Research Interests
Pedagogy in biological and environmental sciences: implementation and assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)
Rocky, soft-sediment and estuarine nearshore community ecology
Ecological impacts of non-native and range-expanding marine invertebrates and algae
(amateur, hobbyist) Interest in paleoecology and evolution of irregular echinoids - someday!
Current Research
ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING OF SHORE ECOLOGY AND KELP FOREST HEALTH THROUGH BEACH WRACK AT CRYSTAL COVE STATE PARK
Beach wrack (kelp and other macrophyte debris that deposited on shores) may be considered by the public to be smelly and unsightly; however, it is a key source of nutrients for beach communities and its presence increases diversity and abundance of invertebrates and shorebirds, including threatened species. Multiple factors are changing the abundance and composition of wrack on southern California beaches including grooming (human removal of wrack for recreation or aesthetics), declining kelp forests (due to heat waves, pollution, overfishing and disease in keystone species, and other factors), and introduced species (including non-native kelps). Wrack is an underappreciated ecological resource worth studying for its importance to beach health, but may also be a useful indicator for community shifts and processes happening offshore. Crystal Cove State Park has partnered with the MCRS Capstone team in 2021-2022 to establish baseline data and a monitoring program to track shifts in this important resource and inform decisions about management and restoration.
AN INTERVENTION FOR ECO-GRIEF IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Many students experience feelings of grief, depression, and hopelessness in response to learning about climate change and environmental degradation for the first time. In this collaboration with Karissa Gallego and Dr. Jessica Pratt (UCI), student attitudes and motivation toward the environment were assessed before and after an activity discussing and processing emotional responses to environmental issues. I am analyzing the data for this project to determine how eco-grief influences student empowerment to take action on environmental problems.
Past Research
STUDENT WRITING INTEGRATED MENTORING PROGRAM (SWIM): A COURSE-BASED
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN FOULING COMMUNITIES OF ORANGE COUNTY, CA
A new project in collaboration with Dr. Cascade Sorte (UCI) and undergraduate researcher Danny Truong (UCI), we are examining competitive dynamics, priority effects, and community composition over time in subtidal epibenthic fouling communities. We seek to examine the importance of spatial pattern and overgrowth, invasive species, and seasonal/environmental forcing in determining the community composition of fouling communities in Newport and Huntington Harbors, CA
RECIPROCAL LINKAGES BETWEEN HERBIVOROUS WATERFOWL AND ZOSTERA SP. IN TEMPERATE ZONES
We, a team of graduate students and researchers in the Zostera Experimental Network (ZEN), conducted a meta-analysis of waterfowl-Zostera interactions to challenge the paradigm that herbivory has a negligible effect on ecosystem functioning in temperate ecosystems. Through a diet analysis, we showed that many species of waterfowl worldwide utilize Zostera as a dominant component of their diets in some location or season, and many more utilize it irregularly. We found evidence that waterfowl abundances track seagrass populations, indicating bottom-up dynamics. Finally, by looking at seagrass abundances in experiments with controls for grazing, we found that waterfowl do have large effects on the seagrass beds they graze on.
EELGRASS AND SAND DOLLAR INTERACTIONS
My dissertation research examines competition for space between antagonistic ecosystem engineers, seagrasses and sand dollars. Seagrasses, which in the Salish Sea include native Zostera marina and non-native Zostera japonica, structure and anchor sediment and provide habitat for many nearshore species in sandy or muddy environments. Sand dollars (Dendraster excentricus) are bioturbators and counteract seagrasses by homogenizing and disturbing sediments, and living in high density. These species form patchy mosaics of habitat on beaches, potentially affected by disturbances such as grazing by waterfowl, physical disruption from large storm waves or human impacts, and environmental stress. My research examines several large questions on varying scales of time and space:
1. Are sand dollars and seagrass alternative ecological states?
2. Does spatial context alter or determine the outcome of bouts of competition between seagrass and sand dollars?
3. What is the expected outcome of this competition in the long run, knowing that Z. japonica is a recent introduction to this system?
SAND DOLLAR AGGREGATIVE BEHAVIOR
The pacific sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) lives in intertidal and subtidal zones in dense aggregations of tens to hundreds of individuals per square meter. These aggregations may serve several ecological functions, including more efficient feeding, reproduction, and protection from predators or dislodgment. My research examines how individual behavioral choices and interactions with conspecifics result in large-scale aggregative behavior through mark-recapture, time-lapse video in mesocosms, and individual-based modeling. This project asks, how does sand dollar aggregative behavior create spatial patchiness, and does this dynamic drive the patchy mosaic of habitat we observe?
ROCKY INTERTIDAL FOOD WEB/INTERACTION NETWORK STRUCTURE
This project aims to catalogue the species present and build an interaction web for the low-intertidal zone of Tatoosh Island, Washington, dominated by coralline algae and the brown alga Saccharina sessile. Methods include long-term plot censuses and theoretical food web models. This project is a collaborative effort with Dr. Tim Wootton, Dr. Gyuri Barabás, and Dr. Liz Sander.
BLACK ABALONE POPULATION CENSUSES
In 2009, the black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) was listed as critically endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This intertidal species’ population had been decimated by overharvesting and a devastating disease. Withering Syndrome is caused by a Rickettsia-like prokaryote which infects the digestive tract, prevents nutrient absorption by the animal, and forces it to catabolize its own tissues until the abalone is unable to attach to rocks. Although the species is monitored throughout the middle of its range, from Baja California to Monterey, populations of abalone in the northern part of the range were unknown.
HYDRODYNAMICS OF CRAB OLFACTION THROUGH ONTOGENY
To capture odor molecules from the surrounding fluid, crabs use arrays of chemosensory hairs (aesthetascs) located on their first anteannae (antennules). Crabs flick their antennules quickly back and forth, forcing odor-laden fluid into the arrays of chemosensory hairs, where odor molecules are absorbed. I assisted Dr. Lindsay Waldrop (UNC Chapel Hil, now at New Mexico Tech.) in research on how odor capture changed during ontogeny (growth and development) of the Oregon shore crab (Hemigrapsus oregonensis). This research has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
GECKO ADHESION TO ENGINEERED ROUGH SURFACES
The role in adhesion of the toes and lamellae - intermediate sized structures - found on the gecko foot remains unclear. Insight into the function of these structures can lead to a more general understanding of the hierarchical nature of the gecko adhesive system, but in particular how environmental topology may relate to gecko foot morphology. We sought to discern the mechanics of the toes and lamellae by examining gecko adhesion on controlled, macroscopically rough surfaces. We used live Tokay geckos, Gekko gecko, to observe the maximum shear force a gecko foot can attain on an engineered substrate constructed with sinusoidal patterns of varying amplitudes and wavelengths in sizes similar to the dimensions of the toes and lamellae structures. This was a final project for Mechanics of Organisms Lab at UC Berkeley and has been published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
PTEROSAURIAN FOOTPRINTS IN THE FOSSIL RECORD
A meta-analysis of fossil footprint records attributed to the ichnogenus Pteraichnus examined critically the evidence for attributing the prints to pterosaurs. Project with Dr. Kevin Padian, UC Berkeley.