From left to right: Eckerd College marine science alumni Logan Dudney ’24, Zachariah Loreant ’25, Nicole Szelistowski ’24, Sarah Campbell ’23, and A.J. Gross ’23 (not pictured) account for 50% of the University of South Florida’s 2025 graduate marine science cohort. Photo by Penh Alicandro ’22
A pathway that steers Eckerd College marine science graduates into the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science graduate program was never specifically planned.
It grew out of a cooperation between the two schools that includes summer internships and research opportunities. USF doesn’t offer an undergraduate degree in marine science. But its College of Marine Science offers master’s and Ph.D. degrees in the discipline.
That pathway, faculty members from both schools say, may never have been more popular than it is now. Of the 10 students in the new cohort at the USF College of Marine Science, five are from Eckerd College.
“This is a feather in our program’s hat,” says Cory Krediet, Ph.D., associate professor of marine science and biology at Eckerd. “No other school can boast these kinds of numbers of first-year grad students in the same program. It’s such an amazing connection, and this year the stars are aligning. We’ve always had some graduates going there, but this year five out of 10 really struck me.
Logan Dudney did research and interned at USF before graduation.
“The coursework students take at Eckerd directly prepares them for grad school at USF,” Krediet adds. “The training here gives our students a foundation that is exactly what they’ll need.”
Along with Krediet and other Eckerd marine science professors, Patrick Schwing ’06, Ph.D., assistant professor of marine science at the College, has been instrumental in guiding students toward USF. He’s been there. After graduating from Eckerd, Schwing earned his doctorate degree at USF’s College of Marine Science. Now he’s taking what he learned and passing it on.
One of his former students, Logan Dudney ’24, graduated from Eckerd College with a Bachelor of Science degree in marine science and mathematics, along with a minor in chemistry. He’s now in the initial year of what is typically an 18- to 24-month program for full-time students.
USF administrators praise the preparedness of Eckerd grads to enter their program and begin research.
“My transition to USF was actually quite easy,” Logan says. “Since I had an internship in a lab at USF from January 2023 to May 2024, I already knew the campus and the type of work I would be doing. I was also familiar with most of my labmates.
“The first year is mostly core classes, then you focus on your concentration—whether it’s biological, chemical or geological oceanography; hydrography; or marine resource assessment. I’m thinking about going the professor route, and getting my master’s degree puts me one step closer.
“You get hands-on research here,” Logan adds. “[T]here are opportunities for scholarships and assistantships, and the FWC [Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission] is right next door.”
“And being in the same area as Eckerd was also a huge benefit. If anyone is considering grad school for marine science, there are a lot of opportunities here at USF. What I’ve gotten from my undergraduate work at Eckerd has been a useful foundation for what I’m doing now. My research will eventually tie to red tide predictions, but I’m looking at mooring-buoy data that is managed and collected by my lab to understand red tide bloom conditions and help predict where and when blooms will occur.”
“All of the Eckerd graduates meet together when we can and talk about what we’re doing,” he points out. “We’re pretty close.”
Eckerd students gain hands-on, practical experience prior to graduation.
Among the Eckerd College graduates who won fellowships last year as USF College of Marine Science students are Bostony Braoudakis ’21 (Knight Fellowship), Rosemary Burkhalter-Castro ’20 (Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club Fellowship), Karsen Henwood ’23 (Von Rosenstiel Fellowship), Isabella Iannotta ’23 (Von Rosenstiel Fellowship), and Alexis Vargas ’24 (Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship).
Along with Logan, the other Eckerd graduates attending USF’s College of Marine Science in its newest cohort are Sarah Campbell ’23, A.J. Gross ’23, Nicole Szelistowski ’24 and Zachariah Loreant ’25.
“Transitioning to USF as a master’s student has been a smooth process, especially given the opportunity to stay in a familiar area and knowing people to room with,” says Zachariah—who also earned a B.S. in marine science and mathematics at Eckerd with a minor in chemistry. “Eckerd’s Marine Science program prepared me well for the coursework and research required here at the College of Marine Science, and I would recommend it to other Eckerd students looking for a graduate position. I am currently working on developing an autonomous sensor to measure ammonium and urea under in-situ conditions.”
As for the future, Schwing says Eckerd “has been working hard to reestablish the Eckerd-USF summer internships over the past few years following COVID. We’re also working on establishing a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the pipeline between Eckerd and USF’s College of Marine Science.”
That would suit USF just fine.
“Over the years, we’ve found that graduates of Eckerd College enter our master’s and doctoral programs with the intellectual curiosity and personal drive that allows them to flourish in a highly competitive research environment,” says Tom Frazer, Ph.D., professor of biological oceanography and dean of the College of Marine Science. “These students are exceptionally well prepared from an academic perspective to meet the high standards of our graduate degree programs.
“We value this strong partnership with Eckerd and look forward to deepening our collaboration with its talented faculty and students.”
