Derya is an Assistant Professor at the Hatter Department of Marine Technologies, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, jointly with the Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences (IUI) in Eilat. Derya is from Urla (İzmir), Turkey, and received her undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, her master’s degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT and her PhD in Mechanical and Oceanographic Engineering in the joint program between MIT & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Derya has professional, technical, and scientific diving certifications and conducted fieldwork from Bering Sea to Antarctica.