Poti works for the NCCOS Seascape Ecology and Analytics Branch. He uses spatial and statistical analyses and modeling of ecological data to inform a wide range of marine resource management and spatial planning priorities.
Following 7 years as a high school science teacher, Poti changed careers and began working as a Spatial Ecologist for CSS, Inc. with the Biogeography Branch in 2010. His work with the Biogeography Branch has included identifying areas of suitable habitat for key taxa, quantifying regional patterns of reef fish and coral larval connectivity, developing decision-support frameworks for resource prioritization, mapping and analyzing geographic distributions of reef fish and coral communities, and characterizing seafloor features. His areas of technical expertise include landscape ecology, ecological modeling, spatial pattern analysis, and spatial and multivariate statistics. Recently, Poti has worked on the development of statistical models that characterize distributions of deep-sea corals for several regions of the US to inform conservation planning, management, and exploration of deep-sea coral ecosystems.
Poti received a B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Richmond in 2000, a Master of Teaching degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2001, and a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University in 2010.