What does it mean to learn marine science by doing? For students in the inaugural Fall Quarter at Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), it meant using a clam gun to reveal burrowing invertebrates in the mudflats, tagging coho salmon to help monitor wild fish populations, and practicing the slow, stealthy skill of catching sculpin with bare hands.
As an assistant diving and boating safety officer for UC Davis based at Bodega Marine Laboratory, Dias works with UC Davis researchers to coordinate and provide guidance for critical fieldwork that’s helping us understand the health of our oceans and waterways, and in turn, our global climate.
The McMurdo Dry Valleys don’t look like they belong in Antarctica. Largely devoid of snow, the landscape is mostly dirt and rock. When explorer Robert Falcon Scott trekked the area in 1903, he referred to it as “the valley of the dead.”
Beneath the water, weightlessness envelops the body and sounds are amplified. The hiss of the regulator chimes like a metronome, mixing with the natural soundscape produced by ocean creatures and processes: the crunch from fish as they nibble on coral reefs and the crash of the waves above.
Tiny fragments of DNA permeate the air, soil, and water around us. This environmental DNA (eDNA) unlocks a non-invasive way to monitor biodiversity and detect species that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Looking at a jellyfish is like looking into the ancient past. Survivors from the late Precambrian Era, these organisms lived in an environment completely alien to the wide swath of modern Earth. They thrived during a time when the waters of our planet were largely anoxic, the lack of oxygen making them inhospitable to most animals existing today.
Carolyn Lundquist, Ph.D. ’00, prompted by a high school career test, studied communication at UCLA, until an elective completely changed her path, leading her to eventually settle thousands of miles from her native California.
Scientists at the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute discuss how their research informs and is influenced by policy, illustrating the complex relationship between science, management, and decision-making.
On a triple-digit summer day in Davis, community members found shade and science within the walls of G Street WunderBar at the latest Davis Science Café.
The California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) is a partnership that brings together marine researchers, management agencies, and local fishers.
