Paige Hoel is a second year Ph.D. student in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA focused on nutrient dynamics in coastal regions. Paige fell in love with the ocean at an early age, and found her calling after watching a documentary about the oceanographer Robert Ballard. Her Ph.D. work centers around understanding interactions of the nutrients and physics of the water within the Southern California Bight. Paige uses biogeochemical models to understand how anthropogenic influences such as runoff or waste water outflows influence the primary productivity and phytoplankton of the region.
In 2018, Paige received a B.S. in Physical Geography and a B.S. in Earth Science from UC Santa Barbara. She is currently an early career fellow with the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science and the co-president of the graduate student body organization of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Department (XEP). She is passionate about using GIS as an educational tool as well as a means to illuminate environmental injustice.