{"id":620,"date":"2017-03-23T13:22:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T17:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/template-blue-prepop\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:00:09","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h1>People<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2017\/03\/newpic.jpg\" alt=\"newpic\" height=\"1092\" width=\"832\" title=\"newpic\" \/>\n\t<h3>Dr. Annette Frese Govindarajan (she\/her)<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Principal Investigator<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Research Interests &#8211; <\/strong>biodiversity, ecology, and evolution of animals; deep sea exploration, eDNA (and &#8216;omics broadly) technology, instrumentation, and applications, ocean observing, biology of gelatinous animals<\/p>\n<strong>Contact Information:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Phone: +1 508-289-3308<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:afrese@whoi.edu\">afrese@whoi.edu<\/a>\n<strong>Mailing Address:<\/strong><br \/>\n266 Woods Hole Road,\u00a0MS #33<br \/>\nWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution<br \/>\nWoods Hole, MA 02543\n<p><strong>Education<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ph.D.: Biological Oceanography. <a href=\"https:\/\/mit.whoi.edu\/\">MIT-WHOI Joint Program<\/a><\/li>\n<li>M.S.: Biological Oceanography, <a href=\"http:\/\/marinesciences.uconn.edu\/\">University of Connecticut<\/a><\/li>\n<li>B.S.: Biology, <a href=\"http:\/\/honors.uconn.edu\/\">Honors Program<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/uconn.edu\/\">University of Connecticut<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Academic profiles<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=PJmScX8AAAAJ&amp;hl=en\">Google Scholar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Annette_Govindarajan\">Researchgate<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/annette-govindarajan-b50a91ab\">Linkedin<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Other affiliations and leadership positions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adjunct Faculty, Dalhousie University<\/li>\n<li>Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network (OBON) <a href=\"https:\/\/obon-ocean.org\/about\/governance\/\">Scientific Advisory Committee<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Marine Omics Technology and Instrumentation (MOTI) <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.csiro.au\/moti\/\">Scientific Steering Committee<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/twilightzone.whoi.edu\/\">Ocean Twilight Zone<\/a> program Steering Committee and Biodiversity Lead<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2023\/02\/Nina_IMG_1075-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Nina_IMG_1075\" height=\"2560\" width=\"2560\" title=\"Nina_IMG_1075\" \/>\n\t<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whoi.edu\/profile\/nina.yang\/\">Dr. Nina Yang<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Postdoctoral Investigator<\/p>\n<p>Research interests: biological oceanography, biogeochemical cycling, biodiversity, environmental &#8216;omics, climate change, and ocean policy<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2023\/06\/Kaiah_photo.jpg\" alt=\"Kaiah_photo\" height=\"1592\" width=\"1328\" title=\"Kaiah_photo\" \/>\n\t<h3>Kaiah Callahan<\/h3>\n<p>Research Assistant<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: ocean biodiversity, marine biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, genomics, climate change<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/Megan_Ferguson-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Megan_Ferguson\" height=\"1707\" width=\"2560\" title=\"Megan_Ferguson\" \/>\n\t<h3>Megan Ferguson<\/h3>\n<p>Research Assistant<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: biological oceanography, plankton ecology, biodiversity, climate change, and fieldwork.