Nikelene Mclean

Nikelene is serving as the GEO Blue Planet Policy fellow in the Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division of NOAA NESDIS/STAR. She grew up on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where she developed her passion for the coastal environment. She is currently a PhD candidate at Morgan State University in the Bioenvironmental Sciences Program. Her research focuses on characterizing the population dynamics of the Atlantic bay nettle (Chrysaora chesapeakei) in the Patuxent River, a sub-estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. She aims to use her findings to help stakeholders develop measures and management strategies to mitigate the impact of the bay nettle’s disruptive blooms in the Chesapeake Bay.

Nikelene has also been actively involved in other research projects which served to investigate measures that can be taken to sustain coastal resources. She has worked on projects related to sustainable shellfish and finfish aquaculture, oyster and coral reef restoration as well as marine wildlife conservation. She has also worked on coastal/marine governance projects involving stakeholder engagement and outreach in Central America, the Caribbean and the Chesapeake Bay.