St. Mary’s College welcomes visiting researcher Maryam Hakim Elahi, who is spending two months on campus this summer working with St. Mary’s College’s Kristy Lewis, assistant professor of biology, to expand her knowledge of ecosystem modeling. Elahi is a PhD candidate in marine ecology at Khorramshahr Marine Science and Technology University (KMSU) in South Iran, adjacent to the Persian Gulf. She also works at the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (INIOAS) as a researcher and expert in the International Affairs Office. In addition, she is the executive manager of the Journal of Oceanography.
Elahi and Lewis will investigate the marine ecosystems of southern Iran, including mangroves and coral reefs of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, as well as the marine environments of the Indian Ocean. Moving forward, they hope to facilitate a broader institutional collaboration with St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Iranian marine institutes and universities.