Laura Rogers-Bennett, Ph.D.

Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of California, Davis and two post-doctoral fellowships one at U.C. Santa Cruz’s, Institute of Marine Science and the other at the U. Washington’s, Friday Harbor Labs. Dr. Rogers-Bennett is a Research Associate with the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis and a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Marine Region. She is based at the UC Davis, Bodega Marine Lab where she leads a team investigating marine ecosystem health and invertebrate populations, fishery management and marine conservation. To do this work they use an interdisciplinary approach combining field, laboratory and quantitative modeling to examine questions related to wildlife health, ecosystem tipping points, marine conservation biology, fisheries sustainability and climate change. She has over 50 scientific publications and 10 book chapters on marine issues. She is also a co-PI working on the restoration of the critically endangered white abalone in California. She established a 20-year underwater marine ecosystem monitoring program and has documented the impacts of climate change and the massive marine heat wave of 2014-2015 on kelp forests and abalone resources in northern California. 

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Marine Invertebrate Fisheries and Conservation Laboratory

Research in the Marine Resource Assessment Laboratory focuses on addressing processes that impact marine populations and communities then applying these findings to fishery management and marine conservation issues. We work primarily with benthic marine invertebrates inhabiting nearshore rocky-reef ecosystems. In this work, we integrate field, experimental and modeling approaches to understand and examine theory related to population and community-level dynamics. We are currently working on projects investigating (1) the potential role of climate change on fished intertidal populations, (2) modeling approaches to describe growth, survival and reproduction in red abalone, (3) quantifying baseline abundances of depleted abalone species, (4) indirect effects of fishing ecosystem engineers, (5) the role of marine reserves as control areas for fishing impacts and (6) sensitivity analyses of matrix population models for fished and endangered species.

Laura Rogers-Bennett holds concurrent positions at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and is based at the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

More on Abalone Conservation 

Volunteer Opportunities in Laura Rogers-Bennett's Lab

Publications

Rogers-Bennett, L., and C.A. Catton In Press. Cascading Impacts of a Climate-Driven Ecosystem Transition Intensifies Population Vulnerabilities and Fishery Collapse. Frontiers in Climate, Ecology and People, Special Issue: Advances in Marine Heatwave Interactions. 

Rogers-Bennett, L., Yang, G., and Mann J.A. 2022. Using the Resist-Accept-Direct management framework to respond to climate driven transitions in marine ecosystems. Fisheries Management and Ecology 00: 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12539. 

Garcia-Reyes, M., Thompson, S.A., Rogers-Bennett, L., W.J. Sydeman 2022. Winter oceanographic conditions predict summer bull kelp canopy cover in northern California. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267737 

Boles, S.E., Neylan, I.P. Rogers-Bennett, L. and J.S. Gross 2022. Evaluation of gonad reproductive condition using non-invasive ultrasonography in red abalone (Haliotis rufescens).  Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.784481.  

Rogers-Bennett, L., Klamt, R., C.A. Catton 2021. Survivors of climate driven abalone mass mortality exhibit declines in health and reproduction following kelp forest collapse. Frontiers in Marine Science. 8: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.725134 

Hamilton S. L., Saccomanno V. R., Heady W. N., Gehman A. L., Lonhart S. I., Beas-Luna R., Francis F. T., Lee L., Rogers-Bennett L., Salomon A. K., Gravem S. A., 2021. Disease-driven mass mortality event leads to widespread extirpation and variable recovery potential of a marine predator across the eastern Pacific. Proc. R. Soc. B.2882021119520211195 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.1195 

Rogers, D.W., Zavitsas, A.A. and L. Rogers-Bennett 2021. Helical structure of polyunsaturated fatty acids: Gaussian G4 thermodynamic functions. J. Comp. Chem. Mole. Model. 5: 543-549. https://www.siftdesk.org/article-details/Helical-Structure-of-Polyunsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Gaussian-G4-Thermodynamics-Functions/10739 

Low, N.H.N, Micheli, F., Aguilar, J.D., Acre, J.R., Boch, C.A., Bonilla, J.C., Bracamontes, M.A., De Leo, G., Diaz, E., Enriquez, E., Hernandez, A., Martinez, R., Mendoza, R., Miranda, C., Monismith, S., Ramade, M., Rogers-Bennett, L., Romero, A., Salinas, C., Smith, A.E., Torre, J., Villavicencio, G., C.B. Woodson. 2021. Variable coastal hypoxia exposure and drivers across the southern California Current. Scientific Reports. 11: 10929 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89928-4. 