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/04\/Screen-Shot-2026-04-16-at-9.33.10-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2026-04-16 at 9.33.10 PM\" height=\"1232\" width=\"1054\" title=\"Screen Shot 2026-04-16 at 9.33.10 PM\" \/>\n\t<h3>Jonah Jaffe<\/h3>\n<p>MIT-WHOI Joint Program student<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: marine autonomy, ocean monitoring, multi-agent systems, aerial-aquatic robotics, environmental DNA, adaptive sampling, field robotics<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/IMG_1860-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1860\" height=\"2560\" width=\"1707\" title=\"IMG_1860\" \/>\n\t<h3>Dr. Larissa Fruehe<\/h3>\n<p>Guest Investigator, OceanX<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: My goal is to elevate the use of eDNA in marine exploration and enhance our understanding of eDNA behaviour in the marine environment. Additionally, I seek to find answers to what lives and thrives in our planet&#8217;s most remote ecosystems like the deep-sea and ways to protect it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/plugins\/bb-plugin\/img\/pixel.png\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t<h3>Dr. Santiago Herrera<\/h3>\n<p>Guest Investigator, Associate Professor of Biology, Lehigh University<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2025\/08\/Nina-headshot2024.jpg\" alt=\"Nina-headshot2024\" height=\"2246\" width=\"2013\" title=\"Nina-headshot2024\" \/>\n\t<h3>\u00a0Nina Ramos<\/h3>\n<p>Guest PhD Student\/Govindarajan Lab Mentee (Florida International University)<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: Environmental DNA, deep sea biology, diel vertical migration, benthic-pelagic coupling<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2025\/08\/milan-pic2.png\" alt=\"milan-pic2\" height=\"963\" width=\"1024\" title=\"milan-pic2\" \/>\n\t<h3>Milan Sengthep<\/h3>\n<p>Guest PhD Student\/Govindarajan Lab Mentee (Lehigh University)<\/p>\n<p>Research Interests: I aim to advance environmental DNA methods to more efficiently explore deep-sea ecosystems. I am interested in linking biodiversity patterns to ecological function and providing insights that inform management and policy for the protection and sustainability of our oceans<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2017\/03\/pam_IMG_1871.jpg\" alt=\"pam_IMG_1871\" height=\"2016\" width=\"1512\" title=\"pam_IMG_1871\" \/>\n\t<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whoi.edu\/profile\/ppolloni\/\">Pam Polloni<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Volunteer<\/p>\n<p>Curator for MBL-WHOI Library Herbarium<\/p>\n\t<h3>Guest Investigators<\/h3>\n<p>Dr. Santiago Herrera, Lehigh University<\/p>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Lab Alumni<\/h3>\n<p>Angel Rodriguez, Graduate Guest PhD student (currently at Florida International University)<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Luke McCartin, Graduate Guest Student<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Helena McMonagle, Graduate Guest Student<\/p>\n<p>Miranda Holland, Research Assistant II, 2023, currently the Operations Assistant at AVAST (WHOI)<\/p>\n<p>John Selby, Research Assistant II, 2023, currently a PhD student at University of Rhode Island<\/p>\n<p>Kimberly Henderson, Guest Student, 2023, currently an undergraduate student at Tuskegee University<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Barrow, Guest Student, 2022, currently an undergraduate student at Tuskegee University<\/p>\n<p>Evan Morrison, Research Assistant II, 2022<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Elizabeth Andruszkiewicz Allan, Postdoctoral Investigator (2019-2020), Guest Investigator (2021 &#8211; present), now Chief Scientist at the eDNA Collaborative<\/p>\n<p>Erin Frates, Research Assistant, 2020-2021, currently a PhD student at Boston University<\/p>\n<p>Katie Pell, Guest Student, 2020, currently an undergraduate at Colorado College<\/p>\n<p>Rene Francolini, Research Assistant 2018-2020, currently a graduate student at the University of Maine<\/p>\n<p>Sarah Stover, Guest Student, 2019, and Research Assistant 2022-2023, currently a graduate student at University of Vermont<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People Dr. Annette Frese Govindarajan (she\/her) Principal Investigator Research Interests &#8211; biodiversity, ecology, and evolution of animals; deep sea exploration, eDNA (and &#8216;omics broadly) technology, instrumentation, and applications, ocean observing, biology of gelatinous animals Contact Information: Phone: +1 508-289-3308 afrese@whoi.edu Mailing Address: 266 Woods Hole Road,\u00a0MS #33 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA 02543&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":957,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/620\/revisions\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/site\/govindarajanlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}