Seminars

Dr. Manny Gabet | San Jose State University

Presenting: "The (Real) Geologic History of the Stanislaus Table Mountains and Yosemite Valley"

Hosted by: Geological Oceanography Lab

Watch the Live Stream here or here

The (Real) Geologic History of the Stanislaus Table Mountains and Yosemite Valley

In 1865, J.D. Whitney published a hypothesis, originally proposed by his colleague Ian Brewer, that the Stanislaus Table Mountains were a form of ‘inverted topography.’ According to this theory, a 10-million year old lava flow had travelled down a mountain canyon and solidified along the river bed. Over time, the adjacent valley walls had eroded down, transforming the lava-capped river bed into a series of ridges that are now recognized as the table mountains. Furthermore, Whitney reasoned that this much erosion could only have been accomplished as a result of tilting and uplift of the Sierra Nevada. Whitney’s explanation was the genesis for the dominant theory that the Sierra Nevada is a relatively young range, having popped up only in the past 5-10 million years. Similarly, the initial formation of Yosemite Valley has also been attributed to recent uplift. In my talk, I will present evidence demonstrating that the Stanislaus River watershed has not undergone any dramatic transformations and that, instead, it looks very much like it did 30-40 million years ago. In addition, I will present evidence showing that Yosemite Valley was initially cut by a river draining a large volcanic plain that once buried the crest of the northern Sierra. Both of these studies, as well as others, contribute to a growing body of evidence that the Sierra Nevada is an ancient range, rising up at least ~40 million years ago.

Dr. Manny Gabet

Dr. Dimitris Menemenlis | Moss Landing Marine Labs, SJSURF

Presenting: "Ocean fronts, eddies, and internal waves in numerical models and SWOT"

Hosted by: Physical Oceanography Lab

Watch the Live Stream here or here

The ocean is the climate's largest reservoir of heat, freshwater, and carbon. Therefore, in order to understand and predict the impact of natural and anthropogenic perturbations on the climate system, we need to understand and predict the exchange of heat, freshwater, carbon, and other properties between the global ocean and the atmosphere. The driving hypothesis of my talk is that submesoscale ocean motions (<50 km), both balanced and unbalanced, play a key role in air-sea exchanges and vertical property transports in the ocean. To evaluate this hypothesis, we can use a set of tools that have become available during the past decade, namely (1) submesoscale and internal-wave admitting global-ocean simulations and (2) observations obtained by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, which recently completed the second of its 3-year science orbit. I will describe some completed and ongoing studies that are using the aforementioned tools to study the impact of submesoscales on ocean circulation and climate.

Dr. Dimitris Menemenlis

Dr. Alexa Fredston | Ocean Sciences, UCSC

Presenting: "Beyond simple models of (marine) species on the move"

Hosted by: Ichthyology Lab

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Beyond simple models of (marine) species on the move

Why are species found where they are and not elsewhere? What makes them move? Research in the Fredston Lab focuses on the fundamental drivers of species’ ranges, and the causes and consequences of climate-related range shifts. This talk will cover evidence for temperature driving the biogeography and abundance of demersal fishes across spatial and temporal scales; a range of projects aimed at disentangling multiple drivers of species’ ranges, with various methods and taxa; and methods and theory for understanding species on the move.

Dr. Alexa Fredston

Dr. Brooke Weigel | Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station

presenting: "The ecology of kelp forests in a changing ocean: physiology, microbiomes & carbon cycling"

Hosted by: Research Diving Program

Watch the Live Stream here or here

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The ecology of kelp forests in a changing ocean: physiology, microbiomes & carbon cycling

Climate change is threatening kelp forests, with 40-60% of kelp forests in decline globally. My research has identified critical temperature thresholds for growth, survival, and reproduction across the life cycle of bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana. Kelp blades harbor abundant and diverse microbial communities, which are also impacted by ocean warming. We will dive into the world of kelp microbiomes, looking at the factors that shape the assembly and composition, micron-scale spatial structure, and functional role of the kelp microbiome. Finally, kelp play an important role in the global carbon cycle by creating highly productive underwater forests that contribute to carbon sequestration – we will discuss key knowledge gaps in our understanding of carbon cycling in kelp forests.

Dr. Brooke Weigel

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Dr. Paul Bourdeau

Dr. Paul Bourdeau is an Associate Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he also serves as the Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Biological Sciences and the interim director of the Telonicher Marine Laboratory. A native of southeastern Massachusetts, Dr. Bourdeau earned his BS in Biology and MS in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, followed by a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. He conducted postdoctoral research at Michigan State University before joining Humboldt in 2014. Dr. Bourdeau’s lab’s research focuses on how marine organisms respond to environmental changes, particularly those induced by human activities, such as the introduction of non-native species and climate change.

