a second year MEM student concentrating in Coastal Environmental Management with specific interests in geospatial analysis and wetland ecology and management. Heidi grew up in rural Alabama, running around barefoot and developing a love for nature at an early age. She spent her summers camping at Fort Pickens National Park in Pensacola, Florida and sailing in the Gulf of Mexico with her parents. She graduated from the University of Alabama in 2006 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Marine Science. While completing her undergraduate coursework, Heidi worked as a research assistant attempting to characterize the microbial communities associated with healthy and diseased corals affected by the Black Band Disease. After graduation, she went on to work in a Cell and Developmental Biology lab at Vanderbilt University where she assisted in research and managed a freshwater Zebrafish research facility. After being landlocked in Nashville, Tennessee for about five years, she has found herself at the Nicholas School pursuing a Master’s Project dealing with sea level rise and its projected impact on Louisiana’s vulnerable and disappearing coastal wetlands. Outside of school, Heidi enjoys soaking up the setting sun on a porch or boat with good friends and family.