Neina Chapa

Neina Chapa is a master's student in the Coastal and Marine System Science program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and she is working in Dr. Pollack’s Coastal Conservation and Restoration Ecology lab. Neina became a NOAA CCME Scholar in Fall 2022. Her thesis project evaluates how a paired intertidal and subtidal oyster reef restoration approach can help ameliorate the effects of declining oyster populations and reestablish lost ecosystem services in St. Charles Bay, Texas.  Results of this thesis will provide resource managers with a restoration technique that can more holistically improve oyster habitat provisions, invigorate economically viable fisheries, and sustain healthy ecological habitats.  

Neina received her B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of South Florida- St. Petersburg, where she completed a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates that investigated the physiological effects of extreme water temperatures on Caribbean coral species. Afterwards, she worked as a Fisheries Technician and Coral Restorationist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and The University of Hawaii. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling to obscure places in the U.S. and being out-hiked by her rescue dog Gypsy June.