Our People

As the Executive Director, Ben sets the vision and programmatic direction for NCEAS. He also serves as a principal investigator on several projects and working groups. Ben is also a professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

His research interests are primarily in marine ecology and conservation planning, but span a wide range of disciplines. He has led several research initiatives that have influenced ocean management, including a global analysis of the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs), a global assessment of the cumulative impacts of human activities on oceans, and the development and global application of the Ocean Health Index.

Ben has been involved with NCEAS for more than two decades, first as a graduate student participant and a postdoctoral researcher, and later as a Center Associate and Deputy Director. He earned his B.A. in biology from Carleton College in 1995 and his Ph.D. in marine ecology from UC Santa Barbara in 2003.

Marty manages the Network Office of the Long Term Ecological Research Network, coordinating scientific synthesis, education, and engagement activities for 28 research sites in every major U.S. biome.

Since 2005, she has managed collaboration, communications, and outreach in environmental and public health organizations, including Brown University’s Environmental Change Initiative, the New England Aquarium, and the Nature Conservancy, where she led the Science Impact Project, a professional development program for TNC scientists. As a science journalist, she has written for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Technology Review, the news section of Science, and produced news and commentary for public radio. Marty began her career as an ecologist, investigating plant-soil-atmosphere interactions in temperate forests, subarctic forests, and arctic tundra. Use ORCID to view her research publications.

Marty earned her B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University and her M.S. in Science Journalism from Boston University.

View her personal website >> 

Matt directs the Informatics program at NCEAS, which focuses on both supporting efficient synthesis through scientific computing and on building new advanced infrastructure to support data sharing, preservation, analysis, and modeling. Matt is the Director of the DataONE program, a global network of interoperable data repositories, and of the NSF Arctic Data Center. In addition to data infrastructure work at NCEAS, Matt also helps to build the NCEAS Learning Hub through an emphasis on data science and reproducible research teaching.

Matt’s career has focused on improving data science infrastructure to support cross-disciplinary and synthetic science, principally through the development of open source software for data repositories, metadata systems, and reproducible analysis and modeling.

Matt has a M.S. in Zoology from the University of Florida that focused on the ecology of plant-animal interactions, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Visit his personal website >> 

Michelle is responsible for NCEAS' financial, facilities, and administrative functions, employing her depth of knowledge in UC finance, contracts and grants, and policy.

She started at NCEAS as Event Coordinator in 2010, then to moved to the Financial Analyst position in 2013, and Contracts and Grants in 2018.

She has a BA in Psychology from UCSB that she uses everyday at NCEAS.

Jim leads an environmental data science program at NCEAS geared toward building infrastructure, tools, and capabilities that enable our community to achieve more impactful research outcomes through better data management, modeling, analysis, and visualization. Complementing this technology program, Jim is also passionate about expanding data science literacy & expertise in the practitioner community.

Throughout his career, Jim has served as a Data Science leader & researcher applying diverse strategies for transforming data into valuable information. Jim first joined NCEAS in 1997 as a graduate intern coordinating data synthesis efforts, then later returned for 8 years as staff data scientist supporting Center residents and working groups. Prior to rejoining NCEAS in his current role, he spent over a decade in the software industry, leading data science initiatives and developing analytics products using robust and scalable software approaches applied across the entire data technology stack.

Jim earned his Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology From Princeton University, a Master’s in Environmental Science & Management from the Bren School at UCSB, and a B.A. in Biology from Williams College.

Courtney works to advance the Center’s mission and support cross-Center initiatives that bridge synthesis research, environmental data science and learning activities.

Trained as a marine scientist, Courtney is passionate about bringing interdisciplinary science to bear on real world issues affecting people and the planet.

She received her Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UCSB and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aquatic Biology, also from UCSB.

Cat is a Research Associate with NCEAS and is currently leading the Western Wildfire Resilience Index (WWRI) project. Her research is at the interface of social and ecological systems with the goal of solving sustainability challenges by supporting societal decision-making and addressing key issues of environmental justice and sustainable development. Previously, Cat was an NSF postdoc studying anthropogenic stressors to tropical reefs, then an NCEAS postdoc exploring aquaculture as a sustainable pathway for meeting growing food demands. She earned her PhD in 2016 at UCSB where her dissertation investigated parasite population and community ecology.