McPherson, M.L., Finger, D.J.I., Housekeeper, H.F., Bell, T.W., Carr, M.H., Rogers-Bennett, L. and R.M. Kudela 2021. Large-scale shift in the structure of a kelp forest ecosystem co-occurs with an epizootic and marine heatwave. Comm. Bio. 10.1038/s42003-021-01827-6 

Estrada, A.C., Rogers-Bennett, L. and M.A. Steele. 2021. Recruitment of post-larval abalone (Haliotis spp.) at Santa Catalina Island examining natural recovery. J. Shell. Res. 40:1-8.  

Bauer, J., Beas-Luna, R., Lorda, J., Malpica-Cruz, L., Lafarga-De la Cruz, F., Micheli, F., Searcy-Bernal, R., Rogers-Bennett, L., and M. Bracamontes-Peralta. 2020. Testing ocean warming solutions for red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, mariculture in San Jeronimo Island, Baja California, Mexico: Effects of depth and diet. Ciencias Marinas 46: 343-357. 

Swezey, D.S. Boles, S.E., Aquilino, K.M., Stott, H.K., Bush, D., Whitehead, A., Rogers-Bennett, L., Hill, T.M., and E. Sanford 2020. Evolved differences in energy metabolism and growth dictate the impacts of ocean acidification on abalone aquaculture. PNAS 117: 26513-26519 Doi: 10.1073/pnas.2006910117 

Hart, L., Goodman, M.C., Walter, R.K., Rogers-Bennett, L., Shum, P., Garrett, A.P., Watanabe, J.M., and J.K. O’Leary 2020. Abalone recruitment in low density and aggregated populations facing climate stress. J. Shell. Res. 39:359-373. 

Arafeh-Dalmau, N., Schoeman, D.S., Montaño-Moctezuma, G., Micheli, F., Rogers-Bennett, L., Olguin-Jacobson, C. and H.P. Possingham 2020. Marine heatwaves threaten kelp forests. Science Letters 367: 635. Doi: 10.1126/science.aba5244 

Rogers-Bennett, L. and C.A. Catton 2019. Marine heat wave and multiple stressors tip bull kelp forest to sea urchin barrens. Scientific Reports 9: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51114-y

Rogers, D.W., Zavitsas, A.A. and L. Rogers-Bennett 2019. The Gaussian G4 structure, enthalpy, and free energy of formation of trans-dimethyl-, diethyl, dipropyl-, and dibutylcyclopentanes. J. Mol. Model. 25:233 PDF.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Kashiwada, J.V., Taniguchi, I.K., Kawana, S.K. and C.A. Catton. 2019. Using density-based fishery management strategies to respond to mass mortality events. J. Shell. Res. 38:485-496.

Kawana, S., Taniguchi, I.K., Stein, D., Catton, C.A. Hofmeister, J.K.K. Sowul, K. and L. Rogers-Bennett. 2019. Warm water shifts abalone recruitment and sea urchin diversity in southern California: Implications for climate ready restoration. J. Shell. Res. 38:475-484.

Hofmeister, J.K.K, Kawana, S.K., Walker, B.J., Sowul, K. Taniguchi, I.K., Stein, D., Catton, C.A., L. Rogers-Bennett 2018. Temporal and spatial patterns in behavioral responses of marine predators to a sudden influx of abalone prey (Haliotis rufescens). Hydrobiologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3514-2

Ebert, T.A. et al. 2017. Size, growth, and density data for shallow-water sea urchins of the North American Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska including the Aleutian Island chain, 1956 – 2016. Ecology doi:10.1002/ecy.2123

O’Leary, J.K., Barry, J.P., Gabrielson, P.W., Rogers-Bennett, L., Potts, D.C., Palumbi, S.R., F. Micheli 2017. Calcifying algae maintain settlement cues to larval abalone following algal exposure to extreme ocean acidification. Scientific Reports. 7: doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05502-x

Li, Y. and Rogers-Bennett, L. 2017. Evaluating factors affecting restoration of an endangered marine broadcast-spawning invertebrate using an individual-based model of white abalone. Endangered Species Research. doi:10.3354/esr00804

