Amanda Ackiss
Ph.D. Student
Department of Biological Sciences
Old Dominion University 
aackiss(at)odu.edu

Education
B.A. Media Studies, University of Virginia, 2002

Research
Living the motto "variety is the spice of life", Amanda is working on three Coral Triangle PIRE species, Caesio cuning, Acanthaster planci  and Tripneustes gratilla. Of particular interest to her is the unpredictable and controversial population explosions of A. planci  and the variety of color morphology in Indo-Pacific T. gratilla. When not honing her spearing aim and working late nights intimidating the thermocycler with her evil eye, Amanda dreams of channeling her inner Darwin and sailing away on a fully-equipped floating laboratory.