Jeanette Davis

Jeanette Davis joined the National Marine Fisheries Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a Knauss Fellow in 2015. She assisted the Office of Science and Technology in its sea turtle conservation efforts, working to develop stock assessments for vulnerable populations. She also traveled to Hawaii alongside NOAA researchers to study sea turtles in person.

Davis completed a doctoral degree at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore. There, she explored the bacterial communities that are associated with tropical sea slugs that congregate around Hawaii every spring to mate. She focused on the compounds that they produce. Some may have uses in human medicine, including one compound with potential anticancer properties.

Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, Davis was first introduced to marine science as an undergraduate student at Hampton University in Virginia. During that time, she lived for a month on a 53-foot sailboat as part of a research internship. 

Following her fellowship, Davis accepted a position as a Research Associate at NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology