Research

Katrina Cantu studies sediment cores from coastal areas, particularly coastal wetlands, to understand how these environments change over thousands of years in response to sea level, climate, and human activities. Much of her work has been in collaboration with archaeologists seeking an environmental context for their research into the human past.

Daniel Cartamil, PhD, is a marine biologist interested in the movement patterns, ecology, and management of open-ocean fishes. He also uses photography as a tool for conservation, with an emphasis on the remote habitats and wildlife of Baja California.

Eric Cathcart is a geologist working on multiple soil and groundwater contamination projects in and around San Diego. His research topics include remediation design, geologic mapping, storm water sampling and analysis, and human health risk assessments. In addition, he is researching insoluble residues (metals) associated with Paleosols in The Bahamas. These metals are associated with Saharan dust and have climatic implications regarding Quaternary sea level and wind conditions.

Kayla Gorman is a geographer who is interested in climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation within the context of natural hazards. She primarily utilizes social science methodology and has worked on projects dealing with international early warning systems for hydrometeorological hazards, San Diego climate change actions, and agroforestry.

Sarah Gray, PhD, studies marine sedimentation at sites in the Caribbean and San Diego. She studies marine sediment samples to address how human land development impacts Caribbean coral reefs and how sedimentation and communities of microscopic plankton (foraminifera) vary in the deep marine basins offshore of San Diego.

Ron Kaufmann, PhD, specializes in benthic and pelagic ecology and environmental biology. His research focuses on how seasonal variation in temperature, rainfall, inputs from terrestrial systems, and spatial variation in tidal flushing affect organisms and communities within the bay.

Beth O’Shea, PhD, has a background in both public health and environmental geochemistry, meaning she studies pollution in the environment - water, soil, air - and how it impacts human health. She also researches how environmental policy intersects with water resources and natural disasters.

Jennifer Prairie, PhD, focuses on small-scale interactions between plankton in their environment. She currently works with undergraduate students on laboratory experiments to investigate properties of marine snow and their interactions with zooplankton and the implications for carbon cycling.

Nathalie Reyns, PhD, studies the biological and physical processes that influence larval transport and settlement in nearshore coastal environments. Her work also examines the population dynamics of non-indigenous (invasive) species in Mission Bay.

Steven Searcy, PhD, is interested in the early life history of marine organisms. His research is directed at identifying nursery habitats and understanding factors that influence nursery habitat quality and recruitment dynamics.

Sophie Taddeo, PhD, focuses on drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in wetland and urban ecosystems. She uses a variety of spatial tools including GIS and remote sensing to inform the conservation of ecosystems in working landscapes, to benefit both ecological and human communities.

Drew Talley, PhD, studies the mechanisms behind habitat linkages and how to integrate these connections into studies of coastal ecosystems. This includes research on wetland ecology, connectivity at the land-sea interface in the Gulf of California, and the impacts of species invasions. He integrates education and conservation into his questions with a particular interest in the California killifish.

Suzanné Walther, PhD, focuses on quantifying change, connectivity, and flooding in freshwater rivers due to climate change and other human influences. This includes using GIS, small drones, and sediment analyses in the field and lab. She also works with students on GIS, sustainability, climate change, and water resource policy based research to solve environmental problems.

Zhi-Yong Yin, PhD, uses tree ring data to reconstruct past climate along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. His research also includes simulation studies on climate change during Cenozoic. Recent research projects by his students include potential linkage between mental health conditions and urban greenspace, impact of ENSO on dust activities in the Dust Belt, excessive heat events in southern California, and floods and droughts in small watersheds of southern California.