Veronica Malabanan Lucchese
Graduate Research Assistant
Veronica Malabanan Lucchese is a NOAA-LMRCSC Fellow II and a PhD candidate studying Environment and Society at the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science. She is also the Environmental Science Programs Manager for the Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative. Passionate about life sciences, environmental justice, and community engagement, Veronica is dedicated to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in environmental management. Her dissertation focuses on utilizing Socio-Ecological Network Analysis and Ethnographic Film to enhance the management of both invasive and native fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay. Her research highlights the growing invasion of blue catfish in the York, Rappahannock, and Patapsco river watersheds. To connect with a broad demographic, she will employ coding, web scraping, in-person surveying, and various science communication tools.
During her graduate studies, Veronica has received several awards for her commitment to the environment, including the MEES Graduate Program Fund Menzer Award, the Bill Huppert Endowed Student Award, and 1st Place for Physical Environment in The Green Space Data Challenge. She also produced a film about the Patawomeck Tribe of Virginia, addressing the environmental injustices they face, and continues to collaborate with the tribe while forming partnerships with other Indigenous groups and local organizations to amplify their voices.
Recently, Veronica was featured in both the Washington Post and Chesapeake Bay Magazine for her work on invasive fisheries and community engagement. As a passionate science communicator, she manages several social media pages aimed at making science more accessible and engaging for the general public (LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, & Website).
In her role at IAN, she will assist with indicator analysis for the 2022 Chesapeake Bay Report Card and help create communication products such as short films and social media content. She has also updated and enhanced the Chesapeake Bay Report Card's Stewardship Index for the 2023/2024 release, contributing to the international COAST Card project. From 2019 to 2022, Veronica worked as a NOAA contractor for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Her work as a federal contractor primarily involved scientific communications, outreach, website design, and economic data analysis. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, majoring in Marine Affairs, Geology, and Anthropology