seminar

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. 

Sophie George, Faculty Fellow, University of Washington; Professor Emerita, Georgia Southern University

Simulated and natural Marine Heatwaves affect multidimensional trait space of  Pisaster ochraceus (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) larvae 

Abstract: Marine heatwaves (MHWs) periods of exceptionally warm temperatures are becoming a huge concern in the Pacific Northwest due to devastating consequences on marine invertebrates. They are linked to sea star wasting disease the cause of massive declines in Pisaster ochraceus in the region. This study documents the characteristics of MHWs at Friday Harbor in the Pacific Northwest and assesses their effects on larval morphology. In 2024, sevenMHWs were detected in the San Juan Channel at Friday Harbor; two severe, one strong, and four moderate.  Simulated and natural MHWs accelerated development and led to distinct larval morphologies. MHW larvae were longer and wider with longer and narrower stomachs while controls were longer and narrower with rounder stomachs. Seven and 40-day MHWs led to significant morphological heterogeneity in multidimensional space at the end of simulated MHWs and during and after natural MHWs indicating high sensitivity to unstable environmental conditions.

Bio: Sophie George obtained her PhD at the University of Paris in Biological oceanography.  She was a postdoctoral fellow at Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington and at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution at Fort Pierce, Florida. She taught at Georgia Southern University for over 25 years and spent 6 years as a program director at NSF. She has mentored 95 students including 17 REU students. She is currently investigating the effects of marine heatwaves on the morphology and swimming behavior of several echinoderm larvae including the sea star Pisaster ochraceus. She co-Chair’s the Marine Star Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 

Durrell Kapan, Senior Research Fellow, Entomology and Center for Comparative Genomics, Cal Academy  

From collections to regeneration the Xerces/Silvery Blue project

Abstract: Biodiversity is in crisis, and insects–key architects of ecosystem function–are declining rapidly. This talk tells a San Francisco story that begins with loss: the extinction of the Xerces blue butterfly, widely regarded as the first North American invertebrate driven extinct by human-caused habitat destruction. It then pivots to hope, showing how museum collections can become engines for regeneration. Using the California Academy of Sciences’ collections, ancient DNA, and ecological modeling, we asked: What was Xerces, what was its ecological “job,” and what species could serve as its avatar in restored habitats? Genomic comparisons with its closest living relative, the Silvery Blue, combined with host-plant, habitat, and climate data, pointed us to cool, foggy coastal Monterey County populations as the best surrogate. I’ll share updates from a translocation program moving these Silvery Blues to restored dunes in San Francisco’s Presidio, where partners and volunteers who help release and track butterflies have documented egg-laying, survival, and local emergence. 

Bio: Durrell D. Kapan, Ph.D. is an evolutionary ecologist at the California Academy of Sciences Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability. His research integrates insect genomics, population genetics, and data science to understand biodiversity patterns, resilience, and conservation outcomes. He works across scales—from museum collections and genomic datasets to field surveys and ecological modeling—and collaborates with partners spanning NGOs and state and federal agencies. Durrell also mentors undergraduate and graduate students and helps translate research into on-the-ground restoration and decision support for biodiversity and climate resilience. 

Laura Guertin, Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences, Penn State Brandywine  

Stories of communicating scientific ocean drilling, from text to textiles 

Abstract: Tales of adventures at sea are disseminated in the popular press (social media, magazines, books, etc.), while the completed analyses of deep-sea samples are published in scholarly reports and peer-reviewed journals. This presentation will highlight specific examples of how scientific ocean drilling expeditions have been shared from historic oceanographic expeditions and the more recent IODP Expedition 390. This presentation will include audio/video clips, select quilts from the Stories of the South Atlantic quilt collection, and why it is important for all scientists to be storytellers of their work.  

Bio: Distinguished Professor Laura Guertin (Penn State Brandywine) holds a Ph.D. in Marine Geology & Geophysics from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School. She is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition to sailing on two NOAA vessels and JOIDES Resolution, her science communication experiences include serving as the geoscience education and educational technology blogger with the American Geophysical Union for nine years, initiating and managing the growing scientific ocean drilling audio archive Tales from the Deep, and quilting science stories, including a 19-quilt collection from IODP Expedition 390.  

Stuart Siegel, PhD, SPWS 

Two Birds, One Ecosystem – Bringing Nature-Based Solutions to the SF Estuary 

Abstract:  The San Francisco Estuary, like most estuaries globally, faces a combination of large-scale historic habitat loss and the modern threat of rising sea levels. This estuary has spent decades restoring its lost estuarine ecosystems and is a leader in driving the science and practice of large-scale restoration forward. The region’s citizens walk their talk – voters have passed billions in statewide and regional bonds and taxes. The region is very focused on planning for rising sea levels – every city and county in California must have its adaptation plan adopted by 2034 and the bay area is moving fast. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission recently estimated a $109 billion price tag, likely an underestimate. The January 2026 tidal flooding has been a wake-up call. Enter estuarine ecosystems – subtidal mudflats, eelgrass beds, oyster reefs, tidal marshes, upland ecotones, open waters, and in some places beaches and creek mouths. These habitats give us many “ecosystem services” in addition to their myriad ecological functions. “Nature-based” shoreline protection is recognized as a significant and vital service in high demand today. Delivering on this opportunity is the challenge. There is science and adaptive management – what works where, under what circumstances, what do our projects teach us, how do we disperse knowledge. There is engineering – converting knowledge into constructable designs. There is regulatory – the webs of environmental regulation in the U.S. derive from hazards of the past not the present. There is the funding – planning, design, permitting, construction, assessment. And there is the land and project sponsors – some entity must step up and make projects happen. And we are rising to these challenges – making projects happen in ways and places previously thought out of our reach.  

