Adrienne Copeland was the 2017 Knauss Sea Grant Exploration Fellow for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). As part of her fellowship, Adrienne joined the Engagement Team and was very involved in all aspects of the office activities. She published an article in Deep Sea Life and was the coordinator who managed web content for the expedition: Discovering the Deep: Exploring Remote Pacific Marine Protected Areas aboard the Okeanos Explorer. She co-organized the 2017 National Ocean Exploration Forum, and attended Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (OEAB) meetings, attended hearings at the Capital, hosted live telepresence interactions with the Okeanos Explorer, provided input on the active acoustic sampling plan for OER, and was the “Expert is In” at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History discussing deep sea research.

Adrienne received her Ph.D. in Zoology with a Marine Biology specialization from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and her Bachelors of Science Degree in Biology and a Certificate in Mathematical Biology from Washington State University. Her graduate research focused on using active and passive acoustic collection methods to understand open ocean predator-prey dynamics. Over the years, she has amassed a diverse array of experience including designing and implementing research projects, coordinating and participating in research expeditions, managing grants and budgets, editing and writing website content, teaching grade-school and college students about marine animal life, and facilitating government/interagency relations and coordination.

For over seven years, Adrienne has been collecting real-time acoustic data aboard a variety of blue-water research vessels for NOAA and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has been on board for over twenty seagoing expeditions and was chief scientist on six of those trips, including a 2014 research cruise on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s ship the Falkor. These expeditions have included data collection and interpretation throughout the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. She spent the majority of the past four years leading the active acoustics sampling team on research expeditions on board NOAA’s ship the Oscar Elton Sette for the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.

From her time at sea, Adrienne has recognized the importance of communicating and demonstrating the benefits of marine science to the public and was very excited that she had the opportunity to do so on a daily basis through her Knauss Fellowship.