2021 Field Biology Award: Anela Choy

Photo credit: J. Kreidler

Anela Choy’s pioneering research traces the flow of organic matter through deep, open ocean marine ecosystems and explores animal feeding and movement across surface and midwater ocean layers. A seagoing biological oceanographer, Choy also studies how marine food web processes shift with global environmental change and increasing human impacts such as fishing and mining. Choy draws from a field-based empirical study of animal assemblages, distributions, and diets, and merges these at-sea observations with a diverse suite of biochemical tracers to produce a comprehensive view of how energy flows and sustains different layers of the ocean water column ecosystem.

Her multifaceted field work has enabled some startling discoveries, and her work suggests a direct connection between human activities and some of the most remote but voluminous ecosystems on the planet. For example, she demonstrated that plastic pollution extends well into the deepest parts of the ocean, both as microplastic particles and as larger pieces that deep-diving fishes ingest and transport through food web dynamics. Choy’s earlier work demonstrated isotopic linkages between small organic particles and deep-dwelling fishes, cephalopods, crustaceans, and gelatinous zooplankton – informing our understanding of vertical food web structure and predator-prey interactions.

Additionally, Choy is a deeply committed mentor who works to increase diversity and representation in the ocean and earth sciences. In her current position at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, she brings the deep sea closer to students who haven’t been privileged to sail aboard a research vessel, open a deep sea fish stomach or experience the wild open sea.