Colleen is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The focus of her dissertation is quantifying the physiological, transcriptomic, and geochemical responses of Caribbean reef-building corals to climate-induced ocean acidification and warming. Her research aims to address how these important corals may respond under such projected climate scenarios in order to build a better understanding of the future status of Caribbean coral reefs. In the future, she aims to work as a professor at the university level, continuing her research and teaching.