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Modeling the habitat use of a fearless deep-diver, the Emperor Penguin in the Ross Sea

Emperor penguins undergo an energetically demanding annual molt, requiring them to remain on stable ice where they must fast until their feathers regrow. The foraging strategies following the post-molt period are critical, as individuals must replenish lost energy stores before the next reproductive fast. However, understanding habitat use during this period remains challenging due to the remoteness of the Eastern Ross Sea and the scarcity of available environmental data. To address this, we modeled the habitat use of post-molt emperor penguins using environmental variables from a mix of data sources. Our analysis aims to assess habitat selection and investigate whether the preferred foraging strategies differ between individuals. This study highlights how a mix of data sources can improve ecological modeling in data-scarce polar regions and help us understand the foraging behaviors of emperor penguins in response to environmental constraints.

Dr. Martin Tournier

Martin comes from France, where he completed two MS degrees in Oceanography and Marine Ecology, and Ecological Modelling. He got his Ph.D. from La Rochelle Université where his work focused on characterizing the habitat of deep-diving mammals. He worked with active acoustic data obtained from dataloggers that were deployed on southern elephant seals. He developed novel mathematical approaches to model the three-dimensional habitat of elephant seals.

While interested in many aspects of marine ecology, his primary research interest is to investigate the different diving and foraging strategies displayed by marine predators, both within and among species, with the goal of determining how environmental forcing will influence behavior on short and long-term scales. This knowledge will provide insights into how their 3-dimensional habitats are changing and how predators may respond to these changes. He is thrilled to address some of these questions with Emperor Penguins in the Vertebrate Ecology Lab. As a student, he helped to organize conferences, and he hopes to organize some short technical workshops during his time here. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time sailing, diving, cooking & baking, and hiking.

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Finding Your Fit in the Dynamic Geoscience Workforce

The GROW career tool was developed in response to the often asked question: “What can I do with my geoscience degree other than become an academic?” This seminar will introduce the dynamic geoscience workforce with an overview of sectors and specific occupations suited to geoscience skills, while emphasizing the “braided river” model of STEM workforce development (Batchelor et al., 2021). In this updated model, a reimagining of the traditional pipeline, career paths adapt to the changing landscape and evolve to suit individual needs, values, and interests. Beyond presenting possible non-academic career paths, the seminar will provide tangible next steps and guidance for students to find their fit in the workforce by assessing their values, conducting informational interviews, strategically building their network, and marketing their transferable skills for different types of jobs.

Dr. Madison Wood

Dr. Madison Wood is a marine biogeochemist with a background in Quaternary paleoceanography and global carbon cycling. She holds a B.S. in Earth Science from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. in Earth Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is currently a 2025 Sea Grant Knauss Fellow working jointly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Energy to coordinate interagency marine carbon dioxide removal policy.

During her PhD, Madison led a workforce development project aimed at helping students and early career geoscientists navigate the non-academic workforce. The product of this effort is the GROW career tool, which provides a one-stop shop for career resources and emphasizes a holistic, skills-focused approach to career development. Madison has shared this tool through workshops at AGU, GSA, and Goldschmidt conferences, and has presented to faculty and student groups including NSF GEOPATHS PIs, AGU/AGI Heads and Chairs webinars, and Mentoring 360 cohorts.

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Quantifying the Impact of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer on Optical Signal Propagation

Recent developments of Free-space optical links for communication, directed energy beaming, EO/IR sensor imaging, and high-energy laser weapon systems utilize the optical/IR frequencies (electro-optical, or EO) of the electromagnetic wave spectra to propagate EO energy through the atmosphere. However, the atmosphere has non-negligible impacts on the EO beam through turbulence scintillation and attenuation by air molecules, aerosols, and fog.  These effects are especially pronounced within the atmospheric boundary layer, which is the lowest hundreds of meters of the atmosphere.  Along a given propagation path, turbulent refraction caused by temperature and water vapor fluctuations results in a defocused laser beam on the receiver/targets.  Fog and aerosol particles and molecular constituents along the propagation path also absorb and/or scatter the incident laser beam, ultimately causing direct energy loss. These atmospheric effects from turbulence and fog/aerosols can be characterized through optical propagation measurements to obtain ‘path-integrated’ results or through environmental sampling of turbulence and aerosol absorption and scattering as input to optical propagation models.

In this seminar, I will introduce the atmospheric processes affecting EO propagation through the atmospheric boundary layer, focusing on atmospheric scintillation and attenuation by fog.  Several field efforts will be presented to quantify the atmospheric impact on EO propagation, particularly those with concurrent measurements of optical scintillation/attenuation from the dynamic link measurements as well as from the in-situ aircraft measurements, allowing a direct comparison of the optical turbulence/aerosol properties and their effects for propagation.  Results from these field efforts will also be presented to illustrate the complexity of the problem.  I will also introduce our modeling efforts to quantify the characteristics of EO propagation in the atmosphere.

Dr. Qing Wang

Dr. Qing Wang is a Professor and the Associate Chair for Research in the Meteorology Department of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey CA. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Moss Landing Marine Laboratory in Moss Landing, CA. She obtained her B.S. degree and M.S. degree in Atmospheric Physics from Peking University in 1985 and 1988, respectively, and earned her Ph. D. Degree in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1993. Before joining NPS in 1995, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Advanced Study Program (ASP) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Dr. Wang is known for her contributions to the understanding of marine atmospheric boundary layer through aircraft and ship/buoy-based measurements and for using these observations to evaluate forecast and process-oriented models. She has been the lead PI for several multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional projects on quantifying the effects of the lower atmosphere on the propagation of radio waves and optical systems.

