A Community-Centered Path in Marine Science

Growing up in Massachusetts, Dana Grieco spent all her summers on Cape Cod and gravitated toward a career in marine science. 

During a post-grad internship at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, she observed how the head of fisheries research, Owen Nichols, conducted his work in collaboration with community members. 

“It’s this very co-created research in terms of figuring out what’s going on for Cape Cod fisheries,” she explains. “It was about listening to folks and hearing how much knowledge they had about where they were working every day on the water, at the docks or by the coast.” The experience shaped how she thought about expertise, research and who holds knowledge.

As a Duke Ph.D. student in marine science and conservation, Grieco brought that same curiosity to North Carolina fisheries.

In her final summer at Duke, she got the chance to learn firsthand about fishing communities in the state. Along the way, she took advantage of Duke’s interdisciplinary opportunities to fuel her progress.

Marine Conservation Evidence Synthesis

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Grieco tapped into a collaborative research environment through the Bass Connections program. “I love Bass Connections,” she says. “It allows students to be researchers and get out of the class bubble.” Her team focused on evidence synthesis — compiling and analyzing research on a given topic — to examine how climate change directly impacts reef fish and the ecosystems and human communities connected to them in the tropics.

Grieco moved into a team leadership position the following year, alongside David Gill, and relished getting undergraduates interested in research that could make a difference in the world.

“I think that experience helped my research leadership skills and also my confidence with my own research, because I could see other people being excited about it,” she reflects. “It also helped my teaching tremendously.”

A runner-up for the Bass Connections Mentoring Award, Grieco was able to read her students’ nominations. “I saved those, and I want to print them out and make a little warm and fuzzy book to keep with me,” she laughs.

Summer Fellowship with NC Catch

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Last summer, Grieco got the chance to learn more about fisheries in North Carolina through a Community-Engaged Doctoral Fellowship. She worked with nonprofit NC Catch, which aims to promote local seafood and support fishing families while educating consumers.

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“Dana interviewed key people involved with NC Catch — past and present Board of Directors and others in North Carolina’s regional seafood organizations — to help identify our network’s strengths, weaknesses and potential pathways forward,” says board chair Barbara Garrity-Blake. 

“She helped us see the big picture by developing a systems map to illustrate connections within North Carolina’s seafood industry and where NC Catch fits.” 

Grieco and Garrity-Blake created the interview questions together and got input from other board members. The board includes commercial fishers, seafood market owners and others invested in local seafood and livelihoods.

“Dana exceeded our expectations and provided us with a detailed report and a resource library that will serve us for years to come,” Garrity-Blake notes.

Checking in With Local Communities 

That community-centered approach continues to shape her plans beyond Duke.

“What I’ve learned at Duke that’s been so helpful is all these different tools and ways that I can use past research to inform what’s going on in the present,” says Grieco, who has finished her dissertation and is ready to graduate.

“Now, I’m hoping to finish that trajectory by being able to talk to more folks about what they see going on — more real-time checking in with local communities — and I’m open to working with anyone who’s interested in that. If I have all of these pieces in place, I think I’ll have a good research path for the future. And I find that exciting!”

Main image: Dana Grieco (right) interviews a community stakeholder during her internship with local seafood nonprofit NC Catch. (Photo: Barbara Garrity-Blake)