Lab Members
Principal Investigators
Phillip Schmutz, PhD
Assocaite Professor
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of West Florida
pschmutz[at]uwf.edu
Samantha Seals, PhD
Assocaite Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of West Florida
sseals[at]uwf.edu
Graduate Research Students
Gabby Westerfield: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Project: Wrack as Natural Infrastructure: Elevation Change, Sediment Trapping, and Public Perceptions
Maggie Darbyshire: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Project: Ecogeomorphic Controls on Coastal Dune Morphology Across Managed and Unmanaged Shorelines
Rachel Hudson: Mathematics and Statistics
Project: A Time Series Analysis on Nesting Habits of Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Audrey Moore: Mathematics and Statistics
Project: In Development
Cheyenne Long: Mathematics and Statistics
Project: In Development
Undergraduate Research Students
Lucia Dillersberger: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Project: Accuracy of RTK vs PPK GPS Data Collection Methods for Drone-Based Dune Research
Gabby Beemer: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Project: From Disturbance to Recovery: Long-Term Vegetation Response to Dune Trampling
Angelina Scamardo: Mathematics and Statistics
Project: Machine Learning Approaches to Model Sea Turtle Nesting: A Comparison of Random Forest and Support Vector Machine Models
Dru Adams: Mathematics and Statistics
Project: Frequentist vs. Bayesian Models of Sea Turtle Nest Site Selection Across Nesting Seasons
Alumni
Graduate Students
| Name | Year | Program | Thesis/Capstone | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halie Weatherington | 2026 | EES | Comparative Analysis of Pseudo-Absence Statistical Ratios in Relation to Sea Turtle Nesting Preferences | CEI Inspector @ Metric Engineering |
| Divina Cox | 2024 | EES | Examine the Influnece of Beach Morphology on Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior in the Years 2010, 2016, and 2020 on Santa Rosa Island and Perdido Key, FL | Ph.D. Student @ UC Santa Barbara |
| Madison Williams | 2022 | EES | The Spatial Variability of Sea Turtle Nest Sites Related to Beach Geomorphology Characteristics on Pensacola Beach and Gulf Islands National Seashore, FL | Restoration Coordinator for the Panhandle Dune Ecosystem Project - FWC |
| Marley Allen | 2019 | EES | Influence of Sand Fence Configuration on Sand Accumulation and Wind Flow | Ph.D Student @ the University of New Orleans |
| Shijie Geng | ??? | Data Science | ??? | ??? |
Undergraduate Students
| Name | Year | Program | Thesis/Capstone | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Agin | 2024 | EES | Evaluating the Influence of Beach Wrack on Near-Surface Aerodynamics and Sediment Transport Processes | Project Scientists @ PPM Consultants, Inc |
| Hunter Evans | ??? | Math | ??? | ??? |
| Cheyenne Long | ??? | Math | ??? | ??? |