Rachel Downey

Rachel is a polar and deep-sea taxonomist and biogeographer researching seabed organisms, with a specialty in sponge habitats. Her research has a strong focus on utilizing a broad range of biological and environmental data to better understand threats and knowledge gaps on our polar seabed environments. Rachel is a member of ASCCC (Antarctic Seabed Carbon Capture Change), an international research team exploring blue carbon accumulation and sequestration in the Southern Ocean. Rachel is the taxonomic editor for Southern Ocean sponges for the World Porifera Database and co-chair of the UN Ocean Decade endorsed Challenger 150 committee for the NW Pacific deep-sea region.