The value of a live-in laboratory

Felipe Arzayus ‘00 shares how a Batten School & VIMS education directly informs his work at NOAA

“There’s been a direct application from what I did in graduate school to what I’m doing now as a professional,” said Felipe Arzayus, chief of the Monitoring and Assessment Branch for the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Recently, Arzayus reflected on his time at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS and shared how it shaped his compelling career. 

From Submarines to Marine Science 

Arzayus’s passion for marine science sparked while he was serving in the submarine force of the U.S. Navy. During a mission involving sound testing, marine scientists boarded his submarine to help ensure compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act. “We spent a whole week with those folks, and I talked to them a lot,” he recalled. “That’s where the bug to be a marine scientist came from.” 

After leaving the Navy and graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota, Arzayus considered multiple programs before choosing the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS, drawn in part by a three-hour conversation with then-Dean of Graduate Studies, John Milliman. “He was excited about having me. I told him what I wanted to do with the degree, and he said, ‘Come on over. We have a spot for you.’”

A Close-Knit Graduate School Community 

Arzayus found his graduate experience at the Batten School & VIMS uniquely supportive. “It was awesome. It was a great community between the senior graduate students and the junior graduate students,” he said. “Everybody talked to each other. We met regularly. We had weekends together. We would go out hiking in the mountains or swimming in the York [River]… It was very welcoming. I loved it.” 

Arzayus’s academic experiences also exceeded his expectations. “It was just what you envision of being in a graduate student framework where there’s a lot of dedication to the work,” he shared, adding that his classmates would pitch in to help with his research. “Because we were so tightly knit, I could say, ‘Hey, I need to collect this data, can you go into the field with me and help?’ And they’d say, ‘Of course, just say what you need.’ We were all helping each other do different work... That was one of the things that I really loved about life on the campus.”

Researching Genetic Adaptations to Contaminants 

Under the supervision of his advisors John Graves and Peter Van Veld, Arzayus researched fish exposed to waste contaminants in Superfund sites—locations designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as polluted with hazardous materials. He explained, “My thesis looked at genetic changes in populations based on chemical contaminants.” His work focused on mummichog killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, at the Atlantic Wood Industries site. “The question was, ‘how has this fish adapted to live in an area that basically kills everything else?’” 

Arzayus compared samples from the Superfund site with fish sampled from cleaner environments in the York River and performed additional cross-studies with the collected fish. His findings confirmed genetic differences between fish in the contaminated environment and fish in the more pristine area, shedding light on how organisms can adapt to live in polluted environments. "That's what my thesis basically addressed, and that paper has been used as the basis for other studies that came after mine.” 

Connecting Research and Policy at NOAA 

After earning his M.S. degree from the Batten School & VIMS, Arzayus had a brief stint in the private sector before landing at NOAA, where he first worked as a coral reef scientist studying coral bleaching. Later, he transitioned to program management, overseeing diverse projects from fish stock assessments to autonomous underwater vehicles.

Today, Arzayus heads NOAA’s National Mussel Watch and bioeffect programs, which monitor the status and trends of chemical contaminants in coastal areas, leading a team that “samples chemical contaminants at a national level, looking at both legacy and emerging contaminants.” This work, he explained, involves survey collections from all areas of the United States to increase a database spanning 30 years, allowing them to “look at different trends in chemicals as they flourish or get banned.” 

Arzayus says his field background directly informs his work as branch chief. “I lead a group of folks doing the kind of things that I did as a graduate student at VIMS and having that experience from a hands-on perspective gives me credibility in my decision-making. I also believe in leading by example: collecting samples as a NOAA diver and doing field work in a variety of environments, from frigid Alaska to the sweltering Gulf of Mexico,” he explained. “Obviously I do a fair amount of paperwork now... but I'm still a scientist and I like to be connected to the science every day.” 

Maintaining Ties to the Batten School & VIMS 

Arzayus remains engaged with the Batten School & VIMS. He has served as a judge for the Blue Crab Bowl and collaborated on projects such as sampling oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. And, of course, Arzayus is married to a fellow Batten School & VIMS alum; he met his wife, Krisa Arzayus Ph.D. ‘02, on our campus—she also works at NOAA as deputy director of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Office. 

Arzayus encourages new Batten School & VIMS students to “come in without any preconceptions. Take it all in, learn as much as you can, and adapt to everything.” To those about to graduate and enter the workforce, he said, “capitalize on the hands-on experiences you get at VIMS. The ability to have not only the laboratory, but also the Chesapeake Bay and the York River as a working environment goes a long way to credibly showcasing that you know what you’re talking about. There are a lot of people who simply don't have the live-in laboratory that is the VIMS campus to do their research.”

Prospective Students

William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS are among the nation's largest and most prestigious centers for coastal and marine research and education. We are committed to building a talented, diverse and inclusive community of marine science leaders who have the academic and professional skills necessary to meet the present and future needs of science and society.