SARC Personnel

A Chemist by trade, Dr. Feske graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2000 with a B.S. in Chemistry and University of Florida with his PhD in Chemistry in 2005. Dr. Feske is a Professor of Chemistry and has administrative experience as the Interim Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs. Dr. Feske currently serves as the Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and is Director of SARC. As Director, he oversees the SARC team, handles the budget, and works with the community and business partners to develop relationships.

Dr. Joesting graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a B.S. in Environmental Science in 2001. After which, she pursued training as a plant ecologist with a M.S.in Environmental and Plant Biology from Ohio University in 2005 and a PhD in Biology from Wake Forest University in 2011. She was introduced to aquaponics during her post-doctoral research, where her work focused on the growth of coastal salt marsh plants for restoration in the plant loop of a marine aquaponics system. Dr. Joesting is currently an Assistant Professor of Biology as well as the Senior Scientist at SARC, where her duties include coordinating research within SARC, working with undergraduate research students on SARC-related projects, seeking and applying for external funding, and participation in educational outreach events.

An ecologist by trade, Ms. Brinton graduated from Dartmouth College in 2008 (B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and Savannah State University in 2014 (M.S. in Marine Science). Ecologists are always considering the connectivity and sustainability of the system, which essential for any study of aquaponics. Her research interests center around animal behavior and parasitology, with a focus on crustaceans, fish, and corvids (e.g. crows). As curator, Ms. Brinton is responsible for coordinating interns, volunteers, and research students to accomplish all of the maintenance, monitoring, and repair of the laboratory and greenhouse systems for SARC.