Carmen has collaborated on data science projects at NCEAS focusing on analyzing remotely sensed images since 2021. She is currently part of a joint project with The Nature Conservancy to map the spread of invasive iceplant along the California coast. Carmen is also an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At the Bren School, she teaches data science tools and skills and leads the capstone courses for the Bren Master of Environmental Data Science (MEDS).

Before her work at NCEAS, Carmen received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from UC Santa Barbara and her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Guanajuato in Mexico. 

Will is a Senior Fellow at NCEAS, leading a team that develops and implements software for marine monitoring, assessment, and planning. SeaSketch (www.seasketch.org), a web-based mapping application developed in his lab, is used for the collaborative design of marine spatial plans including marine protected areas (MPAs) and other types of zones.

Although trained in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology, as a postdoctoral researcher Will concentrated his work on the development and implementation of geospatial tools for use by non-technical users, first for the design of California's MPAs and later for international marine planning efforts.

He received his B.A. in Biology from Earlham College, M.S. in Behavioral Ecology from the University of Cincinnati, M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Mark was the Director of Computing at NCEAS from it's opening in 1995 until 2017, in charge of building and maintaining the computational infrastructure, and supervising the scientific computing staff. He recently "semi-retired" to become a Center Associate, focused on Ecoinformatics research.

Mark's main research interest is in how to organize data for ecological syntheses. He is currently working in the area of data semantics and knowledge graphs, where they are using new logic-technology approaches to make data more readily discoverable and re-usable over the Web.

He grew up and went to high school in Southern California, but headed back east to Harvard for an undergraduate degree in Biology. Mark came back to UC Santa Barbara for a PhD in marine ecology, doing research on coral reef fish in the San Blas Islands of Panama.

Matthew Brooke is a Research Software Engineer at NCEAS, where he develops tools that facilitate the storage and exchange of ecological data for scientists. His work includes contributions to the Arctic Data Center, and to ESS-DIVE – the Department of Energy's data repository for Earth and environmental science.

Matthew's interest in technology and its potential to enhance people's lives has been a driving force throughout his career. He has a wealth of experience in the software industry, having held numerous engineering and leadership positions since first working at NCEAS in the early 2000s. His passion for advancing scientific knowledge has now led him back to academia, where he is eager to continue his work.

Matthew's academic background includes a Ph.D. in Physics/Acoustics from the University of Wales in Cardiff, UK, and a BS in Physics & Acoustics from the University of Surrey, UK.
 

Chad Burt is Principal Developer for the McClintock Lab and develops software for marine conservation planning and fisheries management. Our main application, SeaSketch, has been used in over a dozen countries to support marine spatial planning projects.

Chad works to understand how web and spatial technology can be used by a broad set of stakeholders, focusing on the development of user-friendly tools.

Chad received a B.A. in Biology from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jeanette helps researchers make their research more reproducible and open by helping them publish data on the Arctic Data Center, and teaching them software and workflow techniques in training events.

She is broadly interested in ways to bring reproducible research and open data practices to researchers in order to facilitate collective knowledge production in science. Prior to working at NCEAS, Jeanette brought her oceanography knowledge to a coral reef ecology research group at the NOAA Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center. The experience she had working with long-term monitoring data there ultimately drove her interest in working with data more broadly across multiple fields at NCEAS.

She has a masters in physical oceanography from the University of Hawaii.

Visit her personal website >>

I am a data analyst currently working on the the environmental justice implications of global food systems and the effects of aquaculture from climate change. I started this role after getting my master's degree in Environmental Data Science from UCSB. Previously I worked as an environmental engineer to help various types of facilities follow environmental regulations for their operations. I received my undergraduate degree in materials engineering from Cal Poly - SLO.

Erika Egg is a data analyst on the Western Wildfire Resilience Index (WWRI) project at NCEAS. She previously worked as an Ocean Health Index Fellow and, before that, as an Arctic Data Center Intern, both also at NCEAS. Her research experience has also included lab, field, and data analysis work related to marine chemical analysis, landscape restoration, urban forestry, food security, and the environmental impacts of COVID-19. She particularly enjoys learning about and contributing to research surrounding interdisciplinary urban-centered socio-environmental topics. Erika completed a triple major in Environmental Studies, Linguistics (Emphasis in Language and Speech Technologies), and History of Art and Architecture (Emphasis in Architecture and Environment) during her undergraduate education and afterwards completed a Master of Environmental Data Science, both at UCSB.

