EDUCATION
| University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, PhD in Marine Biology Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology (EECB) Specialization Program | 2016 – 2022 |
| Smith College, B.A. of Biological Sciences with Highest Honors Minor Environmental Science and Policy | 2009 – 2013 |
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr. A. Murat Eren, Marine Biological Laboratory | 2024 |
| Arctic Research & Communications Fellow- Arctic Research Program within NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring & Observing Program | 2023 |
| Graduate Student- Dr. Michael Rappé, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) | 2016 – 2022 |
| Research Technician- Dr. Laura Katz, Smith College | 2015 – 2016 |
| Researcher- Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center | 2013 – 2015 |
| Research Technician- Dr. L. David Smith, Smith College | 2009 – 2012 |
PUBLICATIONS
| Ramfelt, O., Tucker, S. J., Freel, K. C., Eren, A. M. & Rappe, M. S. Magnimaribacterales marine bacteria genetically partition across the nearshore to open-ocean in the tropical Pacific Ocean. bioRxiv 2025.06.17.660167 (2025) doi:10.1101/2025.06.17.660167. |
| Tucker SJ*, Fuessel J*, Freel KC*, Kiefl E, Freel EB, Ramfelt O, Sullivan CE, Gajigan AP, Mochimaru H, Souza MR, Quinn M^, Ratum C^, Tran LL, Miller SE, Trigodet F, Lolans K, Morrison HG, Fallon B, Huettel B, Pan T, Rappé MS, Eren AM. 2025. A high-resolution diel survey of surface ocean metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and transfer RNA transcripts. Sci. Data 12: 1913. doi:10.1038/s41597-025-06166-3 |
| Freel, K. C. Tucker, S.J., Freel, E.W., Giovannoni, S.J., Eren, A.M., Rappé, M.S. 2024. New isolate genomes and global marine metagenomes resolve ecologically relevant units of SAR11. In press at Nature Communications. doi:10.1101/2024.12.24.630191. |
| Tucker, S. J., Freel, K. C., Eren, A. M. & Rappé, M. S.. 2025. Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection. ISME J, wraf216. doi: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf216. |
| Tucker, S. J., Rii, Y.M., Freel, K.C., Kotubetey, K., Kawelo, A.H., Winter, K.B., Rappé, M.S. 2025. Seasonal and spatial transitions in phytoplankton assemblages spanning estuarine to open ocean waters of the tropical Pacific. Limnol Oceanogr. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70075 |
| Ramfelt, O., Freel, K. C., Tucker, S. J., Nigro, O. D. & Rappé, M. S. 2024. Isolate-anchored comparisons reveal evolutionary and functional differentiation across SAR86 marine bacteria. ISME J. wrae227. doi:10.1093/ismejo/wrae227. |
| Tucker, S.J., 2022. Phylogenetic and Functional Characteristics that Underlie the Spatiotemporal Distributions of Marine Bacteria and Phytoplankton across a Coastal to Open-Ocean Model System.University Hawai‘i at Mānoa. 204 pages, PhD Dissertation. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/104636 |
| Tucker, S.J., Freel, K.C., Sullivan, C.S., Monaghan, E.A., Ramfelt, Rii, Y.M., Rappé, M.S. 2021. Spatial and temporal dynamics of SAR11 marine bacteria sampled across a nearshore to offshore transect in the tropical Pacific Ocean. PeerJ9:e12274. 10.7717/peerj.12274 |
| Frable, B.W., Tucker, S.J., Walker, H.J. 2019. A new species of grouper, Epinephelus craigi (Epinephelus: Perciformes), from the South China Sea. Ichthyological Research, 66:215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-0669-9 |
| Amend, A.S., Cobian, G.M., Laruson, A.J., Remple, K., Tucker, S.J., Poff, K.E., Antaky, C., Boraks, A., Jones, C.A., Kuehu, D. and Lensing, B.R., Pejhanmehr M, Richardson DT, Riley PP. 2019. Phytobiomes are compositionally nested from the ground up. PeerJ 7:e6609. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6609 |
| Tucker, S.J. & Craig, M.T. 2018. Epinephelus kupangensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T118360435A118360443. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/118360435/118360443 |
| DiBattista, J., Wakefield, C.B., Moore, G.I., Bunce, M, Williams, A.J., O’Malley, J.M., Humphreys, R.L., Halafihi, J., Williams, A., Green, M.A., Graham, K., Tucker, S.J., Cruz, E., Newman, S.J. 2018. Genomic and life-history discontinuity reveals gene flow from tropical to temperate waters for a deep-water grouper precinctive to west Australia. Ecological Genetics and Genomics 9:23-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egg.2018.09.001 |
