Alina Szmant
Personal Information
Born: unknown
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
University of Puerto Rico BS Biology & Chemistry 1966; Scripps Institution of Oceanography MS Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography; University of Rhode Island PhD Biological Oceanography & Marine Biology 1980
Professional Life
Field of Study: Marine Biology
Institution/Corporation: CISME Instruments LLC; University of North Carolina Wilmington; University of Miami
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2013 Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Awardee American Association of Underwater Divers; 1970 Conservation Award US Dept of the Interior
Achievements: research focuses on the physiological ecology of reef corals nutrient dynamics & cycling in tropical coastal systems & reproductive biology of Caribbean coral reefs
Research focuses on the physiological ecology of reef corals & on nutrient dynamics in tropical coastal systems
1970, with 4other women, became the 1st to take an active role in a NASA mission underwater; spent 2 weeks in a habitat in the Atlantic Ocean
Her team created CISME (coral in situ metabolism & energetics) a diver-portable device which allows researchers to study the metabolism of coral underwater without needing to move it