Jasmine is a Master of Marine Biology (by research) student & a social media coordinator within the F&F lab, JCU. She is originally from a small east coast town in Pennsylvania, USA. Even with being landlocked, traveling and scuba diving allowed her to fall in love with marine biology. She started her academic journey by pursuing a Bachelors in Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy degree from Monmouth University (NJ, USA).​

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Jasmine has gained diverse hands-on experience throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies. During her bachelor’s degree, she completed a shark research internship with The Field School in Florida, where she developed practical field skills including boat safety, knot tying, longline and drumline fishing methods, and assisted with shark processing and sampling. She later earned her AAUS scientific diving training at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), where she studied dive theory, safety procedures, and habitat restoration techniques. Her academic training also included field-based tropical marine ecology experience in Bermuda and the Bahamas. In her final undergraduate year, Jasmine volunteered with the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Centre, working in a clean laboratory to process shellfish samples and quantify microplastics using dissection, chemical digestion, and microscopy.

 

At James Cook University, she contributed to the Turtle Health Research program as both a volunteer and team leader, supporting animal care, tank maintenance, and field activities such as turtle tagging and release. Within the Fish and Fisheries Lab, she has helped with the communications team and outreach, including managing social media and developing a communications strategy, while also gaining experience in grant writing. She is currently a research student in the lab.

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Jasmine's current interests are elasmobranchs biology and ecology, with a focus on fisheries science/management. Her research goals are to obtain a PhD after my master’s degree. She hopes to be able to learn more about fisheries science and gain some new skills from it. As well as the possibility of teaching on a university level, to be a meaningful mentor both in and outside a classroom. She is excited to see where her career path leads, while actively pursuing opportunities that align with her skills and interests.

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Current projects:

Population demographics of highly vulnerable bycatch species in Papua New Guinea’s fish maw fishery