grabb, E. B. Jewett, E. F. Keister, G. Kitch, Y. Artioli, P. Bhadury, J. Blackford, O. Crabeck, A. Ghosh, Y. Li, K. B. Lowder, B. Van Dam, H. Beghoura, N. Karo, A. Z. Horodysky, S. Hennige, S. M. Salaah, F. Ragazzola, L. Wright-Fairbanks. 2025. Perspectives on marine carbon dioxide removal from the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network. Oceanography
S. E. Gantt, E. F. Keister, W. K. Fitt, E. M. Muller, A. Manfroy, D. Merck, and D. W. Kemp. 2024. Physiological and symbiotic flexibility of reef-building corals to new habitats: Insights from clonal colony transplants. Journal of Applied Ecology
Y. Zhang, S. E. Gantt, E. F. Keister, H. Elder, G. Kolodziej, C. Aguilar, M. S. Studivan, D. E. Williams, D. W. Kemp, D. P. Manzello, I. C. Enochs, C. D. Kenkel. 2023. Performance of Orbicella faveolata larval cohorts does not align with previously observed thermal tolerance of adult source populations. Global Change Biology
L. Chapron, I. B. Kuffner, D. W. Kemp, A. M. Hulver, E. F. Keister, A. Stathakopoulos, L. A. Bartlett, E. O. Lyons, A. G. Grottoli. 2023. Heterotrophy, microbiome, and location effects on restoration efficacy of the threaten coral Acropora palmata. Nature Communications
E. F. Keister, S.E. Gantt, H. G. Reich, K. E. Turnham, T. G. Bateman, T. C. LaJeunesse, M. E. Warner, D. W. Kemp. 2023. Similarities in tissue biomass and energy reserves among coral colonies from contrasting reef environments. Scientific Reports
S. E. Gantt, E. F. Keister, W. K. Fitt, E. M. Muller, A. Manfroy, D. Merck, and D. W. Kemp. 2023. Wild and nursery-raised corals: Comparative physiology of two framework coral species. Coral Reefs
H. G. Reich, W.C. Tu, I. B. Rodriguez, Y. Chou, E. F. Keister, D. W. Kemp, T. C. LaJeunesse, and T.Y. Ho. 2020. Iron availability modulates the response of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates to heat stress. Journal of Phycology.
2024 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, NOAA Sea Grant
2023 Emily Klein Outstanding Scholar Award, NOAA-ONMS Dr. Foster Scholarship team
2023 Outstanding Senator, UAB Graduate Student Government
2020 Outstanding Woman UAB Graduate Student nominee
2019 UAB Department of Biology Altruism Award
2018 Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar, NOAA Office of National Marine Sancturaries
2018 NSF GRFP Honorable Mention