Rogers-Bennett, L., Aquilino, K.M., Catton, C.A., Kawana, S.K., Walker, B.J., Ashlock, L.W., Marshman, B.C., Moore, J.D., Taniguchi, I.K., Gilardi, K.V., Cherr, G.N. 2016. Implementing a restoration program for the endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) in California. J. Shell. Res. 35:611-618. https://doi.org/10.2983/035.035.0306

Rogers-Bennett, L. Dondanville, R.F., Catton, C.A., Juhasz, C.I., Horii, T., Hamaguchi, M., 2016. Detecting larval, newly settled and juvenile red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) recruitment in northern California. J. Shell. Res. 35:601-609. https://doi.org/10.2983/035.035.0305

Rogers-Bennett, L. and D.W. Rogers 2016. A two-step growth curve: An approach to the von Bertalanffy and Gompertz equations. Advances in Pure Mathematics: 6: 321-330. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/apm.2016.65023

Reid, J. Rogers-Bennett, L., Pace, M., Eyler, R., Vasquez, F., Bruner, A., Catton, C.A., Kashiwada, J.V. and I.K. Taniguchi 2016. The economic value of the recreational red abalone fishery in northern California. California Fish and Game 102:119-130. 

Catton, C.A., Stierhoff, K. Rogers-Bennett, L., 2016. Population Status assessment and restoration modeling of white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) in California. J. Shell. Res. 35:593-599.  https://doi.org/10.2983/035.035.0304

Jurgens, L.J., Rogers-Bennett, L., Raimondi, P.T., Schiebelhut, L.M., Dawson, M.N., Grosberg, R.K., Gaylord, B. 2015. Patterns of mass mortality among rocky shore invertebrates across 100 km of northeastern Pacific coastline. PLoS One DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0126280: 1-21.

Braje, T.J., Rick, T.C., Erlandson, J.M. Rogers-Bennett, L., C. Catton 2015. Historical ecology can inform restoration site selection: The case of black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) along California’s Channel Islands. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. DOI:10.1002/aqc.2561.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and C.I. Juhasz 2014. The rise of invertebrate fisheries and the fishing down of marine food webs in California. California Fish and Game. 100:218-233.

De Wit, P, Rogers-Bennett, L. Kudela, R, and S. Palumbi 2014. Forensic genomics as a novel tool for identifying the causes of mass mortality events. Nature Communications 5: Article 3652 DOI:10.1038/ncomms4652

Andrews, A. H. Leaf, R.T., Rogers-Bennett, L., Neuman, M., Hawk, H., G.M. Cailliet 2013. Bomb radiocarbon dating of the endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni): investigations of age, growth and lifespan. Marine and Freshwater Research. 64:1029-1039.

Maguire, A.K, and Rogers-Bennett, L. 2013. An ecotoparasitic snail (Evalea tenuisculpita) infects red abalone in northern California. California Fish and Game 99:80-89.

Rogers-Bennett, L. K. Hubbard and C. Juhasz 2013. Dramatic declines in red abalone populations after opening a “de facto”  marine reserve to fishing: Testing temporal reserves. Biological Conservation: 157:423-431

Catton, C.A. and L. Rogers-Bennett 2013. Assessing the recovery of pink abalone (Haliotis corrugata) by incorporating aggregation into a matrix model. J. Shell. Res. 32:181-187.

Rogers-Bennett, L. 2013. Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Chapt.. 27 In “Sea Urchins: Biology and Ecology”, Third Edition”(J. M. Lawrence, Ed.), Elsevier, Oxford, United Kingdom. Pp 413-435.

Foster, M.S., Reed, D.C., Carr, M.H., Dayton, P.K., Malone D.P., Pearse, J.S., Rogers-Bennett, L. 2013. Kelp Forests in California. Research and Discoveries: The revolution of science through Scuba. Smithsonian publication. 39:115-132 .

Taniguchi, I.K., Stein, D., Lampson, K. and L. Rogers-Bennett 2013. Testing translocation as a recovery tool for pink (Haliotis corrugata) and green abalone (H. fulgens), in southern California. J. Shell. Res. 32:209-216.

Rogers-Bennett, L. Kudela, R., Nielsen, K. Paquin, A., O’Kelly, C. Langlois, G., Crane, D. and Moore, J. 2012. Dinoflagellate bloom coincides with marine invertebrate mortalities in northern California. Harmful Algae News 46:10-11.