Mona Farnisa is a data analyst on the Western Wildfire Resilience Index (WWRI) project at NCEAS. Before getting into ecological data analysis, Mona worked in the agriculture sector and was interested in combining greenhouse agricultural production and environmental data metrics. Mona has a M.S. in environmental science and natural resources from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she researched high desert floral hemp, and a B.S. in environmental science from Amsterdam University College in The Netherlands.

Melanie collects, analyzes, and visualizes data for several global projects at NCEAS including the Ocean Health Index, cumulative human impact on global oceans, and footprint and costs of food. She also works to promote good data management, analysis, and visualization skills.

Prior to arriving at NCEAS, Melanie worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She has worked on various projects, but the link between these efforts is the desire to synthesize complex data and information in ways that help us better understand our world and our impact on it.

Melanie has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Washington studying insect ecology and evolution at high altitude; a Master’s degree in Physiology from Arizona State University studying on oxygen limitations in insects; a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University; and an AA degree from Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ (whew!).

Darian builds software to help researchers access, manage, and analyze ecological and environmental data. His primary project at NCEAS is VegBank.

While his time is often spent in the particulars of programming, Darian’s heart lies in the interdisciplinary work that makes climate action clear and realizable. Before coming to NCEAS, he spent 3 years at Mast, coding tools to revolutionize reforestation and counter the catastrophic effects of wildfires. Prior to that, he worked at The Blue Planet Foundation, helping accelerate Hawaii’s transition to renewable energy by drafting policy and writing web-based educational games.

Darian received his B.S. from the University of Puget Sound, where he studied computer science, philosophy, and bioethics, but he credits his Honolulu public school teachers with pointing him on the path he walks today.

Justin helps researchers manage and archive their data so that it will be easily discoverable, ready for long term storage, and ready for use by others. He mainly works with the Arctic Data Center online repository.

He is broadly interested in the intersection of data science with environmental and climate science. Before coming to NCEAS, he had researched the use of deep learning models in hydrological forecasting at UC Berkeley, worked on short-term weather forecasts at ClimateAi, and worked on a language modeling research project at NASA Ames. All these experiences contributed to his excitement for the potential impacts of data and computational methods in our understanding of our planet.

He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor's in Data Science with an emphasis in Physical Science Analytics.

Maggie is a Projects Data Coordinator for the Arctic Data Center. Through this position, she helps researchers submit and archive their data so that their research is findable, reusable, and reproducible.

Maggie is interested in utilizing data science to facilitate ecological research. Earlier in her career, she worked for California States Parks, as a biological consultant, and as a lab manager at UC Santa Barbara. Maggie holds a Master’s in Ecology from UC Santa Barbara where she studied the interaction between climate and herbivory on California plant communities. During her graduate program, she was a Data Science intern at NCEAS and an Arnold Environmental Graduate Fellow.

As a Research Software Engineer Alyona focuses on advancing big data collection and discovery through the Permafrost Discovery Gateway project, supporting scientists and researchers in the Arctic permafrost region. Alyona is trained in astrophysics and astronomical data processing. In addition to her academic experience, she built a career as a full-stack software engineer. Alyona led critical projects improving the infrastructure and user experience of Hulu, Disney, and Airtable applications.

On her YouTube channel, Dork Matter Girl (https://www.youtube.com/@dorkmattergirl), Alyona explores scientific theories of consciousness with silly cats and memes. For more engaging content blending art and science, visit her blog at alyonakosobokova.com.

Nick Lyon (they/them) is an early career data scientist with experience managing and analyzing scientific data in a range of formats. Nick earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puget Sound and an M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Iowa State University. They are a passionate educator (certified as an instructor by The Carpentries) and thoroughly enjoy chances to teach and learn with audiences of all levels of prior experience. They firmly believe in transparency in data management and are an avid Git/GitHub user. Check out their GitHub profile (github.com/njlyon0) for examples of their work!

Peter Menzies supports the marine conservation efforts of the McClintock Lab, a part of NCEAS, via data processing and visualization, dashboard development, and geospatial planning tool development within the SeaSketch ecosystem. Peter first joined NCEAS as an Ocean Health Index Fellow, processing data layers and calculating scores for the 2022 assessment. Soon after the fellowship, he was hired by the McClintock Lab. Prior to his time at NCEAS, Peter explored ecology field work and environmental education. Interested in the intersection of technology and conservation, Peter eventually made his way from his home state of North Carolina to Santa Barbara where he joined the first Masters of Environmental Data Science cohort at UCSB’s Bren School.

