Lab Alumni

Lab Alumni

This page contains links of emeritus faculty, visiting faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and former students affiliated with the Phycology Lab at Moss Landing Marine Labs since 2003. 

Emeritus Faculty:

Michael S. Foster, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Visiting Faculty:

Sean Connell, Ph.D., Lecturer, University of Adelaide [at MLML 2004-2006]

Alejandro Buschmann, Ph.D., Professor, Universidad de los Lagos [at MLML 2007]

Postdoctoral Researchers:

Gage Dayton, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher [at MLML 2005-2007]

Bernat Hereu, Ph.D., Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow [at MLML 2006-2007]

Former Students:

Laurie McConnico. 2003. Demography of the intertidal kelp Alaria marginata along the Big Sur coast of California. San Jose State University. Currently faculty at Cuesta College.

Michael D. Donnellan. 2004. Spatial and temporal variability of kelp forest canopies in Central California. San Jose State University. National Parks Service.

Matthew Forrest. 2004. Ecology, geochemistry, and structural geology of a shallow-water hydrothermal vent in Bahía Concepción, Baja California Sur México. California State University Monterey Bay.  PHD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Tim Schaadt. 2005. Patterns and cuases of variability in the cover, biomass, and total abundance of Ulva spp. in Elkhorn Slough, California. California State University Monterey Bay.

Brent Hughes. 2007. Effects of Egregia menziesii populations on rocky intertidal benthic assemblages. California State University East Bay. Postdoctoral at UC Santa Cruz.

Diana Kohtio. 2008. Population biology of the invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida in Monterey Harbor. San Jose State University.

Amber Szoboszlai. 2008. Positive and negative effects of intertidal macroalgal canopies on fucoid recruitment. San Jose State University. PHD at UC Davis.

Jennifer Jorve. 2008. Physical and biological consequences of morphological variability in a habitat-forming intertidal alga. San Jose State University. Currently PHD student at Univ Brit Columbia.

Aurora Alifano. 2008. Effects of algal drift on growth, survival, and reproduction of intertidal Strongylocentrotus purpuratus populations in central California. San Jose State University. Island Restoration Specialist with Island Conservation.

Max Overstrom-Coleman. 2009. Spatio-temporal variability and ecological significance of macrophyte-derived particulate organic matter (POM) within and surrounding a central California giant kelp forest. San Jose State University. Currently PHD student at Dartmouth.

Kyle Demes. 2009. Storage and abiotic regulation of sexual v. vegetative reproduction in the clonal kelp, Laminaria sinclairii. California State University, Monterey Bay. Currently PHD student at Univ Brit Columbia.

Megan Wehrenberg. 2009. Population dynamics and mechanisms for persistence of the red alga, Gracilariopsis andersonii, in central California. San Francisco State University.  Currently Reef Check North-Central California Regional Manager.

Catalina Reyes. 2009. Effects of erosion on the distribution of subtidal communities in Elkhorn Slough, Monterey County, California. California State University, Fresno. Currently Research Biologist at Pacific Gas & Electric.

Rosemary Romero . 2009. Recruitment strategies of Ulva and Porphyra in central
California. San Jose State University. PHD  at UC Berkeley.

Selena McMillan. 2010. Trophic interactions among Chlorostoma brunneaMacrocystis pyrifera, and fungi. San Jose State University. PHD at Univ of Auckland.

Thew Suskiewicz. 2010. Effect of competition and dispersal on the recruitment of the annual kelp Nereocystis luetkeana. San Jose State University. PHD at Univ Laval.

Arley Muth. 2010. Effects of substrate rugosity on kelp recruitment. California State University, Monterey Bay.

Sara Hutto. 2011. Differential recruitment of Postelsia palmaeformis across substrate types and potential facilitative effects of turfing algae. California State University, Monterey Bay. Currently California Seagrant Fellow.

Sonya Sankaran. 2011. Effect of competition and dispersal on the recruitment of the annual kelp Nereocystis luetkeana. San Jose State University. Currently Senior Bilingual Education Specialist at Watch Program, Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Brynn Hooton-Kaufman. 2011. Associations between fishes and the invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida in Monterey Harbor, Monterey, CA. California State University, Monterey Bay.

Paul Tompkins. 2011. Distribution, growth, and disturbance of Catalina Island rhodoliths. San Jose State University. PhD at Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology.

Mike Fox. 2013. Effects of biomass loss on growth and resource allocation in giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera. Currently PhD student at Scripps institution of oceanography. 

Alexis Howard. 2014. Effect of temperature on sexual competition in kelps: Implications for range shifts in foundation species.

Scott Gabara. 2014. Community structure and energy flow within rhodolith habitats at Santa Catalina Island, CA. Currently PhD student at San Diego State University. 

Jasmine Ruvalcaba. 2014. Effects of depth, site, and season on phenotypic variation of the geniculate coralline, Calliarthron tuberculosum around the Monterey Peninsula, California. Currently laboratory tech at Moss Landing Marine Labs: biological oceanography lab.

Sarah Jeffries. 2015. Impact of individual and population-scale dynamics on growth and reproduction of two morphologies of Macrocystis in central California. Currently assistant editor of the Journal of Phycology. 

Sara Worden. 2015. Effects of small-scale substrate complexity and heterogeneity on rocky intertidal species interactions.

Jarred Klosinski. 2015. Deposition, persistence, and utilization of kelp wrack along the central California coast. Currently laboratory tech at Moss Landing Marine Labs: biological oceanography lab.

Heather Fulton-Bennett. 2016. Ecological and reproductive consequences of morphological variation in Egregia menziesii. Currently PhD student at Oregon State University

Robert "Bobby" San Miguel. 2017. Gametophyte fitness and costs of self-fertilization in the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera. 

Mo Wise. 2017. Nutrient dynamics In tidally restricted regions of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Angela Zepp. 2017. Factors driving demographic and temporal variability in pH of the acid weed, Desmarestia herbacea

Stephan Bitterwolf. 2017. Physiological effects of nitrate, light, and intertidal position on the red seaweeds Mazzaella flaccida and Mazzaella splendens.

Maria Suzanne Christensen. 2018. Chemical competition between microscopic stages of Macrocystis pyrifera and five native kelp species: does giant kelp always lose?

Cody Dawson. 2018. Phenology and the response to the disturbance of the fucoid, Stephanocystis osmundacea.

María Vila Duplá. 2019. Dynamics and ecological implications of the Ulva-Zostera ecotone in Elkhorn Slough, California.

Elizabeth Ramsay. 2019. Morphological variability within Dictyoneurum californicum and Dictyoneurum reticulatum along a wave exposure gradient on the Monterey Peninsula.

Steven Cunningham. 2019. Physical and biological consequences of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) removals within a central California kelp forest.

Lindsay Cooper. 2020. Effects of biomass loss on the seasonal variability in storage compounds of Pterygophora californica.

Ann Bishop. 2021. Effects of temperature on competition between Macrocystis pyrifera and Sargassum horneri.

Acy Wood. 2022. Effects of habitat and temperature on reproductive success of Fucus distichus in central California.

Matthew Elliott.

Emily Montgomery.

Sean Fitch.