Anji Cooper

Anji Cooper is a PhD candidate in the Palinkas Lab at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Horn Point Laboratory. Her research focuses on sediment dynamics and the evolution of living shorelines in the Maryland Chesapeake Bay by building a multi-year time series across sites ranging from pre-installation to more than 15 years post-installation, with the goal of understanding how nature-based features enhance shoreline resilience.

Cooper graduated magna cum laude from the University of Delaware Honors College with a bachelor's degree in environmental science with a concentration in marine science, a Spanish minor, and a certificate in eco-entrepreneurship. As an undergraduate, she explored diverse areas of environmental science, including an internship with Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management (DAWN), where she helped create a global virtual classroom linking the University of Maryland and University of Kathmandu around the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus in agricultural water use. She also worked as a research assistant in the University of Delaware Biotechnology Institute studying PFAS in the Delaware Bay. Cooper is a former Maryland Sea Grant Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) fellow at Horn Point Laboratory, where she first collaborated with Cindy Palinkas on sedimentation in living shorelines, a project that ultimately motivated her to pursue graduate study and now a PhD.

Outside of academic work, Cooper enjoys spending time with her two cats, as well as reading, crocheting, and experimenting in the kitchen with cooking and baking.