2018-2019 Awardees of Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship at Bodega Marine Laboratory
2018-2019 Awardees of Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship at Bodega Marine Laboratory
The Coastal and Marine Science Institute is pleased to announce the ten recipients of the UC Davis Bilinski fellowship. Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski’s life goal was to be “independent and challenged intellectually.” They strongly valued self-sufficiency, a sense of ambition, and above all, responsibility. Their legacy continues in their nonprofit corporate foundation that provides fellowship funds for post-secondary education for students who have demonstrated and will maintain both the highest academic achievement and good moral character.
Bilinski fellowships are awarded to outstanding students whose selected projects, based at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, exhibit innovation, collaboration, and are a fundamental part of the student’s final dissertation. The awardees below successfully bridge the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities in their project proposals. As a result, recipients were each awarded $20,000 to assist with tuition, stipend, and research expenses.
Connor Dibble is studying the physical ocean processes that affect marine population dynamics. As a science lead for the CA Collaborative Fisheries Research Program, he will use responses to develop quantitative assessments that evaluate the overall understanding of MPA’s and marine conservation issues as well as the publics level of buy-in and engagement with the MPA approach.
Katie Dubois is studying extreme climate events and how such rapid changes in environmental conditions can impact the physiology of Eelgrass. She is leading the Bodega Science Communication Collective that both improves participants science writing and produces a marine science themed children’s coloring book.
Kristen Elsmore is studying the connection between kelp forests, inshore wave energy, and biogeochemistry. Kristen will develop a short film that follows the story of the Kelp Forest Restoration, featuring the results and implications of her own findings.
Helen Killeen is studying how the movement and survival of groups of prey and larval predators shape dispersal outcomes in coastal upwelling systems. She will then develop a weeklong middle school curriculum focusing on scientific storytelling, marine science careers, and CA Next Gen Science Standards.
Nicole Kollars is studying how changes in grazing intensity affect the genetic diversity of Eelgrass populations in northern California. She is also working on a project that will fuse storytelling with art to communicate her scientific findings.
Emily Longman is studying marine intertidal communities in the Bodega Bay region over the past 75 years and how they might change. Following her research, Emily will present her findings at the California Academy of Sciences as a public talk and via film.
Hannah Palmer is studying the paleoclimate record to better understand seafloor community’s response to environmental change. In collaboration with the UC Museum of Paleontology, she plans to develop and publish a set of educational tools that visualize and describe global climate change.
Benjamin Rubinoff is studying the effects of climate change and invasive species on fouling community diversity and function. Benjamin will also teach citizen scientists and high school students how to quantify the distribution and abundance of invasive species in Tomales Bay.
Priya Shukla is studying the impacts of ocean acidification on stakeholder perceptions and farming practices of mussel aquaculture. The process and outcome of her experiments will be recorded for a public access documentary.
Melissa Ward is studying how California seagrasses modify estuarine water chemistry and what controls the ability of seagrasses to do so. Melissa will create a collaborative display educating others on the ecological services of seagrass meadows, and how bay users can avoid habitat damage.