Lamalani Siverts

Title: IB PhD Student, Biomimicry Fellow
Dept/Program: Biology
Email: ls129@zips.uakron.edu
Website: https://uakron.edu/bric/profiles/profiles_lamalani.html

Biography

I am from the San Francisco bay area and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Washington.  I had never lived away from the Pacific Ocean, a place where I find inspiration and solace, before moving to Akron.  My research experience includes intertidal zone community ecology and behavior and communication of whales and dolphins.  I was fortunate to work for organizations like NOAA and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.  Economic recession in the United States halted funding for much of the research I was pursuing so I looked for hot topics in sustainability where I could utilize my love of marine biology. I met with people working in fields such as sustainable architecture, city planning, and water treatment and biomimicry came up in every meeting as an emerging concept in their industry.  I quickly found the University of Akron’s Integrated Bioscience PhD fellowship program and felt it was a good fit to blend my experience with career goals. I am interested in preserving the marine ecosystem and would like to apply biomimicry in using aquatic resources in a sustainable manner.

Education

BS Biology, University of Washington