Kesley Banks, Ph.D.

Kesley Banks, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist in the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She graduated from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi in December 2019 with a doctorate in marine biology. Under the mentorship of Dr. Greg Stunz, Kesley’s dissertation focused on movement patterns and habitat use for fishery species of varying life history strategies, including Red Snapper and Shortfin Mako sharks. Her research interests include movement patterns, habitat-use, and population connectivity of sportfish with an emphasis in coastal migratory pelagic and highly migratory species.

Kesley came to HRI after earning her M.S. in Environmental Science (2015) from Troy University where, as the ALFA Research Fellow, she studied federally threatened freshwater mollusks and their sensitivity to various toxicants lacking U.S. EPA Water Quality Criteria. Kesley received her B.S. in Biology (2012) at the University of Tennessee at Martin where she studied the evolutionary relationships within the Millipede suborder Spirobolidea.