Jeanette Davis

Jeanette Davis is a marine microbiologist, Policy Analyst for NOAA and children's book author.

Early life and education Jeanette Davis was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1985. Davis discovered her passion for science at an early age. Unlike her siblings, who preferred video games and athletics, Davis loved spending time outside and experimenting. Her parents and school teachers encouraged her natural curiosity and inquisitiveness. By the time she got to high school, she knew that she wanted to pursue science and applied to colleges as pre-med as well as pre-law. However, when she began undergrad at Hampton University in Virginia as a criminology major, she quickly discovered her interest in marine science, though her interest in policy and advocacy remained.

Davis went on to receive her PhD in marine microbiology from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in 2014, completing her research at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology. Her dissertation, "Characterization of the bacterial communities associated with two tropical sacoglossan mollusks Elysia rufescens and Elysia crispate", advised by Russell Hill, focused on tracing an anticancer compound back to its production by a bacterium associated with Hawaiian sea slugs. technologies, which are methods used to analyze DNA, RNA, proteins and metabolites, and creating strategies to integrate them into achieving NOAA's goals. Davis was highlighted with an interview in NOAA Voices: Oral History Archive

Selected publications

Zan, J., Li, Z., Dianery Tianero, M., Davis, J., Hill, R.T., and M.S. Donia. (2019). A microbial factory for defensive kahalalides in a tripartite marine symbiosis. Science 364:eaaw6732. Montalvo, N.F., Davis, J., Vincente, J., Pittiglio, R., Ravel, J., and R.T. (2014). Integration of Culture-Based and Molecular Analysis of a Complex Sponge-Associated Bacterial Community. PLOS ONE 9(3): e90517. Davis, J., Fricke, F., Hamann, M.T., Esquenazi, E., Dorrestein, P.C., and R.T. Hill. (2013). Characterization of the Bacterial Community of the Chemically Defended Hawaiian Sacoglossan Elysia rufescens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 79 (22) 7073-7081; Davis, J. (2020). Science is Everywhere, Science is for Everyone. Atlanta, Georgia: Mynd Matters Publishing. Goodwin, K., Certner, R., Strom, M., Arzayus, F., Bohan, M., Busch, S., Canonico, G., Cross, S., Davis, J., Egan, K., Grieg, T., Kearns, E., Koss, J., Larsen, K., Layton, D., Nichols, K., O'Neil, J., Parks, D., Poussard, L., and C. Werner. (2020). NOAA 'Omics White Paper: Informing the NOAA 'Omics Strategy and Implementation Plan. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Goodwin, K., Davis, J., Strom, M., and C. Werner. (2020). NOAA 'Omics Strategy: Strategic Application of Transformational Tools. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Marine Fisheries Service. https://nrc.noaa.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RReWVFNjr5I%3d&tabid=92&portalid=0