About Me

My name is Amy Deatherage, and I'm an undergraduate student majoring in Global Environmental Science, minoring in Anthropology, and in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For my thesis project, I'm documenting and characterizing aggregating behavior in helmet urchins, a species native to Hawai‘i. Outside of classes, I also love representing and performing for UH as a member of the Rainbow Warrior Marching Band color guard, and diving with the UHM Aquaholics SCUBA Club. During my time at UH and looking forward, I'm interested in exploring the unique relationship between humanity and the environment, and working towards a more stable, sustainable future by reintegrating modern society with the natural ecosystems humans already live amongst and within.

From a childhood of hunting for sand crabs and shells on the sandy beaches of California, to exploring the rocky coast of Rhode Island, to snorkeling and SCUBA diving in Hawaiʻi, my whole life I've been fascinated by the ocean. Beyond being at student at UH, I'm also a Class of 2024 NOAA EPP undergraduate scholar. As an EPP scholar, I've had the opportunity to intern at the National Sea Grant Office in Silver Spring, MD (Summer 2024), and will have the opportunity to intern at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory in Seldovia, AK (Summer 2025). The more I explore and discover, the more I'm astounded by how diverse, beautiful, and undeniably influential the ocean truly is.

As those close to me know, I LOVE sea urchins (such dapper young fellows they are), and this website is a product of that enthusiasm and passion. Though I've had the opportunity to explore across numerous coastlines, most of my experience and interests lie in Californian and Hawaiian rocky intertidal marine life, and that will certainly be reflected across this website. Join me as I learn all about the world of sea urchins, and explore the diverse ecosystems they (and we!) are apart of.