CMSI at WSN 2026

The Western Society of Naturalists (WSN) annual conference is just around the corner, and many of our UC Davis and CMSI community will be there! To help you connect, support, and cheer on your colleagues, we’ve put together a lineup of all the talks and posters featuring CMSI-affiliated researchers. 

Be sure to check out the full WSN 2026 Schedule and the Searchable WSN 2026 Schedule to map out your sessions, and use the list below to catch up on the incredible marine and coastal research being presented by our community.

Posters:

• 33 - Seasonal Temperature Effects on Prophages in Seagrass Rhizobacteria † Maeda, S. ;

• 37 - Evaluation of Management Approaches for Crown-of-Thorns Sea Stars in the Great Barrier Reef Using Stage-Based Matrix Modeling † Pelletier, S. ; Baskett, M.L.; Provost, M.M. University of California, Davis

• 45 - Local adaptation to sediment and temperature in eelgrass (Zostera marina) † Dubinin, V.G.T. ; Hall, A.; Yoong, N.; Brown, A.; Stachowicz, J. UC Davis

• 58 - Using physical oceanographic data to define species-specific climate refugia for marine management Bolin, J.A. ; Pozo Buil, M. ; Lezama-Ochoa, N. ; Bograd, S. ; Muhling, B. ; Provost, M. 1- UC Davis 2- USC 3- UCSC 4- NOAA

• 68 - Coral Color and Its Genetic Basis as Predictors of Thermal Tolerance † Dalicano, J.R. ; Shi, J.; Benson, B.E.; Bay, R.A. University of California, Davis

• 70 - Ecological Forecasting in the Presence of Kelp Forest Collapse & Stochasticity: A Graph Neural Network Approach Calistro, G.F. ; Arafeh-Dalmau, N. ; Kumagai, J.A. ; Jeung, M. ; Micheli, F. 1- University of California - Davis, Stanford University 2- Stanford University 3- University of Florida

• 95 - Local adaptation shapes eelgrass-pathogen, interaction: a reciprocal transplant experiment Hall, C. ; Nicholas TY., ; Anya LB., ; John JS., UC Davis

• 133 - Exploring chromosomal inversion genotype frequencies in eelgrass offspring Harper, M.G. ; Erickson, K.L.; Bay, R.A.; Stachowicz, J.J. University of California, Davis

• 139 - Influence of Sediment Characteristics on Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Rhizosphere Microbial Communities † Kennedy-Van Gilst, J. ; Holliman, D.; Story, L.T.; Brown, A. UC D

• 158 - Kelp for Rockfish’s sake? Linking survival of juvenile Black Rockfish to kelp restoration strategies † Chari, M.R. ; Baskett, M.L. UC Davis

• 38 - Predator Cues, Not Food Availability, Drive Reduced Grazing in the Eelgrass Isopod † Relyea, I.M. ; Yoong, N. ; Stachowicz, J.J. 1- University of Michigan 2- UC - Davis

• 154 - Linking Fluorescent Protein Variation to Thermal Stress Performance in Acropora hyacinthus † Shi, J. ; Bay, R.A.; Moran, B.M.; Benson, B.E.; Dalicano, J.R.; Duim, W.C. University of California, Davis

Talks:

• The Microbial Memory of Diversity: Exploring Diversity and Legacy Effects in Eelgrass † Qian, D. ; Holliman, D.K. ; Brown, A.L. 1- Oregon State University 2- UC Davis

• Parallel Evolution of Eelgrass across Multiple California Bays † Erickson, K.E. ; Holliman, D.K.; Stachowicz, J.J.; Bay, R.A. UC Davis

• Effects of kelp loss and Sargassum horneri invasion on the functional genes of the kelp microbiome and associated substrate † Penn, S.C. ; Lima, L.F.O. ; Morris, M.M. ; Doan, M.P. ; Goodman, A.Z. ; Kerr, E. ; Brown, A.L. ; Edwards, M.S. ; Dinsdale, E.A. 1- San Diego State University 2- Scripps Institute of Oceanography 3- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 4- Flinders University 5- Scripps institute of Oceanography 6- University of California, Davis

• Increasing temperature mediates the influence of isopods and eelgrass on each other’s microbiome † Yoong, N.T. ; Briggs, A.A.; Brown, A.L.; Stachowicz, J.J. UC Davis

• Food and thermal history shapes multi-level responses of the California mussel to consecutive heat stress events. † Alcantar, C.Y. ; Vasquez, M.C. ; Allen, B.J. 1- UC Davis 2- Loyola Marymount University 3- CSU Long Beach

• Population structure along environmental gradients in ribbed limpets (Lottia digitalis and L. austrodigitalis) † Banerjee, S.M. ; Roybal, E. ; DeLane, D. ; Bay, R.A. 1- University of California, Davis 2- Howard University

• Genomic variation in fluorescent proteins drives differential bleaching in the coral Acropora nasuta † Pollard, K.N. ; Moran, B. ; Holliman, D. ; Cox, B. ; Juliano, C. ; Brown, A. ; Rongo, T. ; Bay, T. 1- UC Davis 2- Korero o te Orau 

• Wound healing and regeneration in Porites: effects of wound size and response of the microbiome † Diminuco, M.N. ; Brown, A.L. ; Brzezinski, M.A. ; Osenberg, C.W. 1- University of Georgia 2- University of California, Davis 3- University of California, Santa Barabara 

• Evaluating Coral Microbiome Flexibility as a Mechanism of Bleaching Resistance † Holliman, D.K. ; Pollard, K.N. ; Hundley, C.L. ; Whatarau, S. ; Rongo, T. ; Bay, R.A. ; Brown, A.L. 1- UC Davis 2- Duke University 3- NES Cook Islands 4- Korero O Te Orau

• Relationship between host-pathogen site sympatry and temperature on seagrass wasting disease dynamics in Northern California † Moheed, S. ; Briggs, A.A.; Konefat, L.; Stachowicz, J.J.; Brown, A.L. University of California, Davis 

• Plasticity and adaptation to changing light regime differs among California eelgrass populations: implications for restoration † Tettelbach, C.R.H. ; Stachowicz, J.J. UC Davis 

• Abalone Refugia Across Variable Thermal Regimes † McCleese, L.R.F. ; Bolin, J.A. ; Provost, M. 1- University of Washington 2- University of California, Davis

• Population mixtures increase eelgrass wasting disease resistance under non-native temperature conditions Zabinski, K.L. ; Stachowicz, J.J. 1- UC Santa Cruz 2- UC Davis

• Climate Vulnerability Assessment for California’s State-Managed Fish and Invertebrate Species Provost, M.M. ; Frawley, T. ; Bellquist, L. ; Ben-Aderet, N. ; Blondin, H. ; Brodie, S. ; Pozo Buil, M. ; Jacox, M. ; Bograd, S. ; Hazen, E. ; McGonigal, H. ; Ramey, K. 1- UC Davis 2- UC Santa Cruz 3- TNC 4- OPC 5- U of Miami FL 6- NOAA SWFSC 7- Fathom Consulting 8- CDFW

• Navigating the spectrum of management-relevant research: communication, collaboration, and coproduction Baskett, M.L. University of California, Davi

• Seasonal Temperature Effects on Prophages in Seagrass Rhizobacteria † Maeda, S. ; Sogin, M. ; Grasis, J. ; Brache-Smith, D.M. 1- University of California, Davis 2- University of California, Merced 3- University of California,Merced