News | Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute & Bodega Marine Laboratory

Sloan Fellowship Will Help New Faculty Rachael Bay Understand How Marine Animals Respond to Warming Temperatures

Rachel Bay received a Sloan Foundation fellowship to fund research on the molecular mechanisms of thermal tolerance in corals, an increasingly critical physiological process as ocean temperatures shift and warming events occur.

Climate Change

Falling Stars - Once-Abundant Sea Stars Imperiled by Disease Along West Coast

Since 2013, sea star wasting disease has brought about massive mortality in multiple sea star species from Mexico to Alaska. The East Coast has not been immune, as the disease has affected the shores from New Jersey to New England.

SeaDoc Society Debuts New Video Series 1st Episode of ‘Salish Sea Wild’ Explores Steller Sea Lions

The SeaDoc Society invites viewers to explore the magnificent wildlife of the Pacific Northwest in a new adventure series called Salish Sea Wild, debuting Jan. 10. Salish Sea Wild is hosted by SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos and will feature a new species or topic each month, starting with Steller sea lions in January.

Conservation

Blending In: Ecology Graduate Student Grace Ha Investigates Camouflage in Seagrass Meadows

“We’re in a region with a Mediterranean climate and upwelling— what’s cool is that both of these are associated with high levels of biodiversity,” says Grace Ha, an ecology Ph.D. student. In upwelling zones, nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean are transported to coastal regions, which makes them hotspots for biodiversity.

Marine Ecology

Tree rings and deep-sea corals: Coral skeletons teach Foster Scholar Carina Fish about the past ocean

Deep-sea corals have some things in common with trees. As their branches grow, corals document the minute details of ocean chemistry in ring patterns like those in tree trunks. And like certain trees, some coral species can live for hundreds or even thousands of years, preserving their recording of past conditions. Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar Carina Fish uncovers the records kept by deep-sea corals in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary for her Ph.D. at University of California, Davis.

Paleoclimate Research

Discovering Curiosity: Protecting Our Oceans from the Tiniest Toxins

BML Director Gary Cherr's research focuses on reproductive biology and environmental toxicology. He became an Aggie in the 1980s, when he enrolled at UC Davis for graduate studies in zoology. His latest research focuses on the effects of nanoparticles on marine life.

Environmental Toxicology

First Jellyfish Genome Reveals Ancient Beginnings of Complex Body Plan

Jellyfish undergo an amazing metamorphosis, from tiny polyps growing on the seafloor to swimming medusae with stinging tentacles. This shape-shifting has served them well, shepherding jellyfish through more than 500 million years of mass extinctions on Earth.

“Whatever they’re doing has really worked for them,” said David Gold, an assistant professor of paleobiology in the University of California, Davis, College of Letters and Science.

Discovering Curiosity: Saving the White Abalone with Kristin Aquilino

For the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences: A UC Davis alumna, Kristin Aquilino directs the Bodega Marine Laboratory's white abalone captive breeding program. In 2001, the marine snail was officially listed as endangered. Using captive breeding, Aquilino and colleagues hope to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.

Investigating Ocean Toxicity with Evan Tjeerdema, Marine and Coastal Sciences Undergrad

Evan Tjeerdema spent the summer at Bodega Marine Laboratory, participating in both of the facility’s summer sessions. While there, he took classes like environmental toxicology and conducted two research projects: He studied the effects of environmental toxins on crab lavae and on predator-prey interactions using red abalone and starfish.

What’s In a Scientific Name? A Story.

A scientific name means more than just Linnaean nomenclature. Names go out into the world like buoys in the ocean, mere indicators of the stories and relationships weighted below them. Grace Ha writes about discovering a new marine species — and naming it.