Jill Bourque

Jill Bourque is a research associate in the Benthic Ecology Lab at the U.S. Geological Survey's Southeast Ecological Science Center. She specializes in taxonomic identification and benthic community analysis of invertebrates from coastal and deep-sea habitats, including worm reefs, deep-sea corals, canyon systems, cold seeps, trenches, and seamounts. Her research interests include community ecology and ecosystem function of coastal and deep-sea habitats, focusing on the local and regional biodiversity associated with structural habitats and their connectivity to adjacent areas. This is her first season aboard the Nautilus where she hopes to sample sediment infauna and assess the connectivity of benthic communities among seamounts.

Jill Bourque graduated from Rider University in 2002 with a B.S. in marine science and biology. She received a M.S. in 2005 and a Ph.D. in 2009 in marine bioscience from the University of Delaware's College of the Earth, Ocean, and Environment.