Rosenberg Institute Seminar Series - Jan Walker

Jan Walker, Senior Ecologist, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)   

Monitoring for management: A modular, ecosystem function-based assessment framework for estuarine condition 

Abstract: The California Estuary Monitoring Program (CalEMP) is an ongoing, statewide effort to assess the quality and condition of California estuaries by leveraging regional and local monitoring programs and projects. The program is designed to evaluate estuarine health and condition using a standardized, comprehensive, function-based assessment framework. Building an estuarine assessment program around a modular, function-based framework addresses several key challenges to large scale monitoring, such as comparability across heterogeneous environments and differing management needs. A function-based approach provides a way to accommodate different estuary types and assimilate data from diverse monitoring programs. The modular nature of the approach provides flexibility for implementing agencies to address both local and regional needs concurrently, thereby encouraging broad adoption. Program partners have collaboratively developed assessment frameworks, standardized monitoring protocols, data structures, and quality control measures to ensure consistency and comparability across projects and sites. 

Bio: Jan Walker is an estuarine and coastal ecologist at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). She specializes in developing assessment tools and programs for coastal ecosystems, specifically estuaries, beaches, and dunes. Over the last decade, she’s been focusing on developing condition assessment tools for estuaries and other marine habitats, as well as causal assessment methodologies to identify and predict potential stressors to these ecosystems. Currently, she is building a binational, state, and regional monitoring program for estuaries in California and Baja California, Mexico.  

Prior to SCCWRP, she received her B.S. in environmental science at the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. in marine ecology from the joint doctoral program at University of California, Davis and San Diego State University.