Postdoctoral Research Associates

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The ECSC provides a postdoctoral training program where each postdoc entering the program will have skills and interests aligned with one or more ECSC focus area and will have the ability to partner with an appropriate ECSC scientist. Furthermore, to improve communication and collaborative opportunities between NOAA scientists, programs, and ECSC personnel, each postdoc will also be partnered with a NOAA mentor. Within the program, resources are provided for the postdoc to travel to meet with their NOAA mentor, and to conduct collaborative research at appropriate NOAA facilities.


Each postdoc is expected to develop a brief research proposal describing their planned work, which will be reviewed by the ECSC and NOAA staff to assure that the proposed work aligns with NOAA interests and priorities. Furthermore, the postdocs will also contribute to core and field courses, and work with students in the lab and the field on various research projects. Interactions such as these provide opportunities for the postdoc to educate Center students and faculty on their interactions with NOAA scientists and laboratories.

Zakiya J. Hoyett, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ecological Processes
Date Attended: January 2016 to August 2017

Dr. Zakiya Hoyett is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of the Environment at Florida A&M University. Her area of specialization is environmental chemistry and her research interests include human and environmental health as well as environmental literacy. She received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry from Norfolk State University in 2008 and her Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Florida A&M University in 2012. Her dissertation research focused on the occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in coastal ecosystems, specifically in two Florida bays, Apalachicola Bay and Tampa Bay. Currently, she is working as part of the Choptank Ecological Assessment, a collaborative project that supports habitat conservation and restoration in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The primary purpose of this research is to establish the baseline condition of the Choptank River Complex and provide linkages between types of land use, or other stressors, and the ecological condition of adjacent waterways. She is also collaborating with scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Science (NCCOS) Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) on a project related to coral reef health in association with the Coral Reef Conservation Program. The project will investigate the combined impact of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants on the fertilization and development in the sea urchin, Lytechinus variegatus, commonly called the green sea urchin.


Lemir Teron, Ph.D.

Date Attended: September 2015 to August 2015

Dr. Lemir Teron holds an Assistant Professor appointment at the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry. Prior to this he completed a postdoc at the NOAA sponsored Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) at Florida A&M University School of the Environment, where his research examined the mobility of toxics and legacy pollution as a result of climate change and extreme weather events. While there he also taught at the FAMU College of Law. His current research evaluates issues related to urban sustainability, coastal communities & resilience and environmental justice. In addition to publishing in scholarly and popular outlets on matters related to urban environmental policy and energy use, he has actively engaged with a range of community scale actors on said issues. His Ph.D. is from the University of Delaware’s Center for Energy & Environmental Policy.


Daniel M. Osborne, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ecological Processes
Date Attended: January 2013 to June 2015

Dr. Osborne received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Florida State University and throughout his graduate work he focused on the characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM). His dissertation project studied changes in the DOM bulk properties, such as absorbance, molecular size and fluorescence, of oxidized landfill leachate. He utilized ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry to obtain molecular-level information which was then used to explain the observed changes to the bulk properties. In another project, Dr. Osborne developed mass spectrometric methods for analyzing the dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) portion of DOM. These techniques were applied to south Florida wetland samples to monitor molecular changes to DON from different seasons and sampling sites.


Lori A. Lester, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ecosystem Characterization/Ecological Processes
Date Attended:

Dr. Lori Lester is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Delaware State University. Her areas of specialization are conservation biology and coastal/estuarine ecology. In 2012, she received her Ph.D. in Ecology from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) where her dissertation research focused on direct (injury and mortality) and indirect (anthropogenic sound) effects of recreational boats on diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin). She also received a Master of Coastal Environmental Management degree from Duke University (Durham, NC) in 2007. Her current research focuses on the potential impacts of climate change on migratory species such as sea turtles and avifauna that utilize barrier island habitats in Apalachicola, FL.


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