Seminars – Page 17 – Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Up, down & sideways: 4 decades of change in a Monterey kelp forest – May 3rd, 2018

January 5, 2018May 7, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. James Watanabe, Hopkins Marine Station

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - May 3rd, 2018

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. James M. Watanabe received his PhD in zoology from UC Berkeley. His research interests focus on invertebrate zoology and marine ecology, with particular emphasis on kelp forests and rocky intertidal communities. Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station in 1994, he directed the research program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for 10 years.

Dr. Watanabe has conducted research on the distribution and abundance of kelp forest invertebrates, the dynamics of sea urchin-mediated deforestations, and the physiological ecology of kelp . These studies have focused on predator-prey interactions, interspecific competition, and the effects of disturbance on marine organisms. He is also interested in the statistical problems of detecting changes in natural populations through time.

Dr. Watanabe's primary responsibility at Hopkins Marine Station is undergraduate teaching. During winter, spring, and summer quarters he teaches subjects ranging from introductory biology and invertebrate zoology to kelp forest ecology, experimental design, and statistics. His courses attempt to nuture an appreciation for the natural world through accumulation of detailed knowledge and hands-on experience.

Up, down, and sideways: four decades in a Monterey kelp forest

Four decades of observing the kelp forests of the Monterey peninsula have shown me a broad spectrum of variability in both time and space, from unexpected swings in the abundance of some species to near constancy in others. Witnessing this procession of change has challenged my perceptions as the years have gone by and altered my understanding of how I think these communities function. I'll present some data and a few thoughts on how massive barnacle settlement, sea star mass mortality, and sea urchin-mediated deforestation in the heart of sea otter country have taught me lessons from the kelp forest.

Taking Your Science to Sea: Lessons Learned by a Chief Scientist – May 10th, 2018

January 5, 2018October 30, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. Kenneth Coale, Moss Landing Marine Labs

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - May 10th, 2018

Hosted by the Ichthyology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

The oceans, directly or indirectly, play a significant role in controlling almost every biological, physical, geological, climatological, process that occurs in the earth’s biosphere. Due to their vastness and inherent inhospitable nature, they are severely understudied and are now shifting rapidly as a result of climate change. Increasingly, decision makers are turning to marine scientists for guidance in the development and application of solutions to problems affecting them. Oceanographic research should therefore, be an area of rich study. For several reasons, however, the efforts to understand these systems have disproportionately lagged other areas of environmental science. One reason recently identified by the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) is the lack of familiarity that many young investigators have with the complex facilities and infrastructure necessary to access and perform research at sea. In a recent survey, UNOLS also noted that many young investigators have little experience organizing an oceanographic field campaign, are unfamiliar with the observational and sample recovery technologies, and have the belief that such research is too expensive. In a conversational format, Kenneth Coale will discuss the basic aspects and challenges of using these platforms and share some scientific life-lessons learned from leading over 50 oceanographic cruises on ships large and small.

Advances in the study of foraging behavior of cetaceans from 3D movement and video tags

November 17, 2017August 24, 2022Kimberly Elson

David Cade, Hopkins Marine Station

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - December 7th, 2017

Hosted by the Phycology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

David Cade was an educator (6 years in the outdoors and 6 years in a math classroom) before returning to science to pursue his passions. After earning a master’s degree in education at Stanford University in 2005 and a master’s in oceanography at Oregon State University in 2014, Cade is now in the midst of his Ph.D. work in Jeremy Goldbogen’s lab at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station where he studies the foraging ecology of baleen whales.

Advances in the study of foraging behavior of cetaceans from 3D movement and video tags

For nearly all of human existence on the sea, our understanding of whales has been limited to what we can observe at the surface. For fully aquatic animals such as these, however, time spent on the surface is really a tiny fraction of the life cycle of these largest predators on the planet. Basic questions about feeding behavior and ecology have only begun to be answered in the last fifteen years with the advent of animal-borne sensors capable of logging cetacean behavior underwater. Only in the last three years have sensors that measure orientation and motion been combined with high-quality video cameras to provide us with a whale's eye view of the feeding events that are so critical to overall population recovery from 20th century lows. These devices have allowed old hypotheses to be tested, and new questions and insights have been generated with every new deployment.

Revealing the microscopic using underwater robotic sensors

November 13, 2017April 6, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. Christina Preston, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 30th, 2017

Hosted by the Environmental Biotechnology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Chris Preston received her undergraduate degree at James Madison University, PhD at UC Santa Barbara with Ed Delong, and was a Post Doc at Hopkins Marine Station with Dave Epel. Her early work was mainly describing symbiotic associations between marine invertebrates and bacteria/archaea. Since joining MBARI over 15 years ago, her focus has shifted more towards studying microbial populations (free-living & particle attached) throughout the water column using in situ instrumentation.

Revealing the microscopic using underwater robotic sensors

One of the long-standing challenges common to studying microorganisms in the environment is acquiring and processing samples. Traditionally, this has involved shipboard sample collection and laboratory-based analysis. New in situ sensors combine novel engineering and molecular biological methods and can function underwater longer than the length of research cruises. This allows scientists to monitor and experiment within the environment in a whole new way. In this talk, I’ll discuss how the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) developed by MBARI can address the challenge of sample collection and processing over an extended period under non-traditional laboratory conditions, and its capability to support a variety of downstream molecular detection systems. I’ll focus on lessons learned from the operation of our 2^nd generation ESP, and how that has impacted development of our 3^rd generation instrument.

Marine Heat Wave Impacts Bull Kelp Forest Ecosystems in Northern California

November 9, 2017October 30, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett, UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - November 16, 2017

Hosted by the Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of California, Davis and two post-doctoral fellowships one at U.C. Santa Cruz’s, Institute of Marine Science and the other at the U. Washington’s, Friday Harbor Labs. Dr. Rogers-Bennett is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Marine Region working at the U.C. Bodega Marine Lab. The work in her lab focuses on marine invertebrate population dynamics, fishery management and marine conservation. In the lab they use an interdisciplinary approach combining field, laboratory and quantitative modeling to examine questions related to recruitment dynamics, MPAs, marine conservation biology, fisheries sustainability, ecosystem tipping points and climate change.

Aquaponics research at Humboldt State University

November 2, 2017October 23, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe, Humboldt State University

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 9, 2017

Hosted by the Phycology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Fisheries Biology at Humbolt State University. He received a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries from Louisiana State University, a MS in Aquaculture/Aquatic Science from Kentucky State University, and a BS in Biology from Universidad de Guadalajara.

“pH”ingerprinting coastal oceans: connecting climate change, natural variability, and biological feedbacks

October 26, 2017May 15, 2018Kimberly Elson

Dr. Nyssa Silbiger, CSU Northridge

Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 2, 2017

Hosted by the Geological Oceanography Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Nyssa Silbiger is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at CSUN. She did her postdoc at UC Irvine, PhD at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Masters at UNC Chapel Hill, and Bachelors at Florida State University. During her PhD, she was a NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar. Her research broadly focuses on understanding interactions between anthropogenic stressors and natural variability on ecosystem processes.