Allison Fundis is the Chief Operating Officer for the Ocean Exploration Trust, where she leads the organization's ocean exploration and outreach activities. Drawing from a diverse background in science, education, and extensive sea-going experience, she engages the science community, students, and the public in telepresence-enabled expeditions aboard the exploration vessel Nautilus. Since 2006, she has led or participated in 65+ expeditions utilizing deep-sea technologies and submersibles across the Eastern, North, and South Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California, Caribbean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
Before joining the Ocean Exploration Trust in 2013, Allison worked with the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative at the University of Washington, contributing to the planning and installation of the US's largest cabled seafloor observatory and developing student programs using its real-time data. A former high school chemistry and biology teacher, she remains passionate about making authentic STEM opportunities available to students, educators, and the public.
Allison holds an MS in Marine Geology from the University of Florida and a BA in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic, with research focused on eruption dynamics in submarine volcanic systems. In 2019, she was recognized as an innovation and technology delegate for the Academy of Achievement and as an IF/THEN Ambassador by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a 2020 Fellow National of the Explorers Club and was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2021.