Abby is a Geospatial Developer for the McClintock Lab, developing software for marine conservation planning and fisheries management. They work specifically on reporting tools for SeaSketch, a web-based mapping application used for collaborative marine spatial planning.

Abby has worked developing software for ecology labs at the University of Michigan and University of Washington. As a research analyst with the Buckley Lab at UW, Abby developed web-based tools to support microclimate and biophysical modeling. Prior to joining NCEAS, Abby completed a nine-month project funded by the University of Michigan’s Wallenberg Fellowship, working with land managers in the southern region of Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland.

Abby earned a B.S.E. in Computer Science Engineering at the University of Michigan with minors in Climate Science and Environment.

https://www.avmey.com/

Rushiraj is a Scientific Software Engineer building software for open science. Specific projects he's worked on include DataONE Metrics Service and EZID--an identifier management system.

Intrigued by Computer Science he taught himself to program computers at an early age and started his contribution to the open science community as an intern at United States Geological Survey.

Rushiraj graduated from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with a Master's degree in Computer Science and with a Bachelor's of Technology in Information Technology from Nirma University.

Ian helps develop open-source software for use in science as part of the NCEAS Informatics team.

Ian's work as a science industry software developer and as a Master's student included constructing open-source tools for scientific analysis and visualization of geophysical data. He also managed a number of remote citizens science seismic and weather systems and continues to be a strong advocate of citizen science.

Ian is working on an M.S. in Earth and Climate Science from the University of Maine that focused mainly on the geophysics and geomorphology of late-glacial and post-glacial lake sediments (but also sent him to Antarctica). He has a B.A. from Williams College.

- Personal website: https://iannesbitt.org
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/paleosurface

Robert is a Software Developer at NCEAS working on tools to help researchers more easily access and store information. He works primarily in back-end web development, creating APIs for both UI consumption and direct access for research. Robert has a strong background in academic software development and web technologies. His experience spans the full web development stack. He has developed software tools at both the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA) and Stanford University (Stanford, CA) to support key institutional functions, ranging from payroll processing and student enrollment to graduate financial aid management. Robert has a BS in Computer Science with minors in English and Classical Studies from the University of Puget Sound.

Jing is a software engineer at NCEAS, working on different environmental software projects, including Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB), Science Environment for Ecological Knowledge (SEEK), Kepler and Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE).

Jing focuses on developing robust, efficient and scalable software products from desktop applications to server repositories for environmental scientists, ecologists, and biologists.

Jing has a combined educational background of both chemistry and computer science. He completed a Ph.D of polymer chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a M. S. of computer science at the University of Montana, Missoula.

Ray Czaja is a Gulf Ecosystem Initiative postdoc researcher investigating bottom-up and climate change impacts on zooplankton and ichthyoplankton in the Gulf of Mexico. Broadly trained in marine ecology, Ray’s M.S. work (University of West Florida) involved seagrass community ecology in the Gulf of Mexico, and Ray’s doctoral work (Stony Brook University) involved bivalve fisheries ecology in the northwest Atlantic. Prior to graduate school and following his B.S. (Temple University), Ray worked as an outdoor educator in Long Beach for two years, and is therefore no stranger to science outreach and local (Southern California) marine ecology.

Mai is a Post-Doctoral Scholar conducting research with a Gulf Ecosystem Initiative working group on the impact of severe weather on fisheries. Her doctoral research focused on understanding eutrophication and its interactions with mercury cycling. Mai completed a Ph.D. in marine sciences from the University of South Alabama and an M.P.H. in public health and a B.A. in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley.

Rachel King is a data analyst on the Digital Assets for Nature project, working to catalogue and summarize the extent of current digital monitoring efforts of the natural world.

With a background in ecosystem and plant ecology, Rachel has conducted research that investigates the interactions between plants and soil and how humans may alter these relationships. This work can further our understanding of ecosystem responses to climate change as well as how to restore function to landscapes negatively impacted by humans. More recently, Rachel worked as an Analyst at NCEAS to create maps of prey resources for endangered vertebrate species across California drylands, with a particular focus on the Blunt-nosed leopard lizard.

Rachel completed a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and a B.A. in Biology at Scripps College.
 

