Melinda is a full-time technician in the Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab. She is an alumna of the lab, and her master’s thesis — entitled “Shifting species boundaries: Mytilus spp. on the Pacific coast” — examined the current distribution patterns of introduced and native bay mussels in California and Oregon, as well as the potential for new introductions from mussels found on Japanese tsunami marine debris landings.
Melinda is currently working on the California non-indigenous species project and various other projects that come through the lab. She received her B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Oregon.
E-mail: melinda.wheelock@sjsu.edu