Our Team

Anthony Vedral is the Sea Grant research coordinator with the Community Oriented Nature-based Science for the Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering (CONSERVE) Research Group at the Alabama Water Institute at The University of Alabama.

As the CONSERVE Sea Grant research coordinator, he engages with researchers, engineers, industry and other organizations regarding marine debris and microplastic identification and removal in coastal Alabama and Mississippi. Prior to joining CONSERVE, Anthony was an extension associate at the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center, where he led extension and outreach programs focused on teaching technical skills used in coastal restoration to high school students and engaging them to become stewards of their local environments. 

Anthony also served as a high school science faculty and a department chair at St. Scholastica Academy in Covington, Louisiana. His experience also includes working as an education coordinator and aquarist at the International Game Fish Association, where he instructed and developed conservation programs and managed the aquarium exhibits throughout the museum.

Anthony is a Ph.D. candidate at Mississippi State University. His areas of research include marine debris, microplastics and wetlands. He earned his master’s degree in marine science from The University of Alabama and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, where his research used stable isotope analysis to study food web connectivity through migrating organisms. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.