
Anika Cho
University of Alabama
University College Cork (UCC)
Engineering
Anika Cho is studying Electrical & Electronic Engineering at University College Cork. She is working with the MaRei Science Center in Ringaskiddy, researching the impact of offshore wind farm cables on sharks. She will next do her PhD at UT Austin which will allow her to continue her studies on underwater acoustics at Defense Department labs. A native of Beaverton, Oregon, she graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics. She is interested in developing acoustic methods and technologies that will advance ocean exploration. Anika is the recipient of a 2022 NOAA Hollings Scholarship, through which she worked with NOAA Ocean Exploration on deep-sea research using acoustic data to conduct an ecological study of a submarine canyon. With a National Science Foundation REU, Anika spent two summers at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, building low-cost instruments to measure the physical properties of seawater and the seafloor, and presented her findings at the 2023 ASLO International Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. She also conducted research at the University of Alabama, developing a compact acoustic modem that can wirelessly send and receive data encoded in underwater acoustic signals. Anika was the Vice President of the Amateur Radio Club and volunteered as an event captain to organize a regional Science Olympiad hosted by the University of Alabama. In her free time, Anika plays violin, is a PADI certified scuba diver, and was a MATE ROV underwater robotics team mentor.