Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Researchers
Alumni
Mallarie Yeager - Postdoc 2021-2023
Project: California MPA Network Connectivity
Post-postdoc affiliation: Resource Specialist, NOAA Fisheries, Juneau Alaska.
Rachel Pausch - PhD 2023
Dissertation: Compensatory mitigation and habitat restoration in coastal California
Post grad affiliation: Ecologist, CA Coastal Commission
Ellen Willis-Norton - PhD 2022
Dissertation: Impacts of Global Environmental Change on Fish and Fisheries of the Northeastern Pacific Ocean
Post-grad affiliation: Postdoctoral researcher, UC Santa Barbara
Dr. Barbara Spiecker-Postdoc 2022
Project: Kelp forest ecosystem responses to California MLPA Network
Post postdoc affiliation: Postdoctoral researcher, University of New Hampshire
Sara Gonzalez - PhD 2022
Dissertation: Ecological and evolutionary drivers of morphology and alginate content in Giant Kelp
Post-grad affiliation: Postdoctoral researcher, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Joshua Smith - PhD 2021
Dissertation: Patch dynamics, behavioral responses, and kelp forest stability across a mosaic of ecosystem states
Post grad affiliation: Conservation Research Fellow, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Kathryn (Kat) Beheshti - PhD 2021
Dissertation: Loss and Recovery of Coastal Foundation Species: Salt Marsh and Seagrass Dynamics in a Central California Estuary
Post-grad affiliation: Assistant Researcher, UC Santa Barbara
Gina Contolini - PhD 2019
Dissertation: Ecology of Population-level Trait Variation in Predators of Foundational Intertidal Mussels
Post-grad affiliation: Kelp Restoration Specialist, Greater Farallones Association
Roy Qi - MA 2019
Thesis: Delineating appropriate boundaries for regional management of California nearshore reef-associated fish species as a coupled social-ecological system
Rachel Zuercher - PhD 2018
Dissertation: Social and Ecological Connectivity in Kelp Forest Ecosystems
Post-grad affiliation: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Rhode Island
Monica Moritsch - PhD 2018
Dissertation: Ecological causes and consequences of sea star wasting syndrome on the Pacific Coast
Post-grad affiliation: Blue Carbon Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund.
Kate Melanson -PhD 2018
Dissertation: Between a rock and a hard place: an assessment of black abalone in the California Channel Islands and the policy implications of protected species interactions
Post-grad affiliation: Ecologist, AECOM
Sarah Tepler-Drobnitch - PhD 2016
(co-advised Jarmila Pittermann)
Dissertation: Kelp and Carbon: Pathways and Barriers to Acquisition and Transport
Kristin de Nesnera - PhD 2016
Dissertation: Linking ecology, restoration science, and mitigation policy to guide management of rocky intertidal habitats affected by oil spills
Post-grad affiliation: Lecturer, Loyola University of Chicago.
Brent Hughes - PhD 2014
Dissertation: Food webs, resilience, and functioning of an estuary under multiple threats: Lessons learned from Elkhorn Slough
Post-grad affiliation: Associate Professor, Sonoma State University
Kim Brewitt - PhD 2014
Dissertation: Environmental heterogeneity mediates juvenile salmonid use of thermal refuges
Post-grad affiliation: Lecturer, University of South Carolina
Rodrigo Beas-Luna - PhD 2014
Dissertation: Development and application of mass-balanced ecological network models for kelp forest ecosystems
Post-grad affiliation: Associate Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Megan Sabal - MA 2014
Thesis: Interactive Effects Of Non-Native Predators And Anthropogenic Habitat Alterations On Native Juvenile Salmon
Post-grad affiliation: Fish Conservation Scientist, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Ann-Marie Osterback - PhD 2014
(co-advised with Jonathan Moore)
Dissertation: Subsidized predators and imperiled prey: the impact of avian predators on salmonids
Post-grad affiliation: Associate Project Scientist, NOAA Fisheries and UC Santa Cruz
Mary Young - PhD 2014
Dissertation: A landscape ecology approach to informing the ecology and management of coastal marine species and ecosystems
Post grad affiliation: Research Fellow, Deakin University
Brenda Mahoney - PhD 2014
Dissertation: Life in a patchy world: species-habitat relationships link macroalgal communities to higher trophic levels in temperate rocky reef.
