- About
- With 500+ faculty, staff and students and three campus locations, the Batten School & VIMS are equipped to tackle pressing challenges through research, education and advisory service.
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- Research & Advisory
- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- Batten School
- The R. Todd Stravitz Scholars Program will provide full tuition support for students pursuing the new bachelor’s degree in coastal & marine sciences at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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- Engage
- Popular, free camps enable rising third through eighth graders to learn about the Chesapeake Bay, coastal ecosystems and environmental stewardship.
  
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- News & Events
- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- Giving
- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Miranda LaZar

RAISE Postdoctoral Fellow

Email: [[v|mlazar]]
Office: Andrews Hall 438
Section: Natural Resources
Interests: Historical Ecology, Stable Isotope Geochemistry, Zooarchaeology

Education

BA, Anthropology, University of New Mexico
MA, Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2021
PhD, Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2026

About

Miranda is a postdoctoral fellow in the VIMS Communities & Coasts Lab. She is a historical ecologist interested in the effects of long-term climate change on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. Using zooarchaeological and stable isotope analyses of archaeological animal bones, Miranda's research provides deep-time perspectives on ecosystem resilience, informing contemporary management efforts and Indigenous subsistence access. Her current research is focused on reconstructing historic marine food webs in the Kodiak Archipelago, AK. She is also a collaborator on an interdisciplinary research program investigating historic American maritime industries.