Megan DAVIs, Ph.D.
Research Professor and Director
For nearly 50 years, Dr. Megan Davis, has studied the queen conch life cycle and innovated ways to save the species. She has become the world’s foremost expert on queen conch aquaculture and has designed, implemented, and operated community-based queen conch hatcheries throughout the Caribbean. Her philosophy is to work with fisherfolk and citizens in their communities to empower them to grow their own conch for restoration and conservation. Her projects support the blue economy in island nations by providing quality jobs for locals and diversified incomes for fisherfolk.
Dr. Davis also proposes that the restoration of this keystone herbivore into seagrass habitats will assist with carbon sequestration, aiding important international climate change mitigation efforts. More than ever, communities are seeking her expertise as a way to address the escalating decline of the species.
BEcky Holt, M.B.A.
Assistant Director
Becky Holt holds an M.B.A. in Sustainable Business and has over a decade of experience in the fisheries, aquaculture, and conservation nonprofit sectors. Her background in marketing, organizational strategy, and community building has introduced her to countless international seafood operators—from artisanal fishers to leading aquaculture producers.
Becky is also a film producer, creating documentary short films that feature the personal stories of seafood farmers around the world. Her production experiences in the remote locations of Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and Europe have given her firsthand exposure to the intricacies and challenges of global seafood production. She is responsible for the development, management, and marketing of the Queen Conch Lab’s international partnership projects.
Robinson Bazurto, M.B.A.
Operations Manager
Robinson Bazurto holds a B.S. in Marine Biology and an M.B.A. in International Business, and he is currently in the second year of his Project Management Ph.D. He has nearly 35 years of project management experience in aquaculture and water treatment. Prior to joining the Queen Conch Lab, Robinson served as production manager for shrimp and fish cultivation operations both in the U.S. and abroad. He has held positions as Director of Operations for Hydromentia, a water treatment technology company; R&D Laboratory Operations Manager at Ziegler; and R&D Aquaculture Operations Manager at Pebble Labs. Robinson’s extensive project management and systems operations experience with a variety of technologies provides the queen conch project sites with a real-time approach to system optimization.
Amanda Matthews, M.Sc.
Research and Education Coordinator
Amanda Matthews is a recent graduate of Florida Atlantic University, where she earned an M.Sc. in Biology under Dr. Megan Davis. Her research focused on sustainable food systems, specifically investigating how frequent harvesting affects the nutritional content and biomass production of the Florida native sea vegetable, Suaeda linearis. Before her M.Sc., she worked as an environmental educator, promoting the conservation of Florida’s native flora and fauna.
In 2023, she joined the Queen Conch Lab, where she works on various conch projects, including egg production, larval culture, and outreach. A key achievement was helping establish a reliable captive breeding colony of milk conch (a close relative of the queen conch) at FAU Harbor Branch, which is paving the way for establishing captive queen conch breeding colonies for restoration aquaculture. This was achieved by incorporating novel algal turf scrubbers (ATS) into the conch's diet, resulting in prolific near-daily spawning from the 16-member breeding colony.
Dylan GRoNley
Lab Assistant
Dylan Gronley’s long-standing interests in marine conservation, aquaculture, and ecology, along with his experience as an R&D lab technician at Axalta Coating Systems and his background in industrial biotechnology and trade, make him an excellent fit for the lab's projects. He is dedicated to improving natural resource management, mitigating human impact on the environment, and integrating technology with natural processes to enhance our understanding of fragile ecosystems. Currently, Dylan is a student at Indian River State College, pursuing a B.Sc. in Biology, with plans to further his studies with an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Marine Science and Oceanography.