Kristen Kusic Heady - PhD 2012
Dissertation: Latitudinal Gradients of Rocky Intertidal Community Structure Along The Northeast Pacific Coast: Patterns of Distributions, Abundance and Diversity
Post-grad affiliation: Lecturer, UC Santa Cruz
Walter Heady - PhD 2012
Dissertation: Relationships among environment, movement, growth and survival of coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Post-grad affiliation: Senior Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Kendra Karr - PhD 2011
Dissertation: Patterns, mechanisms and community consequences of variation in kelp forest canopies
Post-grad affiliation: Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund
Jared Figurski - PhD 2011
Dissertation: Patterns and sources of variation in drift algae and the ecological consequences for kelp forests
Post grad affiliation: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Lindsay Woodson - MA 2010
Thesis: Using Comparative Otolith and Seawater Microchemistry to Determine the Role of Coastal Upwelling in Recruitment Variability of Marine Fishes
Post grad affiliation: Harvard University
Jan Freiwald - PhD 2010
Dissertation: Causes and Consequences of the Movement of Temperate Reef Fishes
Post grad affiliation: Executive Director, Reef Check Foundation
Katy Kunkel-Muenter - MA 2009
Thesis: Disentangling Effects of Algal Habitat Structure on Invertebrate Abundance and Diversity
Amanda Jensen - 2009
(co-advised with Giacomo Bernardi)
Dissertation: Genetic Variation of the Mugil in the Northern Gulf of California
Melissa Foley - PhD 2009
Dissertation: Investigating the influence of allochthonous subsidies on nearshore giant kelp forests in Big Sur, California
Post grad affiliation: San Francisco Estuary Institute
Jennifer O'Leary - PhD 2009
Dissertation: Effects of fishing and trophic interactions on tropical reef builders: Coralline algae and corals
Post grad affiliation: Cal Poly
Rikke Eriksen (Preisler) - PhD 2009
Dissertation: Biogeographic variation in abundance, habitat, and behavior of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas
Post grad affiliation: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Tish Conway-Cranos - PhD 2009
Dissertation: Recovery dynamics in rocky intertidal communities: Patterns, mechanisms and simulations.
Post grad affiliation: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Dawn Hart (Jeck) - PhD 2008
Dissertation: Generality and consequences of keystone predation in rocky intertidal habitats of central California
Post grad affiliation: Santa Clara University
Chad Hanson - MA 2008
(co-advised with Bruce McFarlane)
Thesis: Influence of lagoon habitat on steelhead life history variation
Post grad affiliation: Oregon State University
Nina D'Amore - PhD 2008
Dissertation: The ecology and recovery of the federally threatened California red-legged frog
Post grad affiliation: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Katie Alt (Griffith) - PhD 2008
Dissertation: The ecology of a parasitic plant and its host plant in a central California salt marsh
Post grad affiliation: Wellesley Natural Resources Commission
Martha Burford - PhD 2007
(co-advised with Giacomo Bernardi)
Dissertation: Speciation and Genetic Structure in a Marine Fish with an Extended Pelagic Larval Phase: an Analysis of Both the Juvenile and Adult Populations of Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus)
Post grad affiliation: North Carolina State University
Rachel Barnett-Johnson - PhD 2007
(co-advised with Bruce McFarlane)
Dissertation: Spatial scales of mixing and natal source contributions of salmon populations in the coastal ocean detected by otolith and genetic signatures of origin
Post grad affiliation: NOAA
Cynthia Hays - PhD 2006
Dissertation: Ecological consequences of dispersal and gene flow in an intertidal alga
Post grad affiliation: Keene State University
Yuri Springer - PhD 2006
(co-advised with Greg Gilbert)
Dissertation: Epidemiology, resistance structure, and the effects of soil calcium on a serpentine plant-pathogen interaction
Post grad affiliation: University of Alaska
Kristan Blackhart - MA 2006
Thesis: Linking Coastal Oceanography and the Settlement Dynamics of Temperate Reef Fishes
Post grad affiliation: NOAA
Morgan Bond - MA 2006
(co-advised with Bruce McFarlane)
Thesis: Estuaries as steelhead nursery habitat: growth and survival of coastal California steelhead and the estuary life history stage
Post grad affiliation: NOAA
Irene Tetreault - PhD 2006
(co-advised with Rich Ambrose)
Dissertation: The Effects of Marine Protected Areas on Densities and Movement Patterns of Rocky Reef Fish in Southern California
Post grad affiliation: UC Los Angeles
Amy Ritter - PhD 2005
Dissertation: The influence of processes at different scales on the population dynamics of intertidal fishes
Post grad affiliation: UC Santa Cruz
Darren Johnson - MA 2005
Post grad affiliation: CSU Long Beach
Mark Readdie - PhD 2003
Dissertation: Facilitation in the rocky intertidal and its effects on vertical zonation
Post grad affiliation: UC Natural Reserve System
Jennifer Brown - PhD 2002
Dissertation: An evaluation of the nursery role of estuaries for flatfish populations in central California
Post grad affiliation: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Samantha Forde - PhD 2002
Dissertation: Evaluation of a standard monitoring unit for the recruitment of fish in central California
Post grad affiliation: UC Santa Cruz
Diana Steller - PhD 2002
Dissertation: Rhodoliths in the Gulf of California: growth, demography, disturbance and effects on population dynamics of catarina scallops
Post grad affiliation: Research Faculty, Moss Landing Marine Labs
Arnold Ammann - MA 2001
Thesis: Evaluation of a standard monitoring unit for the recruitment of fish in central California
Post grad affiliation: NOAA