Koslow, J. A., Rogers-Bennett, L. and D. Neilson 2012. A time series of California Spiny Lobster (Panulirus interruptus) phyllosoma from 1951 to 2008 links abundance to warm oceanographic conditions in southern California. CalCOFI 53:132-139.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Allen, B.L. and D.R. Rothaus 2011. Ecosystem engineers, northern abalone and species richness in the Pacific Northwest. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 21:573-581.

Button, C. A. and L. Rogers-Bennett 2011. Vital rates of pink abalone (Haliotis corrugata) estimated from mark-recapture data to inform recovery. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 431:151-161.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Dondanville, R.F., Moore, J.D. and L.I. Vilchis  2010. Response of red abalone reproduction to warm water, starvation and disease stressors: Implications of ocean warming. J. Shellfish Res. 29:599-611.

White, J.W. and Rogers-Bennett, L. 2010. Incorporating physical oceanographic proxies of recruitment into population models to improve fishery and Marine Protected Area management. CalCOFI 51:128-149.

Jiao, Y., L. Rogers-Bennett, I. Taniguchi, J. Butler and P. Crone 2010. Incorporating temporal variation in the individual growth of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) using hierarchical Bayesian growth models. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 67:730-742.

McClatchie, S., Goericke, R., Schwing, F.B., Bograd, S.J., Peterson, W.J., Emmett, R., Charter, R., Watson, W., Lo, N., Hill, K., Collins, C., Kahru, M., Mitchell, B.G., Koslow, J.A., Gomez_Valdes, J., Lavaniegos, B.E., Gaxiola-Castro, G., Gottschalk, J., L’Heureux, M., Xue, Y., Manzano-Sarabia, M., Bjorkstedt, E., Ralston, S., Field, J., Rogers-Bennett, L., Munger, L., Campbell., G., Merkins, K., Camacho, D., Havron, A., Douglas, A., and J. Hildebrand 2009. The State of the California Current, Spring 2008-2009: Cold conditions drive regional differences. CalCOFI 50: 43-68

Rogers-Bennett, L. and D.W. Rogers 2008. Modeling dispersal of cloning echinoderm larvae with a Gaussian distribution: Forever young? CalCOFI Reports 49:232-240.

Leaf, R.T., Rogers-Bennett, L., Y. Jiao 2008. Exploring the use of a size-based Egg-per-Recruit Model for the Red Abalone Fishery in California. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 28:1638-1647.

Bracken, M.E.S., B.E. Bracken and L. Rogers-Bennett 2007. Species diversity and foundation species: Potential indicators of fisheries yields and marine ecosystem functioning. CalCOFI Reports 48:82-89.

Rogers-Bennett, L. 2007. Is climate change contributing to range reductions and localized extinctions in northern, (Haliotis kamtschatkana), and flat, (Haliotis walallensis), abalones? Bull. Mar. Sci. 81:283-296.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Rogers, D.W. and S. Schultz. 2007. Modeling growth and mortality of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) in northern California. J. Shellfish Res. 26:719-727.

Rogers-Bennett, L. 2007. The ecology of Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Book Chapter In: Lawrence, J. (ed) Edible Sea Urchins: Biology and Ecology. Elsevier Amsterdam Chapter 19:393-425.

Leaf, R.T., Rogers-Bennett, L. and P.L. Haaker. 2007. Spatial, temporal, and size-specific variation in mortality estimates of red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, from mark-recapture data in California. Fisheries Research: 83:341-350.

Marko, P.B., Rogers-Bennett, L. and A.B. Dennis. 2007. MtDNA population structure and gene flow in lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus): limited connectivity despite long-lived pelagic larvae. Marine Biology 150:1301-1311.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and A.S. Melvin. 2007. Size differences in wild and farmed red abalone: Developing enforcement tools to combat illegal commercialization. California Fish and Game 93:77-85.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and D.W. Rogers. 2006. Estimating growth transitions for stage-based matrix models of endangered species with limited data. Ecological Modelling 195:237-246.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and R.T. Leaf. 2006. Elasticity analyses of size-based red and white abalone matrix models: Management and conservation. Ecological Applications 16:213-224.

Harley, C.D.G. and L. Rogers-Bennett. 2004. The potential synergistic effects of climate change and fishing pressure on exploited invertebrates on rocky intertidal shores. CalCOFI Reports 45:98-110.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Allen, B.L. and G.E. Davis. 2004. Measuring abalone (Haliotis spp.) recruitment in California to examine recruitment overfishing and recovery criteria. J. Shellfish Res. 23:1201-1207.

