Alexis E. Floback, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

Email: floback@hawaii.edu | BlueSky: @AFloback
Address: 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822

Research Expertise: contextualizing trace metal biogeochemistry with physical ocean dynamics and microbial interactions

Education

Ph.D in Biology, University of Southern California, 2025
Going with the flow: constraining the lateral advection of redox-active metals from continental margins under differing oxygen regimes
    Advisor: Dr. James Moffett

B.S. in Marine Biology, Biology, Nova Southeastern University, 2018
    Minors in Chemistry & Marine Ecology

Postdoctoral Training

Post-Doctoral Scholar on SUBSEA Project, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (2025-present)
    Advisor: Dr. Nicholas Hawco

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, University of Southern California (2019-2024)

Organismal Biology and Evolution | Fall 2019, 2020
    Rating in Instructional Practices: 3.55/4

Methods in Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography | Spring 2022, 2023, 2024
    Rating in Instructional Practices: 4/4
    4-week intensive course held on Catalina Island at the Wrigley Marine Science Center
    Duties involved designing laboratory experiments and field expeditions (land and sea-based)

Laboratory/Teaching Assistant, Nova Southeastern University (2015-2018)
    Organic chemistry, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Physics I, Physics II

Publications

*indicates undergraduate mentee

Floback, AE, Pham, A, Damien, P, Weiske, J*, Thomas, K, Bianchi, D, Moffett, JW. (In prep). Iron supply from the Oregon margin to the ocean dominated by hypoxia-dependent particles. Target: Nature Geosciences

Kast DJ, Floback AE, Gaffney J, Kong PK, Moffett JW. (In Review). Full Steam Ahead: Ironing Up Science at Norwood Elementary. Current: The Journal of Marine Education

Evans, N., Floback, AE, Gaffney, J, Chace, PJ, Luna, Z, Knoery, JA, Reimers, CE, Moffett, JW. (2023) The role of seasonal hypoxia and benthic boundary layer exchange on margin-derived iron cycling. Limnology and Oceanography

Floback, AE, & Moffett, JW. (2021) Rare earth element distributions in the Arabian Sea reveal the influence of redox processes within the oxygen deficient zone. Chemical Geology

Floback AE, Florea K, Thrash JC, Webb EA. (2020) Vulcanococcus sp. Strain Clear-D1 metagenome-assembled genome reconstructed from a cyanobacterial enrihcment culture. Microbiology Resource Announcements

Presentations

Oral (*presenting author)

Moffett JW, Floback AE*, Evans N, Kondo Y. (2024). Relationship between iron concentrations in the benthic boundary layer and oxygen. Goldschmidt. Chicago, IL
Floback AE, Damien P, Pham A, Bianchi D, Chace P, Reimers C, Moffett JW (2023). Identification of physiochemical conditions that lead to the highest inputs of redox active metals from coastal Oregon shelf sediments and transport to the interior basin. Gordon Research Seminar in Chemical Oceanography. Southern New Hampshire University, NH
Floback AE, Moffett JW. (2023). Transport of microbial assemblages via subsurface eddy activity off the Oregon coast. Southern California Geobiology Symposium. UC Santa Barbara, CA
Floback AE, Evaluating the constraints on the distributions of biologically relevant trace metals off the Oregon coast. (2023). Daniele Bianchi lab seminar. UCLA, CA
Floback AE, Bianchi D, Chace P, Reimers C, Moffett JW. (2022). Trace metal distributions along the Newport Hydrographic Line reveals that a combination of redox chemistry and subsurface transport leads to high spatial and temporal variability. Ocean Sciences Meeting. Virtual\

