McKenna Allen is a graduate student in the Asner Lab, pursuing a Master of Science degree through the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. McKenna graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2018 with a BSc in Global Environmental Science and a Marine Option Program certificate in Coral Restoration. She is an AAUS scientific diver and has previously participated in research ranging from coral nurseries in Hawaiʻi to benthic ecology in Antarctic fjords. McKenna is an aquatic biologist for the Hawaiʻi State Division of Aquatic Resources on Kauaʻi, where she was born and raised, and is passionate about restoring Kauaʻi’s ecosystems, mauka to makai. McKenna’s current research aims to understand the impact of land-based sources of pollution on nearshore reefs, specifically investigating ʻAnini Reef on the north shore of Kauaʻi, where black-band coral disease has been prolific. Through her research and collaboration with Mia Melamed Tierney, McKenna’s goal is to bring about actionable change that supports and restores the health of Kauaʻi’s reef ecosystems.
McKenna Allen
