seminar

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.

Melanie Prentice, Research Scientist, Hakai Institute 

The causative agent of sea star wasting disease

Abstract: Beginning in 2013, sea star wasting disease (SSWD) swept the Pacific Coast of North America, devastating sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) populations from Mexico to Alaska by more than 90%. The rapid disappearance of P. helianthoides further contributed to a trophic cascade involving unchecked population growth of their sea urchin prey which then overgrazed kelp forests, contributing to the decline of this critical ecosystem along the coast. Key to the recovery of P. helianthoides and the kelp forest ecosystems reliant on them, is the identification of the pathogen responsible for causing SSWD. In this talk we present data leveraged from controlled challenge experiments and natural field outbreaks of SSWD to identify Vibrio pectenicida strain FHCF-3 as a causative agent of this disease in P. helianthoides. 

Bio: Melanie Prentice (she/her) is a Research Scientist at the Hakai Institute. Her research experience spans diverse species, ecosystems and questions, coalescing on the use of genetic and genomic tools to provide scientific guidance for the management of species and ecosystems at risk. Her most recent work employs controlled challenge experiments and genomic datasets to improve our understanding of wildlife epidemiology. Proficient in bioinformatics, Microsoft Excel is her mortal enemy.  

Albert Ruhí, Associate Professor, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Miller Professor, Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley

Dynamics of estuarine food webs under climate change and habitat restoration: Insights from the San Francisco Estuary

Abstract: The San Francisco Estuary is a valuable “field laboratory” for studying how aquatic food webs respond to stressors. Drawing on recent work from my group, I will show how biological diversity, phenological synchrony, and energy-pathway recovery influence estuarine ecosystem resilience. Time-series analysis on long-term biomonitoring data reveals that diverse fish life histories and spatial heterogeneity provide portfolio effects that buffer fish recruitment from climatic fluctuations. Yet, phenological shifts in zooplankton and fishes are increasingly asynchronous, signaling growing potential for trophic mismatches under warming and salinity change. At finer scales, stable-isotope analyses across a chronosequence of restored marshes indicate that hydrologic reconnection alone does not immediately rebuild trophic structure: algal pathways recover quickly, but detrital pathways lag. Together, these studies highlight the importance of integrating biocomplexity, timing, and energy-flow metrics into monitoring and restoration, to sustain food-web functioning in a rapidly changing estuary.

Bio: Albert Ruhí is an aquatic ecologist and Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His group’s research combines large-scale data analysis and field experiments to understand how hydrologic regimes shape river and wetland food webs. Much of his work focuses on water-scarce regions, including the Mediterranean Basin and the American Southwest, and has recently led several research projects on Bay-Delta food-web dynamics and fisheries. Previously, he held positions at Arizona State University and at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center. Dr. Ruhí has published over 80 papers, and received honors including the NSF CAREER, the California Sea Grant New Faculty Award, and the Miller Professorship.

The Barbara and Richard Rosenberg Institute for Marine Biology & Environmental Science and WiSE (Women in Science & Engineering) present our seminar and student lunch (see below)

Drew Harvell, Adjunct Faculty, Stanford (Hopkins Researcher); Professor Emerita, Cornell University/Stanford University   

The Ocean’s Menagerie Heating up with Climate Change 

Abstract: Climate warming heats up the web of biological interactions and accelerates community change from the base and top of oceanic food chains. Warming oceans have fueled the decade long epidemic of sea star wasting disease, causing a top-down trophic cascade and massive changes to near-shore kelps from California to British Columbia. Our recent work unveils Vibrio pectenicida as a causative agent of sea star wasting disease and the decline of the sunflower star to endangerment.  Our 12 year study of eelgrass-protist dynamics also shows a role for warming events in large decline of seagrasses. Continental scale surveys reveal that the protist L. zosterae is a damaging pathogen, characterized by diverse strains varying in virulence and likely temperature sensitivity, from San Diego to Alaska. New work highlights multiple modes of disease transmission from waterborne to herbivore- facilitated.

Bio: Drew Harvell is Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University and former Science Envoy for Ocean Conservation (US State Dept). Her research on the health and sustainability of marine ecosystems has taken her from the coral reefs of Mexico, Indonesia, Palau, Australia and Hawaii to the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest. Her current research, based at Friday Harbor Laboratories focuses on continental scale impact of ocean epidemics. She is a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and the American Association for Advancement of Science. Her award-winning books include: A Sea of Glass (2016), Ocean Outbreak (2019) and The Ocean’s Menagerie (2025). 

Mark Lubell, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, UC Davis  

The Quest for Cooperation in Regional Sea Level Rise Adaptation

Abstract: Sea-level rise adaptation in San Francisco Bay requires cooperation among policy actors at multiple scales. This talk will investigate the major barriers to sea-level rise adaptation and current steps being taken to address those barriers.  There is a central focus on governance issues from the perspective of polycentric structures and collaboration networks.   

Bio: Mark Lubell is a political scientist who studies cooperation in the context of environmental governance. He focuses especially on the evolution of polycentric institutions and policy networks.  He has been working on climate adaptation in SF Bay for over a decade, but also studies other environmental topics such as agricultural decision-making, water management, and science governance.