| Tucker, S.J, McManus, G.B., Katz, L.A., Grattepanche, J.D. 2017. Distribution of abundant and active planktonic ciliates in coastal and slope waters off New England.Frontiers in Microbiology 8, 2178. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02178. |
| Burhanuddin, A. I., Hardianty, S., Tassakka, A. C. M., Cahyani, N. K. D., & Tucker, S. J. 2017. New record of the golden grouper Saloptia powelli (Perciformes: Serranidae) from North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Ichthyology, 57(2), 337–340. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945217020035 |
| Badger M, Tucker S.J., Grattepanche J.D., Katz L.A. 2017. Rapid turnover of ciliate community members in New England tide pools. Aquatic Microbial Ecology,80(1), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01839 |
| Tucker, S.J, Kurniasih, E.M, Craig, M.T., 2016. A New Species of Grouper (Epinephelus; Epinephelidae) from the Indo-Pacific. Copeia. 104, No. 3, 2016, 658–662. https://doi.org/10.1643/CI-16-398 |
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
| Strategies and Techniques for Analyzing Microbial Population Structures (STAMPS)- Teaching assistant and lecturer | 2025 |
| Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve Educational Program- Development of an experiential education module. | 2020 – 2022 |
| Smithsonian Youth Access Fellow with the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology Science Inquiry Education Programs Development of an experiential education module Research Experiences in Marine Sciences instructor of an inquiry-driven and experiential marine biology 5-week college-credit granting summer course for local Hawaiian high school students and recent graduates. | 2017 |
| Assistant for the Indonesian Biodiversity Invertebrate Inventory Course | 2014 |
| Teacher for Coral Reef Ed-Ventures Program in Ambergris Caye, Belize Coordinate and teach >100 K-12 Belizean students about coral reef biology with 4 other teachers. | 2013 |
GRANTS & AWARDS
| Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship in Marine Microbial Ecology | Present |
| John A. Knauss NOAA Sea Grant Marine Science & Policy Fellowship | 2023 |
| ARCS Foundation Orton and Elmore Merit Award in Marine Biology | 2022 |
| NOAA Margaret A. Davidson Fellow with the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve | 2020 – 2022 |
| HIMB Colonel Willys E. Lord, DVM and Sadina L. Lord Scholarship | 2018,2019,2020,2021 |
| HIMB Wayne & Anita Baldwin Scholarship | 2020 |
| Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi Graduate Fellowship | 2020 |
| EECB Hampton and Meredith Carson Fellowship | 2018, 2020 |
| Merit Achievement Award in Marine Biology Graduate Program | 2020 |
| Honorable Mention Best Paper Talk- 44th Testers Memorial Symposium | 2019 |
| ARCS Foundation Scholar in Conservation Biology | 2019 |
| EECB Maybelle Roth Fellowship | 2019 |
| Center for Microbial Analysis through Island Knowledge & Investigation Research Grant | 2018 |
| UH Graduate Student Organization Grant | 2018 |
| NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program | 2017 – 2020 |
| Smithsonian Institute Youth Access Grant Fellow | 2017 |
| American Institute for Indonesian Studies Research Fellowship | 2015 |
| U.S. Department of State Fulbright Research Student in Indonesia | 2013 – 2014 |
| Smith College McKinley Honors Fellow | 2012 – 2013 |
| AEMES Scholar: Two-year early research stipends awarded to top performing underrepresented students in STEM. | 2009 – 2013 |
| Dean’s list at Smith College | 2010, 2011, 2013 |
OUTREACH & LEADERSHIP
| Arctic Report Card Coordinating Editor | 2023 |
| Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) Secretariat Member & Co-Lead for the Field Operations Community of Practice | 2023 |
| SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge Program Mentor Mentorship program to increase the matriculation of Native Hawaiian and other underrepresented undergraduates into STEM graduate programs. | 2018 – 2021 |
| SymbioSEAS artist Engaged the community with art pieces that communicates coral reef science and conservation. | 2019 |
| Nerd Nite Honolulu Speaker | 2018, 2019 |
| Moku o Lo‘e Student Association Vice-President, Founding Member Create professional development and community engagement events to benefit graduate students at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology. | 2018 – 2019 |
Sarah J. Tucker, Ph.D. 