Alumni graduate Students
Nicole Buckley, PhD
PhD in Ocean and Earth Sciences
Biosketch: Nicole received her PhD in the Department of Ocean and Earth Science at Old in 2024. She has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She joined the Cutter lab in the summer of 2018 to work on an NSF funded project to quantify hydrogen sulfide’s role as a strong ligand in trace metal cycling in the Pacific and Southern Oceans. She was on-board the R/V Roger Revelle for the US GEOTRACES GP15 cruise in the North and South Pacific in late 2018 and again for the GP17-OCE cruise in the South Pacific and Southern Ocean during the austral summer of 2022-2023 where she measured total dissolved and particulate sulfide in seawater. Currently, she is finishing up her dissertation and publishing results from those cruises in addition to processing particulate sulfide samples collected from the California current in 2021 for future projects.
Nicole is working at U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center as Water Quality-Data Analyst.
Kyle McQuiggan, MS
MS in Ocean and Earth Sciences
Biosketch: Kyle completed his Master’s thesis on “Biogeochemical cycling of selenium in the Amerasian Basin” with the Cutter lab in 2018.
Zoe Wambaugh, MS
MS in Ocean and Earth Sciences
Biosketch: Zoe completed her Master’s thesis on “Selenium distribution and cycling in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean” with the Cutter lab in 2017. Currently, Zoe is a Lab Manager with The Dow Chemical Company in Lake Jackson, TX.
Brandon R. Gibson, MS
MS in Ocean and Earth Sciences.
Biosketch: Brandon completed his Master’s thesis on “A new phase speciation leaching procedure for the determination of metals in oxic and anoxic sediments” with the Cutter lab in 2012.
Carie A. Curry, MS
MS in Ocean and Earth Sciences
Biosketch: Carie completed her Master’s thesis on “Biogenic tracers through the Holocene on the Alaskan Shelf” with the Cutter lab in 2009.
Shannon L. Meseck, PhD
PhD in Oceanography
Contact: shannon.meseck@noaa.gov
Biosketch: Shannon completed her Doctoral dissertation on “Modeling the biogeochemical cycle of selenium in the San Francisco Bay” with the Cutter lab in 2002. She is currently a Research Chemist at the NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service in Milford, Connecticut.
Li Zhang, PhD
PhD in Oceanography.
Biosketch: Li completed a Doctoral dissertation on “The effects of metal complexation on the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide by iodate in seawater” with the Cutter lab in 1999. Li is currently a Section Head at Hampton Roads Sanitation District Regional Laboratory (Virginia).
Joe Radford-Knoery, PhD
PhD in Marine Chemistry
Biosketch: Joel completed his Doctoral dissertation on “Biogeochemistry of hydrogen sulfide in the open ocean” with the Cutter lab in 1993. Currently, Joel is currently the Director for Centre de Nantes, IFREMER, France.
Maria C. Lourdes, PhD
PhD in Oceanography
Biosketch: Maria completed her Doctoral dissertation on “Processes
affecting redox sensitive chemical species in Chesapeake Bay” in 1991. Maria is currently a Professor at the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines.
Robert Kluckhohn, MS
Masters in Oceanography
Biosketch: Robert completed his Master’s thesis on “Trace metals and pyrite in Chesapeake Bay sediments” with the Cutter lab in 1990. He was a manager and implementer overseeing vessel operations, marine science, and research planning for icebreakers and research vessels around Antarctica, Louisiana, and Virginia.
Christian F. Krahforst, MS
MS in Oceanography
Biosketch: Christian completed his Master’s thesis on “Sulfide in shelf/slope waters of the western Atlantic” with the Cutter lab in 1988. He later got a PhD in Environmental Science from UMasss Boston in 2010. Currently, Christian is the director of Climate Adaptation and Conservation for the Town Of Hull as well as a Research Associate at UMass Boston.
David J. Velinsky, PhD
PhD in Oceanography.
Biosketch: David completed his Doctoral dissertation on the “Geochemistry of selenium and sulfur in a coastal salt marsh” in 1987 with the Cutter lab. He is currently a professor for Earth and Environmental Sciences and a chair for the Department of Biodiversity at Drexel University. He is also the director for the Patrick Center for Environmental Research and The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.