Liying Li is a postdoc researcher for the Gulf Ecosystem Initiative at NCEAS with a research interests on birds of the Gulf and multi trophic level interactions. She has interdisciplinary background that combines environmental engineering, environmental policy, and sustainability management. She has used quantitative data analytics for climate change impact analysis on agriculture, resources management, and conservation plannings with species distribution modeling. Her doctoral research was on analyzing how human decisions on agricultural land use and local water allocations in California affect avian biodiversity across Central Valley, California.

Marisa (she/her/hers) is a postdoctoral scholar investigating the environmental and economic costs of plastic pollution and marine debris in the United States. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a scientific diver to help manage invertebrate fisheries off the coast of California. Her doctoral work assessed Palmyra Atoll’s communities (terrestrial arthropods and parasites in marine fish) to understand how species distributions changed with scale. She also focused on using Bayesian techniques to account for imperfect detection in community surveys. Marisa completed a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.S. in marine and coastal ecology at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Erica is a Point Conception Institute Anthony LaFetra Research Fellow, where she helps coordinate TNC’s coastal research collaborations at the Dangermond Preserve. She also focuses on synthesizing existing coastal biodiversity data to understand ecological dynamics and species range shifts under climate change to inform conservation practice both locally and globally.

Erica holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Zoology from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to joining TNC, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of California, Davis, where she studied eco-evolutionary dynamics of a climate-driven range shift in owl limpets.

Casey is a postdoctoral scholar studying the impacts of human activity and climate change on marine biodiversity. His work examines the intersection of anthropogenic stressors with the ranges of species affected by those stressors to understand spatial patterns of human impact, to help inform effective marine conservation.
As a data scientist, Casey strives to incorporate best practices of reproducibility and open science in his research. He also enjoys working with students to help them develop their own data science skills, formally as a lecturer and informally through workshops and lecturing.
Casey earned his MESM and PhD in environmental science and management at UC Santa Barbara, and a BS and MS in mechanical engineering at Stanford.
Website: oharascience.com
 

Shayna Sura is a postdoctoral scholar for the Gulf Ecosystem Initiative (GEI) supported by NCEAS and the NOAA RESTORE Science Program. She is researching the movement of tropical fishes into the northern Gulf of Mexico and their impacts on endemic fish communities and fisheries.

Shayna is trained in ecology, with a focus on marine ecology. She is broadly interested in anthropogenic impacts on marine organisms and communities, and she has worked in various coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and salt marshes.

Shayna completed a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) and a M.S. in biology and B.S. in environmental science at the University of Notre Dame.

Website: shaynasura.weebly.com"

Zhe Wang specializes in detecting iceplant through remote sensing imagery. Leading the analysis and synthesis of remotely sensed data, she spearheads the development of open, reproducible machine learning workflows aimed at identifying invasive iceplant. As a remote sensing researcher, her primary focus lies in deep learning applications. Her research interests span across climate, environmental issues, geohealth, and spatiotemporal modeling. Zhe completed her PhD in Geography at the University of Idaho, complemented by two master's degrees—one in GIS from Arizona State University and another in Computer Science from the University of Idaho. She obtained her bachelor's degree in remote sensing in China.

Tessa helps tell the stories of NCEAS! Collaborating with NCEAS’s working groups and staff, she aims to communicate science in a way that is informative, engaging, and accessible.

Tessa has been a science educator in classrooms, aquariums, and museums across the country. Driven by a desire to deepen the public’s understanding of scientific concepts, she hopes to inspire others to become stewards of the environment.

She received her Master’s in Teaching the Biological Sciences from Miami University through the Project Dragonfly Program, and holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Science and Classical Civilization from Emory University.

As the Data Training Coordinator, Sam works to develop and teach data science curricula for the Masters in Environmental Data Science (MEDS) program and data science initiatives across NCEAS and UCSB. She finds much of her inspiration from the awesome in-person and online open data science communities that so willingly share their experiences, ideas, and work for others to learn from.

Previously, Sam worked as a Data Fellow with the Arctic Data Center and informatics team at NCEAS, with a focus on using data semantics to make data more readily discoverable within online repositories. She is also a co-organizer of R-Ladies Santa Barbara, a local data science group which works to promote diversity in the R community.

She received her M.S. from the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2020, following a B.S. in Marine Biology from Northeastern University in 2016.

Personal website: https://samanthacsik.github.io/

Gabriel De La Rosa is the communication coordinator for the Long Term Ecological Research network. He facilitates communication between the many researchers and institutions across the world involved in the network.

