As the SDSU Spring semester comes to a close, the CMIL our summer research season is just beginning, as many new researchers gear up to conduct field and laboratory research for the first time since the pandemic started. As we get ready for this busy time of year, let’s look back at everything that the CMI community has accomplished over the last few months:
Outreach Activities:
- Virtual Marine Science Day 2021 put on by MEBSA: The Intertidal Zone
Publications:
- Lily C. McIntire, Tatiana Kotas, Torre, Flagor, Paul Bourdeau (in press) Weak directional selection on inducible defensive shell traits in a marine gastropod by the inducing shell-breaking predator. Marine Biology 168.
- Edwin Grosholz, Gail Ashton, Marko Bradley, Chris Brown, Lina Ceballos-Osuna, Andrew Chang, Catherine de Rivera, Julie Gonzalez, Marcella Heineke, Michelle Marraffini, Linda McCann, Erica Pollard, Ian Pritchard, Gregory Ruiz, Brian Turner, Carolyn Tepolt (in press) Stage-Specific Overcompensation, the Hydra Effect and the Failure to Eradicate an Invasive Predator. PNAS 118.
- Billy A. Beckley, Matthew S. Edwards (2021) Mechanisms leading to recruitment inhibition of Macrocystis pyrifera by an understory alga. Marine Ecology Progress Series 657:59-71.
- Sadie L. Small, Matthew S. Edwards (in press) Thermal tolerance may slow, but not prevent, the spread of Sargassum horneri (Phaeophyceae) along the California, USA and Baja California, MEX coastline. Journal of Phycology.
- Emily Bewes, Leslie Booher, Torre Polizzi, Christopher Long, Ju-Hyong Kim, Matthew Edwards (in press) Effects of salinity and nutrients on metabolism and growth of Ulva lactuca: implications for bioremediation of coastal watersheds. Marine Pollution Bulletin 166.
Awards & Grants:
- Karl Koehler, Vanessa Van Deusen, & Jessica Weidenfield – CSU COAST Award
- Anthony Truong – Student Success Fee Academic Related Programs (SSF-ARP) Award
- Matthew Edwards – California Sea Grant: A multi-pronged approach to kelp recovery along California’s north coast
- Jessica Griffin – Susan Williams Memorial Graduate Award
Graduating Students:
- Sara Rosenblatt – defended her thesis on February 26, entitled “Impacts of an invasive alga on recruitment of a temperate reef fish”
- Erica Pollard – will be defending her thesis on May 27, entitled “Assessing variation in the dietary niche of the California spiny lobster Panulirus interruptus”
Internships & Jobs
- Lauren Strope– Cabrillo National Monument Foundation Internship
- Brayden Wiley – NSF REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) with the USC Wrigley Institute on Catalina Island
- Candace Alagata – NOAA PIRO/PIFSC (Pacific Islands Regional Office and Fisheries Science Center) Summer Internship
- Lee Harrison – Laboratory Assistant III for the SONGS artificial kelp reef mitigation monitoring team
- Sara Rosenblatt – Marine Biological Technician/Consultant for Merkel & Associates
- Erica Pollard – Benthic Ecologist for the U.S. NAVY
New Programs:
Lead by Ph.D. student Jessica Griffin, the new “CMIL Summer Research Program” with San Diego Mesa College undergraduate students will be kicking off on June 7. The goal of the program will be to provide research opportunities at SDSU’s CMIL for junior college students who may not have the same access to research opportunities as their colleagues at 4-yr colleges. Jessica received a grant from San Diego Mesa College to support this research for 9 weeks. Several graduate students (Vanessa Van Deusen, Karl Koehler, Candace Alagata, Alex Carsh, Melissa Ward, Leslie Booher, & Jessica Griffin) will mentor five undergraduate students as they assist on different projects at the CMIL for the summer.