Three new professors join UM Rosenstiel School

Researchers with diverse marine research interests join faculty
new-hires

Left: Javier del Campo, assistant professor, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology. Center: Renato Molina, assistant professor, Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society. Right: Amanda Oehlert, assistant professor, Department of Marine Geosciences.

Images: Diana Udel

MIAMI—Three new faculty members joined the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in 2019.

Javier del Campo, an assistant professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, conducts research on the global diversity and distribution of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbes in the world’s oceans. Using novel culturing and isolation approaches and single-cell genomics, del Campo also studies uncultured species to discover new biological processes and their ecological implications. He is currently investigating microbial community ecology in marine animal-associated environments using cutting-edge sequencing technologies and computational biology. Prior to joining the UM Rosenstiel School faculty, del Campo was the Juan de la Cierva Fellow at the Institut de Ciències del Mar in Barcelona, Spain. He received his PhD in microbial ecology and biotechnology from the Universitat de Barcelona.

Renato Molina, an assistant professor in environmental and resource economics in the Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society, is an engineer and economist specializing in environmental and resource economics. His work focuses on topics at the intersection between game theory, sustainability and institutional settings. Molina’s research explores the economics of natural resource extraction, conservation, and natural disasters, including projects that involve the role of common property regimes in the economic impact of natural disasters and establishing the cost of criminal activities in the ocean. His work relies on using economic insight to inform responsible policymaking for environmental and natural resources management. He received his PhD from University of California, Santa Barbara. Molina holds a joint appointment in the UM Department of Economics.

Amanda Oehlert, an assistant professor in the Department of Marine Geosciences, received her PhD in marine geosciences from the University of Miami. She is a carbonate geologist who specializes in understanding the dynamics of the global carbon cycle and how it has evolved through geological time using geochemical records from marine carbonates and organic matter. In her research, she uses isotope records of carbon, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, as well as trace and rare earth elements of carbonates. Her doctoral work focused on understanding geochemical records of global carbon cycling in a variety of depositional settings and diagenetic regimes.