Paul Mercurio

Paul completed his Master's of Advanced Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in June 2026. He worked with the Coral Reef Engineering lab for his capstone project which focused on automating algal fouling cleaning on coral growth substrates. His work with the lab today continues to combine both his undergraduate computer science background and his most-recent ocean conservation background. Paul's typical work week at the lab may consist of: scientific diving for data collection, developing an automated coral frag imaging processing pipeline, continued robotics work for automatic cleaning, developing a digital lab equipment checkout & maintenance platform, and 3D modeling/printing lab tools and prototypes.