Two people in a workshop lab; foreground person with blue gloves handling samples — Alyssa cracking open a purple sea urchin for dissection.

My Summer With Kelp Forest Ecology

An SRJC-BML Internship Story

by Alyssa Walls
September 25, 2026

My name is Alyssa Walls and I am an SRJC student majoring in Biology and Natural sciences. I plan to transfer to UC Davis or UC Berkeley and pursue a degree in Plant Biology or Ecology and Evolution. Since I was little I have always been passionate about nature and loved being outdoors observing plants, insects, and other creatures. I aim for a career that involves a mix of research and field work in the environmental field.

Person in black hoodie and boots kneeling in rocky tidepool, reaching into seaweed — Alyssa looking for abalone to measure with calipers.

This summer I had the incredible opportunity to intern at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. I worked with my mentor Maya Munstermann on her PhD research that studies the effect climate change has on bull kelp forest ecology. I learned how important kelp forests are for many marine species. If the bull kelp forest is healthy and thriving, so are the other organisms that rely on it for food and habitat.

With the Okamoto lab team I helped monitor bull kelp populations at different sites in Sonoma and Mendocino county. Factors such as growth, temperature, light, and nutrients were all recorded. These data allow us to understand how the bull kelp forests are returning after a series of marine heatwaves led to large scale kelp loss. I also helped perform urchin dissections. Purple sea urchin were taken from sites where bull kelp was monitored. The urchin dissections give us insight into urchin reproductive behavior. Another project I helped with was abalone surveys. This was my favorite field work opportunity. At low tide I found and measured red abalone along transects by wading around tide pools and feeling under rocks. These surveys give us an understanding of abalone population and feeding behavior since the decrease in their food source bull kelp.

My experience at BML gave me confidence to pursue a scientific career in research. I learned a great deal about the aspects that go into scientific research like field work, lab work, timing, patience, and safety. I believe that these components of research are best learned through experience and now I have familiarity with them which will benefit me throughout my career.