Dr. Tiara Moore

Dr. Tiara Moore is a marine ecologist, keynote speaker, science communicator, exuberant leader, and disruptor. She is currently the founder and CEO of Black In Marine Science (BIMS) and the BIMS Institute, and a co-founder of OJAI.

Originally from Greenwood, South Carolina, Dr. Tiara Moore completed her B.S. in Biology in 2011 at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where she developed an interest in marine science during a research trip in Costa Rica. She received her M.S. in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Science in 2013 from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where she conducted research on the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay linking sediment oxygen demand and nutrient cycling to the eutrophication of the Bay.

After completing her M.S., she spent 2 months in Bali, Indonesia identifying the diversity and abundance of meiofauna in marine sediments across the coral triangle. Dr. Moore earned her PhD in Biology from UCLA, where she conducted research in Mo’orea, French Polynesia, Carpinteria Salt Marsh, and Upper Newport Bay. In Mo’orea, she observed the effects sedimentation and nutrient pollution have on the proliferation of coral reef macroalgae. In Carpinteria and Newport, she explored the effects of macroalgal decomposition on sediment biogeochemistry and the microbial community using environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess the biodiversity of entire ecosystems with only a soil sample. Dr. Moore completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy, where she used soil eDNA to develop a biodiversity census of Ellsworth Forest, comparing species diversity across management treatments over the past 10 years.

Dr. Moore is currently leading the Bloom to Business project at the BIMS Institute in Belize, turning sargassum blooms into sustainable solutions. Inside and outside the lab, Dr. Moore hopes her research on biodiversity and her authentic presence will help increase the overall diversity in science.