Bio: Dr. Siegel focuses on the intersection of climate change adaptation, ecosystem conservation, restoration, and resilience, natural and nature-based infrastructure, and regional planning, with a focus on the San Francisco Estuary. Over his 40-year career, Dr. Siegel has worked on numerous restoration projects large and small, integrating innovative “nature-based” strategies that utilize marsh ecosystems to yield ecological benefits, carbon storage, and flood and erosion protection for the built environment. He has served as a lead science advisor for the Suisun Marsh Plan, Delta Vision’s ecosystem team, and the Delta Regional Ecosystem Restoration Implementation Plan, and the Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring Pilot Project. He regularly serves on project and regional technical advisory and steering committees. Dr. Siegel is the Coastal Resilience Specialist for the SF Bay NERR and Adjunct Professor in SFSU’s School of the Environment. Dr. Siegel is a Senior Professional Wetland Scientist and received his Master’s and Ph.D. in Geography and his B.A. in Environmental Science and B.S. in Chemistry, all from UC Berkeley. 

Josie Iselin with Marianna Leuschel, Co-Directors, Above/Below

Building Stories of Kelp and Oysters: How The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp and The Alluring World of Olympia Oysters come to life as web-based books and build ocean literacy for a wide audience

Abstract:  Josie Iselin and Marianna Leuschel are Co-Director sof Above/Below, the team responsible for the web story The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp and the about-to-be-released native oyster companion. They will discuss their process of teasing apart the ecological story of bull kelp and now Olympia oysters, and how they build it back together in the innovative format they have pioneered. They will discuss the design and editorial process, and collaborating with experts and the science community.  

Bio: Josie Iselin is a photographer, author, and designer of many books, with her last few focusing on the world of seaweeds and kelp. Josie is the co-director with Marianna Leuschel of Above/Below, a campaign working to bring the recognition afforded the forests on land to the kelp forests below the ocean’s surface. Above/Below’s signature efforts is a web-based book titled The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp.It has been accessed by over 39,000 kelp-curious learners and is about to be released as a
hard-cover book. Above/Below is creating a similar webstory about the native Olympia oyster, due for release March 1, 2026. Josie holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard and an MFA from San Francisco State University. For over twenty years Josie has used her flatbed scanner and computer exclusively for generating imagery. Synthesizing the scientific stories of our coast is her overriding passion, bringing thoughtfulness and stewardship to this extraordinary place of discovery. Josie’s pronouns are she/her.

Jason Hodin, Senior Research Scientist, Friday Harbor Labs, University of Washington

Orienting to the Stars: Rewilding an apex predator for nearshore ecosystem health

Abstract:  Twelve years ago, seastar wasting disease impacted dozens of seastar species in the NE pacific, but the apex predatory sunflower stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) worst of all. Soon thereafter kelp started to decline dramatically in Northern California due largely to purple urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) overpopulation resulting in part from the sudden sunflower star disappearance. In 2019 we began to explore restoration breeding for sunflower stars at Friday Harbor Labs, where remnant populations exist. In this talk, I will review our successes in full life cycle breeding and the biological and ecological insights our breeding has revealed. I will also discuss our initial efforts at wild release and monitoring of lab raised stars. Looking to the future I will outline a vision for targeted breeding efforts for features like disease resistance, and suggest a view of sunflower stars, eelgrass and kelp as the power trio of NE Pacific nearshore ecosystem health. 

Bio: Jason Hodin is fascinated with metamorphosis, leading him to move from studying insects for his PhD to echinoderms afterwords. His years of effort carefully raising sea urchin and sea star larvae through metamorphosis led him to be tapped by the Nature Conservancy of California to attempt restoration breeding of the sunflower star. He has assembled a team of mainly post-Bac research assistants that raises yearly cohorts of seastars and explores basic life history questions, outplanting approaches, individual photo based reidentification, among other topics. Hodin is a Senior Research Scientist based at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs. 

