Current Sabbatical Fellows and Center Associates
Sabbatical Fellows
Leah Gerber | Michelle Mack | John Sabo | Ted Schuur
Center Associates
John Alroy | Juliann Aukema | Nancy Baron | Steven Courtney
Ben Halpern | Carrie Kappel | Kim Selkoe | Alisa Wade
| Sabbatical Fellows | |
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Leah Gerber |
The goal of my NCEAS sabbatical research is to bridge the gap between marine conservation science and management by validating marine ecosystem models (MEMs). I will first characterize the types of MEMs being employed by management agencies that use ecosystem-based management. I will then create virtual marine ecosystems to compare predictions from commonly used, but much less detailed MEMs. This work will provide guidance about the use of MEMs for management. |
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Michelle Mack |
Climate warming in the far north is increasing the number, size and intensity of wildfires. Large stocks of carbon reside in boreal forests and arctic tundra, thus combustion of stored carbon could feedback positively to warming. Fires are a natural part of the disturbance regime in boreal regions, but rare in tundra. How will increased fire activity alter this biome? At NCEAS, I will synthesize results from tundra and boreal fires to better understand the effects of increasing fire on ecosystem carbon and nutrient dynamics, and ultimately, feedbacks to climate. |
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John Sabo |
The goal of my sabbatical research is to define a quantitative approach to conservation biogeography of rivers that is rooted in drainage network theory. Specifically, I am interested in the effect of dams on river flows and the composition of fish faunas. In contrast to previous work, I will tackle this question using structural equations that allow me to model complex cause-effect relationships in a spatial context. This work should inform decisions about dam removals and experimental release strategies. |
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Ted Schuur |
At present, increasing greenhouse gases responsible for climate change are largely a result of human activities. However, climate change may alter the cycling of carbon in ecosystems far from direct human influence. My sabbatical research is aimed at understanding the potential release of permafrost carbon stored in tundra and boreal ecosystems to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane. Decomposition of permafrost carbon represents a positive feedback from terrestrial ecosystems that may alter the future pace of climate change. |
John Alroy |
I study large-scale ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes in the fossil record. My research mostly focuses on North American fossil mammals and Phanerozoic marine invertebrates, connecting regional and local diversity, taxonomic composition, body mass distributions, ecomorphology, and hylogenetic patterns to intrinsic diversity dynamics, evolutionary trends, mass extinctions, and the effects of global climate change. Additional projects involve time scale theory, methods of sampling standardization, and simulation analyses. I also coordinate the NSF-funded, NCEAS-based Paleobiology Database project, which has brought together scores of workers in an effort to document the global marine and terrestrial macrofossil record of plants and animals. |
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Juliann Aukema
(805) 892-2527 jaukema
 tnc [dot] org (Email)Website |
My research interests lie in spatial patterns, processes, and mechanisms underlying species interactions and distributions, and in applied conservation. I draw on the fields of spatial ecology, plant community ecology, plant-animal interactons, conservation biology, and epidemiology; and I strive to bridge the gap between science and conservation practice. At NCEAS, I am working on a project to quantify the economic and ecosystem impacts of non-native forest pests and pathogens in North America. Both the economic and ecosystem efects of these introductions ahould be considered in developing public policy. |
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Nancy Baron |
Nancy Baron, a zoologist and science writer, is the Science Outreach Director for SeaWeb/COMPASS. She is also the lead communications trainer for the Aldo Leopold Leadership program and helps scientists translate their work to journalists, the public and policymakers. She and her Washington DC based team keep their fingers on the pulse of important marine conservation research. When new “tipping point” science is published, they coach scientists to talk about it in ways that are readily understood and get the story out to the media. Nancy also leads communications training workshops to help bridge the worlds of scientists and journalists. |
| "Dying is easy; comedy is hard" (last words of actor Donald Wolfit).
Science isn't easy, but using it for real-world decisions can be even harder. Sometimes, getting timing and process right is as important to giving advice as it is to telling a joke. Can we, as scientists, ensure our information and advice is used in ways that preserve integrity, but are also clear and effective? I am comparing the approaches and results from different scientific advisory panels, including the work of Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, NAS, and other organizations. Top of page |
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Ben Halpern |
I received my Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology from UC Santa Barbara in 2003 and was then a TNC David H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow jointly sponsored at NCEAS and UC Santa Cruz. As Project Coordinator for the Ecosystem-based Management Program, I help coordinate and guide the working group and post-doctoral research funded through this project, participate in these efforts when appropriate, and work to help translate products from these efforts into real-world management and policy changes. My own research focuses on evaluating population and ecosystem level ecological processes of coastal marine species and systems, developing and evaluating the science and methods for managing and conserving marine resources (particularly marine protected areas and EBM), and determining factors that control food web structure and dynamics. |
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Carrie Kappel |
As a postdoctoral fellow with the Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) project, I am working on methods for integrating multiple biophysical, social and economic datasets across spatial and temporal scales, estimating the joint uncertainties associated with the integrated data, and incorporating that uncertainty into management decision-making. These activities will be tied to development of system models and a decision-support framework to support marine EBM in coastal California through my involvement in and coordination of the Science Frameworks for EBM working group. |
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Kim Selkoe |
I am a molecular ecologist who uses genetic tools to investigate marine dispersal. My research, funded by the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, applies these interests to the coral reefs of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. I will determine the genetic structures of various reef species and use modeling to estimate the likely source-sink dynamics throughout the archipelago. I am also leading a collaborative project using microsatellite markers to determine the degree of larval dispersal of nearshore fishery species across the US/Mexico border. |
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Alisa Wade |
Human activities, such as harvest, hydropower, hatcheries, and habitat destruction have greatly affected wild Pacific salmon habitat, and climate change will compound these effects, particularly by altering flow regimes and water temperatures. Incorporating a state-of-the-art model of surface water temperature and flows under novel climate regimes, I will model likely shifts in salmon range. I will then map the relative sensitivities of different salmon populations throughout North America to climate change, given salmon life history traits and other human constraints on each population. My results will provide a synthesis of habitat protection opportunities and their likely effectiveness under climate change scenarios. |
