Sukanya
Dayal

About

Sukanya is the Coral Protection Project Coordinator directly supporting the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Coral Protection and Restoration (CPR) Program.

Sukanya earned a degree in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University, where she studied marine disease ecology in eelgrass beds in the Pacific Northwest and coral reefs in Mexico and Hawai’i. She then worked as a lab technician at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore studying OsHV-1 in Pacific oysters. Through these experiences, Sukanya became passionate about understanding how pollution impacts ocean health, leading her to study the effects of antibiotic pollution on coral health as a Master’s student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Prior to her position at Florida Sea Grant, Sukanya worked as a Coral Reef Teaching Fellow for the Sea Education Association, where she assisted undergraduate students through field research across the Caribbean.

In her spare time, Sukanya enjoys frolicking in the ocean, knitting, eating noodles, and traveling with her family.

As the Coral Protection Project Coordinator, Sukanya supports water quality protection and disturbance response initiatives across Southeast Florida to promote coral health and enhance reef resilience. Through this work, she contributes to FDEP efforts to research and establish best practices for water quality monitoring and management as they relate to coral reef resources. Sukanya also serves as the Water Quality team lead under Florida’s Coral Reef Resilience Program (FCRRP), which works to strengthen communication between researchers and resource managers to improve water quality management efforts in the region.