Gabriel's passion lies in science communication and, while previously working as a research scientist in fisheries and marine spatial planning, he sought to communicate the results of his and others work to a broad audience. Gabriel has created short videos, executive summaries, and data visualizations for a variety of research initiatives.

Gabriel received his Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and a B.A. in Molecular Biology from Colorado College. His personal website is gabrieldelarosa.com

Angie is the Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator for both the Arctic Data Center and DataONE, where she furthers both projects' presence in their respective communities and the broader community. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies and Environmental Studies from University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Angie has helped other think-and-do tanks with science communication and further developed her leadership skills through various roles in organizations while at UCSB. She has a passion for science communication and graphic design she hopes to leverage in assisting both projects while at NCEAS.

Nicole is a Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator for the Arctic Data Center and NCEAS, focusing on communications, community involvement, and data science trainings. Nicole earned her B.S. in geology from James Madison University and her PhD in geology at the University of Florida where her research focused on glacial sedimentology and she found her passion for science communication and promotion of women in STEM.

Heather is the Project Manager for the Cultivated Seafood project. In collaboration with the Environmental Markets Solution Lab at UCSB, the team aims to understand under which conditions cultivated seafood may have a conservation impact.

With over ten years in both the seafood and technology sectors, this project perfectly combines her background and interest in creating better food systems for people and the planet.

Heather completed her Masters in Environmental Resource Management with an emphasis in coastal conservation at the Bren School at UCSB and a B.S. in Biology at Graceland University in Iowa.

Cristina (she/her) is the Community Engagement Officer at NCEAS and the LTER Network Office. She works closely with the Advancing Public Engagement Across LTERs (APEAL) project team to facilitate co-creation and support project management. Cristina also works on advancing DEIJ in environmental data science, synthesis science, and ecology within and through the projects and research at NCEAS. 

Her research experience includes pollination ecology, small-scale fisheries transitions, and community forest planning. Cristina cares deeply about centering environmental justice in the implementation and search for environmental solutions. 

Cristina is from the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. She received her Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UCSB. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Williams College. 

Jamie is the coordinator for the Master's of Environmental Data Science (MEDS) degree program, a joint partnership between NCEAS and the Bren School of Environmental Data Science & Management. 

Previously, Jamie worked as a marine data scientist at NCEAS, where she served as the lead analyst on the US Northeast Ocean Health Index project.

Her research experience includes synthesizing large spatial datasets to estimate and track human impacts on the global oceans and assessing the potential of aquaculture as a marine conservation strategy. She is also co-founder of local data science study groups, including R-Ladies Santa Barbara and EcoDataScience.

Jamie has a Masters in Environmental Science & Management from the Bren School at UCSB, and a B.Sc in Marine Biology from the University of Miami.

Molly Phillips (she/her/hers) is the Access and Inclusion Coordinator for the Long Term Ecological Research network. She helps to facilitate the design and implementation of strategies to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion across the LTER network.

Molly is a biologist by training with a background in evolution, ecology, and natural history, with a variety of past work experiences including natural history collections, state agencies, nonprofits and the U.S. Air Force. Through these experiences she became very passionate about the importance of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (IDEA) in STEM, and now has eight years’ experience working in IDEA spaces with projects like BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium and iDigBio before joining the LTER team in 2024.

Molly received her Masters of Biology from the University of Manitoba and a B.Sc. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida.
 

Sarah cultivates support for NCEAS through fundraising and facilitating strategic partnerships.

With over 20 years of experience in environmental science and management, Sarah has helped nonprofit organizations and government agencies advance programs, policies, and campaigns to better understand and advance science-based solutions to environmental problems, primarily focused on ocean and watershed health. She was previously Vice President for Heal the Bay, served on the Board of Directors for the Honda Marine Science Foundation and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.

Sarah received her Master's of Environmental Science & Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, and B.S. in Marine and Freshwater Biology from the University of New Hampshire.

As the Financial Analyst, Isabel is responsible for the daily management of NCEAS’ financial matters. This includes personnel processes, on-boarding of new employees, purchasing & payment processing, and payroll management.

Isabel received her B.A. in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College.

Jessica handles all aspects of reimbursement of travel expenses for all domestic and international visitors, as well as NCEAS residents who travel for research. She processes all invoices for vendors, hotels and airfare.