Brendan Tougher, Director of the Ocean Program, Anthropocene Institute 

ProtectedSeas Marine Monitor (M2): Conservation Technology for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Abstract:  Over the last 10-years the Marine Monitor (M2) system was developed at the Estuary and
Ocean Science (EOS) Center by a small team of engineers and developers at ProtectedSeas along with the help of EOS graduate students. The M2 system integrates X-band marine radar, automatic identification system (AIS) sensors, and optical cameras with custom software to autonomously track and record all vessel activity in nearshore coastal environments. M2 is used for a variety of applications by government agencies, law enforcement personnel, researchers, and NGOs to better inform decision making related to human use in and around marine managed areas. Brendan Tougher, co-founder of M2, will provide an overview of the M2 system platform and how EOS's strategic location along the San Francisco Bay has enabled M2 to develop and iterate its software and hardware design to build a robust and reliable conservation technology that has a global impact protecting and enforcing marine managed areas.

Bio: Brendan Tougher is the Director of the Ocean Program at the Anthropocene Institute where he oversees ocean related initiatives, specifically the Future of Fish Feed, ProtectedSeas Navigator, Marine Monitor (M2), LLC and ocean related grant giving through Anthroocean and has over 15-years of experience working at the intersection of science, technology, environmental conservation, and business. He is also the co-founder for M2, a small conservation technology company based in California specializing in shore-based monitoring technologies for management of nearshore marine managed areas.

Sarah Mesnick, PhD, Ecologist and Science Liaison, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  and Adjunct Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego 

The challenges of saving Mexico’s vaquita porpoise   

Abstract: The Upper Gulf of California is a diverse and highly productive ecosystem supporting some of the most important fisheries in Mexico, yet a history of weak fisheries management and illegal fishing threaten the area’s biodiversity and undermine human well-being in the communities along its shores. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is endemic to these waters and is on the brink of extinction due to incidental entanglement in gillnets used in small-scale fisheries. Although gillnets are banned by the government of Mexico in the vaquita’s range, their use is driven by valuable shrimp and finfish fisheries, and a lucrative black market for swim bladders of totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi). There is long-standing lack of support for development and implementation of alternative fishing gear and livelihoods. A recent effort to deploy anti-gillnet devices (concrete blocks with hooks designed to entangle gillnets) has bought crucial time. The complexity of the economic, social, technical, and policy issues in the region requires a holistic, multidisciplinary approach in order to find regionally relevant solutions for saving the vaquita and supporting local fishing communities. The presentation will review the biology and plight of the vaquita, present abundance estimates from the latest field efforts, and summarize conservation actions with a focus on efforts to develop alternative fisheries with the local fishing communities. Sustained actions to support legal fishers able to make a good living – with a direct stake in healthy marine ecosystems – are key components of conservation policy. The situation in the Upper Gulf of California is dire, yet similar threats to other endangered species and the well-being of coastal communities may benefit from the experience of the vaquita. Recent observations of the few remaining healthy vaquitas and calves provide hope and heighten the imperative to act.   

Bio: Sarah Mesnick is an ecologist and communication strategist at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, CA. Her work integrates behavioral ecology, conservation science, and human dimensions to advance the protection and management of marine mammals, with a particular focus on mitigating fishery interactions and improving conservation outcomes. Her behavioral work spans a diversity of species (eastern tropical Pacific dolphins, beaked whales, sperm whales and blue whales), addressing a range of topics including social and population structure, conservation behavior, sexual selection and speciation and the use of behavioral traits to define units-to-conserve. In recent years, her research has increasingly centered on human dimensions of conservation, particularly in relation to the vaquita porpoise - the world’s most endangered marine mammal. She collaborates with scientists, government agencies, conservation organizations, fishing cooperatives and the seafood supply chain to advance multi-disciplinary, multilateral approaches that address illegal fishing while supporting local communities. Sarah serves on the international recovery team for vaquita (CIRVA), the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) Expert Panel on Bycatch Mitigation, and the United Nations Environmental Program Convention on Migratory Species’ (CMS) Expert Working Group on Culture and Social Complexity. She is an adjunct professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and founding member of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, where she leads the joint Sustainable Seafood Initiative. She was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, received her bachelor’s from UC Santa Cruz and her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona.  

Jeff Dorman, Executive Director, Farallon Institute 

Estimating zooplankton from autonomous underwater gliders in the California Current

Abstract: Satellites, buoys, and autonomous vehicles have vastly improved our collection of physical oceanographic data (temperature, salinity, oxygen, currents, etc.), but beyond phytoplankton measurements, there have been limited applications in biological oceanography.  As such there are few zooplankton indices that readily available and utilized in management on the US West Coast.  This work utilizes 20 years of acoustic data, collected as part of the California Underwater Glider Network, combined with net collected zooplankton from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations, to develop an automated zooplankton index for the Southern California Bight.  Results show correlation between the ADCP backscatter with total zooplankton biomass, and particularly with copepod abundance measures.  Given the ubiquitous nature of copepods in the ocean, these results have the potential to be exported to other gliders equipped with ADCP’s beyond the Southern California Bight.

Bio:  Jeff Dorman is a Scientist and Executive Director of Farallon Institute, a non-profit marine research and education organization that conducts oceanographic research to support healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems and fisheries.  Jeff has been conducting research on zooplankton in the California Current for 25 years, particularly what drives variability in important prey species. Jeff believes in utilizing the best possible science in management of ocean resources and in that light serves on the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.