Students and faculty from the Department of Environmental and Ocean Sciences recently attended the Western Society of Naturalists conference held on Nov. 6-9 in San Diego.

The University of San Diego community gathered to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the Advancement of Female Faculty: Institutional climate, Recruitment and Mentoring program (AFFIRM) Cohort on October 10. The cohort is comprised of seven female STEM faculty members who joined USD in 2014 (one moved on to another university) and have since become influential leaders on campus and beyond. The cohort was established by the university to bring women to the forefront of STEM at USD.

Environmental and Ocean Sciences alumna Kelly Hayden ‘23 (BS), is currently working as a faculty assistant in the nutrient management and water quality extension lab of Gurpal Toor, PhD. Dr. Toor is a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. A recent article in Bay Journal , “Study aims for reality check on nutrient runoff from farms” details the current research being undertaken in Dr. Toor’s lab.

Environmental and Ocean Sciences alumna Emily Zavacki ‘23 (MS) recently published her second thesis manuscript in Aquatic Invasions , an open access international journal focusing on biological invasions in aquatic ecosystems. The paper, “The influence of biogenic habitat created by the non-indigenous bryozoan, Amathia verticillata, on the resident marine invertebrate community in San Diego, California,” examines how invasive species alter local ecosystems. Co-authors include her thesis advisor Chair and Professor of Environmental and Oceans Sciences Nathalie Reyns, PhD and Associate Professor of Environmental and Ocean Sciences Michel Boudrias, PhD, along with Research Coordinator Jeffrey Crooks, PhD, from the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Alumna Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg ‘21 (MS) was recently appointed as the executive director of Marin Conservation League (MCL), one of the region’s oldest and most respected environmental advocacy organizations . Founded in 1934 and referred to as Marin’s environmental guardian, MCL works to ensure that planning, policies and actions in Marin promote a healthy environment where people and nature thrive.  During her time at USD, Schwartz Lesberg’s master’s thesis research examined the historical ecology of sportfishing in San Diego Bay using daily ocean fishing reports from two Southern California newspapers from 1959-2011. “I was fascinated with historical ecology because it gives us insight into how people were using and engaging with ocean and coastal resources in cases where scientific data are limited,” she said. “We were able to see patterns in what species people were catching and catch per unit effort, and then compare those patterns to large scale oceanographic conditions like El Niño/Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or sea surface temperatures.”  Her study found that while overall catch rates across species remained fairly consistent through time, individual species often declined or disappeared altogether in the catch report. These changes were often unexplained by environmental conditions. “It was evidence that something other than oceanographic variables - likely some human activity - was impacting the fish populations,” Schwartz Lesberg said. Her study noted that the impact probably wasn’t just coming from the recreational fishing itself, but from the myriad ways that people have degraded the coastal environment, through pollution, coastal development and the loss of wetland habitat, commercial fishing, and impacts from a changing climate. “My time at USD helped me realize how passionate I am about understanding the relationship between coastal communities and their natural resources, and working to minimize the harmful effects of people on natural systems,” Schwartz Lesberg said. “By studying a tightly coupled human-nature relationship like sportfishing, it also reminded me that people really are part of nature - we just need to remember how to be better stewards of these resources we depend on.” Since leaving USD, Ms. Schwartz Lesberg has become a seasoned conservationist - first working as the conservation program manager and later as director of conservation for San Diego Audubon Society (now called the San Diego Bird Alliance), before moving to northern California to serve as the San Francisco Bay Program Director for Audubon California . In addition to her new role at MCL, Rebecca currently serves as the board chair for the San Francisco Bay Migratory Bird Joint Venture and is the president/founder of Coastal Policy Solutions , a consulting firm that focuses on collaborative solutions for protecting California's natural resources for future generations.  Moving into the executive director role with Marin Conservation League has been a dream come true for Schwartz Lesberg. “Marin County faces impacts from climate change – including wildfires and sea level rise, damaging federal policies that threaten nature and communities, and the need to protect Marin’s rich environmental heritage in a complex urban landscape,” she stated. “Navigating the path forward will be complicated, and I am honored to help chart the way.”

Last spring and over intersession, two University of San Diego Environmental and Ocean Sciences (EOS) classes embarked on transformational study abroad research trips to San Salvador Island in The Bahamas. Guided by Adjunct Assistant Professor Eric Cathcart and Professors Sarah Gray, PhD, and Steve Searcy, PhD, the students spent several weeks in the field studying the many human and environmental stressors affecting the island. While most of the students in the class have since graduated, the research they laid the groundwork for in The Bahamas is far from finished. This summer, a new group of students have picked up their lab coats to continue researching San Salvador from right here on the USD campus.

A new open access book, Marine Mammal Acoustics in a Noisy Ocean , co-edited by Ann Bowles , PhD, has just been released by Springer Nature. This volume synthesizes what we now know about the fundamentals of ocean acoustics as they relate to marine mammals, underwater noise sources, and the vocal behavior of mysticetes, odontocetes, pinnipeds, otters and sirenians. The chapters also focus on marine mammal hearing, and analyze what is known about the effects of behavioral and physiological responses to noise. In the last 30 years, literature in this area has exploded and the final publication required 756 pages, four editors and 47 authors to bring it all together.  Dr. Bowles is both an editor of the volume and an author on a number of chapters. She is a Senior Research Scientist at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, as well as a Research Associate at USD and serves on graduate student committees as a research mentor. Her USD graduate students have been important contributors to her work over decades, and their graduate research is not only cited in the volume, but these students have also gone on to make contributions to marine mammal bioacoustics since they graduated. Noteworthy USD graduate alumni in this volume include: Rindy Anderson '00 (MS) whose work focuses on marine mammal responses to human-made gear and pingers Larry Wolski '99 (MS) studies harbor seal hearing Jessica Crance's '08 (MS) research looks at killer whale cross-dialect learning and is considered one of the world’s experts on North Pacific right whale bioacoustics Whitney Musser's '14 (MS) research is centered on killer whale cross-species learning Sheyna Wisdom's '00 (MS) studies of vocal development in gray whales includes continued participation in gray whale bioacoustics research Ann shared, “ I got a big kick out of it every time papers by someone who worked in my lab got cited, especially since it often wasn’t me making the choice - that’s the best possible affirmation of the value and quality of their work!” Dr. Bowles hopes this volume will stimulate more decades of advancement in our understanding of marine mammal bioacoustics and foster the contributions of USD’s next great cohort of graduate students.

A recent article in the Voice of San Diego discussed the work of USD alumna Natalie Clagett ‘23 (MS/JD), who is investigating the environmental effects of SeaWorld’s fireworks displays.