Erica Molnar recently graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and has been involved in various marine science research projects as an AAUS Scientific Diver. While at USF, Erica developed her skills in marine science through multiple hands-on projects encompassing salt marsh biodiversity indexes on the west coast of Florida, coral and tropical marine ecology in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, fluid mechanics and fast-start accelerations in reef fish, diatom sinking behavior, particle image velocimetry, and exploration of parasite communities within open ocean gelatinous zooplankton populations off West Palm Beach, FL & Kona, HI.
Erica started working at FIO in the summer of 2024 following her time as a cellular processes laboratory learning assistant at USF and began assisting with FIO’s Peerside Program for early career marine scientists. Since then, Erica has helped coordinate multiple program cohorts and has assisted in local educational programming development projects ranging from elementary students to recent college graduates. When not focused on Peerside, you can usually find Erica in the Marine Warehouse helping build sets and obstacles for the annual Mate ROV contest hosted by FIO each spring.
Erica will be starting her PhD in Integrative Biology- Ecology and Evolution Fall 2026 at the University of South Florida. In her free time, she enjoys roller skating, macro photography, hiking, and rock climbing.