As Events Coordinator, Ginger communicates closely with working groups to arrange dates, hotels, transportation, and all meeting-related logistics. She is a key contact for welcoming visitors and new residents, arranging Center activities, and managing the Director's and Events calendars.

Ginger is enthusiastic about the NCEAS community and enjoys working directly with a wide variety of staff, scientists, working group participants, and affiliates.

Ginger graduated from UCSB with a BA in Cultural Anthropology and has been with NCEAS since 2001.

As part of the scientific computing support staff, Thomas provides IT support for our residents, working groups, and other visitors.

Thomas has over 20 years of experience in IT support and is an expert in general system and network administration.

He has a Master's of Science in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on telecommunications and computer architecture. He is also a Microsoft Certified Solutions expert and electronics technician.

Working groups and visitors can approach him with any questions technical (or even non-technical) nature! 

Nick works with staff, scientists, and developers to provide and optimize computing resources such as servers, networking, and cloud services.

Focusing on Linux, server hardware, and the latest technologies, Nick strives to keep services online and secure while also making them friendlier to use.

Nick has a B.A. in Art with a focus on Digital Media from UCSB.

Ana Peters is the Contracts and Grants Analyst for NCEAS. She helps facilitate the proposal process and works closely with PIs, Sponsors and the Office of Research. If you have any questions regarding the proposal process or potential funding opportunities, please feel free to contact her via email.

Nancy Baron is a Senior Research Associate for NCEAS and Director of Science Outreach for COMPASS, where she designs and delivers communications and leadership trainings for researchers. She travels the world working with environmental scientists of all stripes. In between, she perches at NCEAS where she enjoys engaging with the NCEAS community and learning about the new science initiatives. If her work and travel schedules align with staff and visiting researchers, she is happy to make herself available for coaching consultations.

Her pioneering science communication book, Escape from the Ivory Tower: A guide to making your science matter, includes many accounts of experiences working with participants of NCEAS working groups.

She began her career as a national parks biologist in Banff, then Director of Education of the Vancouver Aquarium, before morphing into a successful career as a science journalist. Her passion is helping scientists bring their science into society’s conversations for the good of nature and people.

In The Nature Conservancy’s California Chapter, Kelly is the lead Conservation Technology Manager at the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, where she oversee GIS and technology projects related to the operation, management, and research at the Preserve.

Prior to joining TNC, Kelly was a Postdoctoral Researcher with the California Heartbeat Initiative, where she linked field-based experiments and sensor networks with repeat UAV surveys to study plant-water interactions across the network of University of California Natural Reserves.

She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.

In her role as a team science facilitator, Carrie Kappel helps NCEAS working groups to design and facilitate engaging virtual and in person meetings that strengthen connections across the team, foster creativity and productivity, and model best practices for collaboration. 

Carrie is deeply interested in the process of working across disciplines and sectors to solve complex environmental challenges. In her research she uses collaborative synthesis science to develop solutions that protect marine ecosystems and enhance human wellbeing. Carrie recently led the Ocean Tipping Points project, which sought to integrate scientific understanding of ecosystem tipping points into ocean management through practical tools and approaches.

Carrie has been part of NCEAS since 2006, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a researcher and Senior Fellow. Carrie earned her B.S. in biology with honors from Brown University and her Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University.

Kim is an independent researcher focused on synthesis science. NCEAS has been her home base since 2005, first as a post-doc, then associate researcher, and now Senior Fellow. During most of that time, she held a joint affiliation with the Tobo Lab at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, allowing her to bring big-data approaches and a synthesis lens to questions of the ecology, genetics, and management of Hawaii's coral reefs.

Notable contributions include co-leading a long-term NCEAS-based program to map the cumulative human impacts to the oceans, pioneering work in the field of seascape genetics and community genetics, and co-leading the Ocean Tipping Points project to advance tools and embed concepts of socio-ecological regime shifts into marine management. Kim also serves as executive director of the non-profit Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara. As a fisheries advocate, she works to integrate the goals of fishermen, NGOs, and marine managers on topics like climate change adaptation of fisheries, port infrastructure projects and market access. In 2018, she founded Get Hooked Seafood, a Community Supported Fishery that seeks to close the gap between supply and demand for sustainable, local seafood.

Kim received a B.A. from Pomona College in 1997 and Ph.D. in marine ecology from UC Santa Barbara in 2005.