Poster Presentations

Floback AE, Pham A, Evans N, Bianchi D, Moffett JW (2024). Cross-shelf transport of iron in the Oregon coast is dominated by the westward transport of non-lithogenic and lithogenic particulate iron in shelf bottom waters. Goldschmidt. Chicago, IL
Floback AE, Bright P, Dewey C, Boiteau R, Moffett JW (2024). Using geochemical measurements and model predictions to inform microbial assemblages off the dynamic Oregon coast. Gordon Research Conference in Marine Microbiology. Les Diablerets, Switzerland
Floback AE, Pham A, Evans N, Damien P, Bianchi D, Moffett JW (2024). Hypoxic regions enriched in iron on the Oregon continental shelf are ‘hotspots’ for cross-shelf iron transport. Ocean Sciences Meeting. New Orleans, LA
Floback AE, Damien P, Pham A, Bianchi D, Chace P, Reimers C, Moffett JW (2023). Identification of physiochemical conditions that lead to the highest inputs of redox active metals from coastal Oregon shelf sediments and transport to the interior basin. Gordon Research Conference in Chemical Oceanography. Southern New Hampshire University, NH
Floback AE, Thrash JC, Moffett JW. (2021). Trace metal clean culturing of SAR11. Southern California Geobiology Symposium. Virtual
Floback AE, Bolster KM, Bian X, Moffett JW, John S. (2020). The cerium anomaly and manganese cycling processes in oxygen deficient zones. Ocean Sciences Meeting. San Diego, CA
Diwaker P, Fernandez M, Floback AE, Perez H, Manzano N, Caplow T. (2018) Analysis of Carcinogens and Toxins Using LIBS/SIBS. SciX Meeting. Atlanta, GA
Diwaker, P, Perez H, Fernandez M, Floback AE, Manzano N, Caplow T. (2018). Informal STEM Education through a Science Museum Using Optics and Spectroscopy. SciX Meeting. Atlanta, GA

Field Experiences

Cruises

HOT357 aboard the R/V Sikuliaq (Station ALOHA)
    March 2025
Activities: deployment and recovery of oceanographic instrumentation, trace metal sample collection for water column and sediment trap

GEOTRACES GP-17 ANT Cruise aboard the R/V I/B Nathaniel B. Palmer (Amundsen Sea, Antarctica)
    November 2023-January 2024 | 73 days
Activities: shipboard analyses of dissolved Fe(II) by chemiluminescence for water column, sediment porewater, and sea ice samples

FeTSh: Iron Transport Shuttle aboard the R/V Oceanus (Newport, OR)
    March-April 2021 & July-August 2021 | 27 days
Activities: deployment and recovery of oceanographic instrumentation, trace metal water column and porewater sample collection

Mentorship

Undergraduate
*included senior capstone research project

University of Southern California:
Alana Synder (2024), Jennifer Weiske* (2022-2023), Leslie Donan (2021-2023), Jacqueline Tran (2020-2021)

Other:
Courtney White (NSU, 2023), Heidi Hellenbrand (NSU, 2023), Kourtney Burgess (CSUMB, 2020-2022)

Awards and Honors

Katrina J. Edwards Memorial Dissertation Award (2025)
William E. Trusten Award for outstanding contributions in research, service, and teaching (2024)
Marine and Environmentasl Biology section Service Award (2023)
Outstanding Teachning Assistant Award (2021)
Ph.D. Academy Scholarship and Research Fund Award, $500 (2021)

Research Skills

Analytical Instruments:
ICP-MS (Element2, Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole, iCAP Triple Quadrupole), seaFAST, ICP-OES, spectrophotometer, flurometer, flow cytometer, FeLume chemiluminscent detection of Fe(II)

Biological:
DNA Extractions, purification, and quantification

Computing:
Proficient in R and command line and novice in python. Bioinformatic analyses of 16S rRNA and metagenomic data.

Professional Development

Service

Ad-hoc reviewer for SeaGrant proposals, Limnology & Oceanography
Early career liaison for session OB14-D at 2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting
Panelist for Summer Online Interactive/Discussion Global Environmental Microbiology “Your Journey to Graduate School” (2021), The Ocean Institute “So you Love the Ocean, Now What?” (2021)

Workshops Attended

GEOTRACES Summer School (Bremerhaven, Germany 2022), GEOTRACES GP-17 ANT Planning Workshop (Norfolk, VA 2023)

Department Service

University of Southern California

DEI Steering committee (2022-2024), President for Marine and Environmental Biology Student Government Association (2022-2024), Marine and Environmental Biology Open House Planning Committee (2021, 2022), Mentorship Co-Chair (2021-2022), Field Safety Committee (2021-2022), PhD Liaison for Women in Science and Engineering (2020-2022), Secretary for Marine and Environmental Biology Student Government Association (2020-2022), USC MEB Social Media and Website Committee (2020-2024), New Student Orientation planning committee (2020, 2021, 2022)

Media

GP17-ANT related by journalist Sofia Moutinho

EOS Article Confined at Sea at the End of the World (2024)
Scientific American 4 part podcast series “On Thin Ice” (2024)
    Part 1: Supercharged Phytoplankton
    Part 2: Penguins in ParadICE
    Part 3: Life Onboard an Antarctic Icebreaker
    Part 4: Contemplating Our Climate Future in Antarctica