Fourteen students defend thesis research in 2021!

Emily Montgomery

By Emily Montgomery, MLML Phycology Lab

2021 was a complex year to be a graduate student, with global societal issues demanding our attention and energy alongside our usual scientific workload. The emergence of the COVID-19 vaccines brought with it the hope of being able to safely socialize in-person with our friends and loved ones again. The resilient Moss community was able to return to some in-person activities in the Fall of 2021, including hosting the first lab Halloween party since 2019!

During this rollercoaster of a year, 14 students successfully defended their MLML theses virtually via Zoom. Please join me in congratulating the following students:

  • Ann Bishop, Phycology Lab
  • Taylor Eddy, Invertebrate Zoology Lab
  • Bonnie Brown, Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab
  • Matthew Jew, Ichthyology Lab
  • Justin Cordova, Pacific Shark Research Center
  • Gregory Bongey, Geological Oceanography Lab
  • Jennifer Tackaberry, Vertebrate Ecology Lab
  • Sophie Bernstein, Ichthyology Lab
  • Rachel Brooks, Ichthyology Lab
  • Holly Doerr, Ichthyology Lab
  • Melissa Naugle, Invertebrate Ecology Lab
  • Kristen Saksa, Ichthyology Lab
  • Jacquie Chisholm, Physical Oceanography Lab
  • Amanda Camarato, Physical Oceanography Lab

Read below for pictures of the graduates, and explore the links to their thesis announcement posts with more info about their projects and the YouTube recordings of their defenses.

Check out posts commemorating past defenders written by MLML alumna June Shrestha: 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017.

Ann Bishop, Phycology

"Feeling the heat: Reproductive Competition between Macrocystis pyrifera and Sargassum horneri"

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor Eddy, Invertebrate Zoology

"Multiscale habitat use and effects of resource availability on California Spiny Lobster (Panulirus interruptus) population success"

 

 

Bonnie Brown, Fisheries and Conservation Biology

"Geographic and Ontogenetic Variation in the Trophic Ecology of Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) Along the U.S. West Coast"

 

 

Matthew Jew, Ichthyology 

"Evaluating the trophic habits and dietary overlap of two deep-sea catsharks (Apristurus brunneus and Parmaturus xaniurus) in central California"

 

 

Justin Cordova, Pacific Shark Research Center

"Descriptions of Deep-Sea Catsharks (Pentanchidae: Apristurus Garman 1913) from the Southwestern Indian Ocean"

 

 

 

 

Gregory Bongey, Geological Oceanography

"Relationships between weathering and climate variability in a high-relief tropical region during the ice ages: IODP X363 offshore record of Papua New Guinea"

 

 

 

Jennifer Tackaberry, Vertebrate Ecology

"Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, feeding dynamics from the perspective of the individual: Insights from demography, life history, and bio-logging"

 

 

 

 

Sophie Bernstein, Ichthyology

“Stable isotope analysis reveals differences in domoic acid accumulation and feeding strategies of key vector species in Central California”

 

 

 

 

Rachel Brooks, Ichthyology 

"Geographic variation in the life history and demography of Canary Rockfish, Sebastes pinniger, along the U.S. West Coast"

 

 

 

 

Holly Doerr, Ichthyology

"Species-specific transcriptomic responses of juvenile rockfish (Sebastes) to simulated future upwelling conditions"

 

 

 

 

Melissa Naugle, Invertebrate Ecology

"Effects of Land-Based Sources of Pollution on Coral Thermotolerance"

 

 

 

 

Kristen Saksa, Ichthyology

"Effects of climate change induced ocean acidification and hypoxia on larval gopher rockfish"

 

 

 

 

Jacquie Chisholm, Physical Oceanography

"Characterizing Shallow Groundwater Nutrient Contribution to California Central Coast Agricultural Sites and Estuaries"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda Camarato, Physical Oceanography

"Satellite Remote Sensing & Model Reanalysis Estimates of Upper-Ocean Heat Content in the Canada Basin"