Bennett, W.A., K. Roinestad, L. Rogers-Bennett, L. Kaufman and B. Heneman 2004. Inverse regional responses to climate change and fishing intensity by the recreational rockfish fishery in California. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61:2499-2510.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Dondanville, R.F. and J.V. Kashiwada. 2004. Size specific fecundity of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens): Evidence for reproductive senescence? J. Shellfish Res. 23:553-560.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Rogers, D.W. Bennett, W.A. and T.A. Ebert 2003. Modeling red sea urchin growth using six growth models. Fishery Bulletin 101:614-626.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Haaker, P.A., Huff, T.O., P.K. Dayton 2002. Estimating baseline abundances of abalone in California for restoration. CalCOFI Reports 43:97-111.

Rogers-Bennett, L. (Ed.) 2002.  Review of some California fisheries for 2001: Market squid, sea urchin, Dungeness crab, lobster, prawn, abalone, groundfishes, swordfish and sharks, Coastal Pelagic finfishes, ocean salmon, nearshore live-fishes, Pacific herring, white seabass, and kelp. CalCOFI Reports 43:13-30.

Rogers-Bennett, L., P.L. Haaker, K.A. Karpov and D. J. Kushner. 2002. Using spatially explicit data to evaluate Marine Protected Areas for abalone in southern California. Conservation Biology 16:1308-1317.

Rogers-Bennett, L. (Ed.).  2001.  Review of some California fisheries for 2000: Market squid, sea urchin, prawn, white abalone, groundfishes, ocean salmon, Pacific sardine, Pacific herring, Pacific mackerel, nearshore live-fishes, halibut, yellowfin tuna, white seabass, and kelp. CalCOFI Reports 42:12-28.

Karpov, K., Tegner, M.J., Rogers-Bennett, L., Kalvass, P., Taniguchi, I. 2001. Interactions among red abalones and sea urchins in fished and reserve sites in northern California: implications of competition to management. J. Shellfish Res. 20:743-753.

Rogers-Bennett, L. 2001. Evaluating stocking as an enhancement strategy for red sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus: depth-specific patterns in recoveries. Echinoderms: 2000 Tenth International Echinoderm Conf. (Ed.). M. Barker. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Neth. 527-531.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and J.S. Pearse. 2001. Indirect benefits of marine protected areas for juvenile abalone. Conservation Biology 15:642-647.

Leet, W.S., C.M. Dewees, R. Klingbeil, and E.J. Larson (eds.). 2000. California living marine resources: a status report. Co-author on Chapters: Abalones, Red Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Wavy Turban Snails. CA Dept. of Fish and Game. UC Agriculture and Nat Res. Publ. SG01-11.

Rogers-Bennett, L. (Ed.).  2000.  Review of some California fisheries for 1999: Market squid, dungeness crab, sea urchin, prawn, abalone, groundfish, swordfish and shark, ocean salmon, nearshore finfish, pacific sardine, Pacific herring, Pacific mackerel, reduction, white seabass, and recreational. CalCOFI Reports 41:8-25.

Karpov, K., Haaker, P., Taniguchi, I., L. Rogers-Bennett. 2000. Serial depletion and the collapse of the California abalone (Haliotis spp.) fishery. Canadian Special Publication Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 130:11-24.

Rogers-Bennett, L. and J.S. Pearse. 1998. Experimental seeding of hatchery-reared juvenile red abalone Haliotis rufescens in northern California. J. Shellfish Res. 17:877-880.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Fastenau, H.C. and C.M. Dewees. 1998. Recovery of red sea urchins beds following experimental harvest. Echinoderms: San Francisco. Proceeds. 9th Intern. Echinoderm Conf. (Eds). R. Mooi and M. Telford. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Neth. 805-809.

Rogers-Bennett, L. 1997. Marine Protected Areas and the Red Urchin Fishery. California and the World Ocean ‘97, Proceeds of the Conf. Amer. Soc. Civil Engineers, California Sea Grant Publ. 412-423.

Rogers-Bennett, L., Bennett, W.A., Fastenau, H.C., and C.M. Dewees 1995. Spatial variation in red sea urchin reproduction and morphology: implications for harvest refugia. Ecological Applications 5:1171-1180.