Dr. Wang has served on several subject area committees of the American Meteorological Society including Boundary Layer and Turbulence Committee, Coastal Processes Committee, and Air-Sea Interaction Committee. She is also a Commission F member of the U.S. National Committee – International Union for Radio Science (USNC-URSI). In 2019, she was invited to serve as a Navy representative on the Atmospheric Propagation Technical Area Working Group (TAWG).  She is also a member of the US CLIVAR Working Group on “Mesoscale and Frontal-Scale Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions and Influence on Large-Scale Climate”. More recently, she has served as the UNOLS Fleet Improvement Committee (FIC) member to provide advice to assure the continuing excellence of the Academic Research Fleet (ARF) to serve the research community in the U.S.

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Putting science behind the stingray shuffle and other observations with the round stingray (Urobatis halleri)

Around the coastal United States, stingray strikes account for nearly 2,500 emergency room visits on an annual basis, in addition to the several hundreds to thousands of less-serious injuries that do not yield a trip to the hospital. Along California beaches, the Haller’s Round Ray (Urobatis halleri), is responsible for the majority of these interactions, with anywhere between 200 and 400 stingray-related injuries being reported each year from Seal Beach alone. During summer months, round stingrays aggregate in warm, shallow sandy-bottom areas along our coast, often coinciding with beach goers. While stingray strikes are generally non-life threatening, their barbs are capable of inflicting deep lacerations while potentially envenomating the victim. Despite the rate at which these encounters occur and the threat that they pose to public safety, very little is known about the behavior of these stingrays and their tail strike events. We use multiple high-speed cameras and motion tracking software to record and describe the tail strike behavior across the size range of the round stingray. This information, along with other experiments we are conducting in my lab with round stingrays, will provide applications relevant to beach safety.

Dr. Benjamin Perlman

Dr. Benjamin Perlman is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University, Long Beach. He is also the principal investigator of his recently formed STABB Lab (Stingray And Butterfly Biomechanics). His lab studies the kinematics, kinetics, and morphology of animals, currently focusing on the round stingray. Using high-speed cameras, material testers, 3D scanners, and X-ray imaging, Ben and his team describe the form and function of stingrays. The STABB Lab is putting the science behind the colloquial SoCal saying, “do the stingray shuffle!” Ben teaches an introduction to evolution and diversity course, general ecology, human anatomy, ichthyology, and scientific communication. He also collaborates with the Catalina Island Conservancy, taking undergraduate students to Catalina to conduct various field studies across the island, focusing on the introduced Argentine ant and the endemic shrew. Before he arrived at CSULB, Ben studied the swimming performance of surfperches at MLML for his Master’s degree, then completed his Ph.D. at Wake Forest University studying the jumping and swimming kinematics and muscle physiology of an amphibious fish in Belize. He then became a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University focusing on bird wing biomechanics, then conducted experiments on frog jumping and dragonfly larvae swimming at UC Irvine for his second postdoctoral position.

Watch the Live Stream here or here

This presentation on satellite oceanography will have three parts. I will give a short overview about the the different types of oceanographic data products and show where and how to most efficiently access these data. These two parts of the talk don’t involve any research, but do provide practical (and hopefully useful) information for anyone interested in using satellite data. The third part of the talk will focus on the large chlorophyll blooms that often develop in late summer in the oligotrophic Pacific near 30°N, that have been revealed by satellite data. These blooms can cover thousands of km^2 and persist for months. The most intense and most frequent blooms occur between 130–150°W and 28–32°N, but blooms also develop further south, in the region just north of Hawaii. The blooms are often made up of diatom-diazotroph assemblages (DDAs) of the diatoms Hemiaulus and Rhizosolenia containing the nitrogen fixing endosymbiont Richelia intracellularis. The physical dynamics that stimulate the blooms remain unknown. Episodic injections of subsurface nutrients from eddy dynamics are likely the cause but the exact mechanism is unknown.

Dr. Cara Wilson

Principle Investigator of West Coast Node and PolarWatch at NOAA SWFSC

Dr. Cara Wilson has worked as a satellite oceanographer at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Monterey CA since 2002. She is the PI of the West Coast Node and of PolarWatch, which are both regional nodes of NOAA’s CoastWatch program, which provides access to satellite data for ocean and coastal applications. Her research interests are in using satellite data to examine bio-physical coupling in the surface ocean, with a particular focus on determining the biological and physical causes of the large chlorophyll blooms that often develop in late summer in the oligotrophic Pacific near 30°N. She received a Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University in 1997, where she examined the physical dynamics of hydrothermal plumes. After getting her PhD she worked as the InterRidge Coordinator at the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. Her introduction to remote sensing came with a post-doc at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center which involved analyzing TOPEX and SeaWiFS data. She is also the past chair of the IOCCG (International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group).