Kate Gomez-Rangel

Kate is currently a Master's student at TAMU-CC in the Fisheries and Mariculture program. She is working with HRI's Coral Reef and Ocean Health program under Dr. Keisha Bahr and TAMU-CC's Dr. Chris Hollenbeck to study and understand the Eastern oyster's populations locally found in the Gulf Coast regions of Texas. Kate's inspiration for oyster research started with an opportunity of an internship as an undergraduate at Texas A&M AgriLife Mariculture Laboratory in 2021, where she developed skills and techniques for hatchery and farm practices of the oyster mariculture industry. Currently, she continues to work in the AgriLife oyster hatchery as well as collaborated with fellow graduate student projects involving Eastern oysters.

Kate is from Corpus Christi, Texas where her exposure to the many bays in Texas started her curiosity of local marine organisms. Another inspiration for pursuing marine biology was when she had the opportunity to meet Dr. Sylvia Earle. In 2022, she has earned her B.Sc. at TAMU-CC in the Marine Biology program. With pursuing a higher education, Kate is excited to contribute to the scientific knowledge and public education about these unique oysters found in her coastal community and support Texas oyster farms.