Dr. Marielle Abalo is an interdisciplinary scientist who prioritizes innovation for efficient, practical and adaptive approaches to solution-design.
She is an educator and marine biologist focused on innovative STEM education through the study of charismatic marine mammal behavior in African diaspora locations around the world. She researches integrative conservation focusing on coastal environments, apex marine mammals, and prioritizing protected and underacknowledged human communities.
She graduated from Davidson College with an official degree of B.S. in Biology, and an unofficial degree in human-environment relations stemming from an assemblage of Anthropology, Spanish, and Sociology coursework, research experiences, and internships in the US and abroad. As an undergraduate, she served as a Bonner scholar, through a program dedicated to community service and social justice. Collaborating with different non-profits and grassroots initiatives strongly influenced her choice to balance policy awareness with her scientific research.
As a Southern-raised woman of West African roots currently residing in the Sonoran Desert, she is passionate about local, national, multi-stakeholder policy, and using her experiences to contribute towards Arizona’s best future and global multinational policy. Beyond scientific research in marine biology and animal behavior throughout the social African diaspora, she works in executive administration at the vertex of Educational Outreach and inclusive STEM program creation at Arizona State University. She strongly values the arts and creative expression as an affirmation of culture, holistic solution-design, and well-rounded policy work.