2009 CALFED Science Fellows Announced
Contact for CALFED Fellowships:
Shauna Oh
Assistant Director
California Sea Grant
College Program
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
E.: shaunaoh@ucsd.edu
T.: (858) 534-4440
Relevant Links:
Tools:
Revised:
September 23, 2008
Cecile Mioni, a 2009 CALFED Science Fellow.
September 23, 2008
Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334
An ecologist who thinks toxic algae may be partially to blame for pelagic species declines in the San Francisco Bay-Delta and a hydrologist who believes that global warming could bring more wintertime floods to the Central Valley are among two of this year’s recipients of CALFED Science Fellowships.
Others receiving the prestigious fellowship include a chemist who theorizes that freshwater diversions in the bay-delta might exacerbate copper toxicity and an ecologist who studies “red tides” – and thinks she might learn how to prevent them.
“I am excited about this opportunity,” says fellowship recipient Kemal Ali Ger, a postdoctoral researcher at the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies. “We want to know how toxic algae affect the food web in the delta. We think they may reduce habitat quality for zooplankton. This could have implications for the decline in pelagic species in the bay-delta.”
Tapash Das, a 2009 CALFED Science Fellow. Credit: Shashwati Das
Fellowship recipient Tapash Das, a postdoctoral researcher in climate studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, will use computer models to predict the potential consequences of global warming on soil moisture and flooding in the Central Valley.
“I think people will be interested to know whether global warming could change the frequency and magnitude of Central Valley flooding,” Das says. “More flooding in winter could mean less water in summer.” The result could be more severe droughts in arid Southern California.
For her CALFED project, fellowship recipient Kristen Buck, a postdoctoral researcher in the Geosciences Research Division at Scripps, will look at the role of organic debris in reducing the toxicity of copper pollution in the bay-delta. Her theory is that freshwater flows into the bay-delta reduce copper pollution vis-a-vis the injection of organic compounds known as ligands into the bay. Ligands bind strongly to copper, reducing the metal’s bioavailability.
“Water diversions, by removing ligands, could exacerbate existing copper pollution,” Buck says. “The entire base of the food chain could be affected.”
Cécile Élise Mioni, a fellowship recipient and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Marine Studies at UC Santa Cruz, will look at the role of nutrients, salinity, water density, organic carbon and light on algal bloom formation in the bay-delta. “Hopefully, I will be able to prevent harmful algal blooms with my research,” Mioni says.
Each of the 13 fellows selected for the 2009 class will receive up to two years’ support ($25,000 annually for doctoral students; $45,000 for postdoctoral researchers, plus some paid travel and/or research equipment) to conduct research of relevance to water policy and conservation in the San Francisco Bay-Delta and Estuary.
The CALFED Bay-Delta Program is a unique collaboration among 25 state and federal agencies that came together with a mission: to improve California’s water supply and the ecological health of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Support for the fellowships comes through the CALFED Science Program.
For information on how to apply for a CALFED Science Fellowship or to read project summaries of new and ongoing research by CALFED Science Fellows, visit our education program online at http://www.csgc.ucsd.edu/.
California Sea Grant is pleased to announce this year’s CALFED Science Fellows.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Rachel Barnett-Johnson, who will be working with professor Paul Koch of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at UC Santa Cruz, on estimating the contribution of wild fish to the 2008 ocean population of Central Valley chinook.
Kristen Buck, who will be working with professor Kathy Barbeau of the Geosciences Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, on the sources and bioavailability of dissolved copper in San Francisco Bay.
Andrew Chang, working with professor Steven Morgan in the Environmental Science and Policy Department at UC Davis, on native oyster restoration in the San Francisco Estuary.
Tapash Das, working with climate scientist Daniel Cayan of Scripps, on the impact of climate change on severe flooding and water supply.
Kemal Ali Ger, with senior researcher Wim Kimmerer of the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, on identifying how cyanobacteria blooms alter zooplankton communities.
Cécile Élise Mioni, with UC Santa Cruz researcher Adina Paytan, on environmental factors controlling harmful algal bloom formation in San Francisco Bay.
Monika Winder, with engineering professor Geoffrey Schladow of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at UC Davis, on explaining the long-term spatial and temporal patterns in zooplankton abundance in the delta.
Doctoral Students
Patrick Ulrich, a 2009 CALFED Science Fellow. Credit: Theresa Ulrich
Laura Feinstein, who will be working with professor Donald Strong of the Department of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis, on developing tools for eradicating hybrids of the invasive nonnative cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora.
Michael Kiparsky, working with professor Michael Hanemann of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Berkeley, on an economic risk analysis to examine the management implications of climate change, and other uncertainties, on water supply.
Mary K. Matella, with adjunct professor Adina Maya Merenlender of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management at Berkeley, on floodplain restoration in the delta.
Phillip Sandstrom, with professor Peter Klimley of the Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Conservation Biology at UC Davis, to characterize the movement patterns of wild and hatchery steelhead trout.
Joseph Street, with UC Santa Cruz researcher Adina Paytan, on reconstructing a 19,000-year hydrologic record for the Sierra Nevada and Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds, based on sediment cores from Swamp Lake in Yosemite National Park.
Patrick Ulrich, with professor David Sedlak of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkley, on reducing methyl mercury pollution in the bay-delta.
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