Stanford University
Showing 1-100 of 100 Results
-
Emilius Aalto
Basic Life Science Research Scientist
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy primary research interest is theoretical fisheries ecology, with a focus on population dynamics, spatial dynamics, and response to disease and catastrophic events. My current work involves the incorporation of the effects of ocean acidification and low-oxygen events into an abalone growth and reproduction model. Past projects include modeling indirect positive effects from fishing-induced competitive release and the effects of size-specific obligate predation on post-harvest recovery time.
-
Nur Arafeh Dalmau
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
BioI am currently a postdoc at UCLA and Stanford and an Honorary Fellow at The University of Queensland. I am a marine community ecologist and marine spatial planner. My research focuses on understanding the impacts of marine heatwaves on kelp forest ecosystems. I also research the role of marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures for providing climate resilience and designing networks of climate-smart marine protected areas. I support conservation initiatives with NGOs, parks, and fishers, and teach decision tools such as Marxan. My heart remains in my beautiful Costa Brava, Spain (Catalonia), where I do my best to support conservation. I am a naive dreamer, and I know future generations will dive into healthy kelp forests and thriving marine ecosystems.
-
Halleh Balch
Assistant Professor of Oceans and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
BioHalleh B. Balch is an experimental physicist and HHMI Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow at Stanford University. Her research broadly focuses on advancing imaging, spectroscopy, and nanophotonics with a focus on applications in oceanography and water sustainability. Halleh received her PhD in physics from the University of California Berkeley and her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in physics and literature. Halleh joined Stanford as an Assistant Professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability in August 2025.
-
Barbara Block
Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professor of Marine Sciences, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThermal physiology, open ocean predators, ecological physiology and tuna biology
-
Alexandria Boehm
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioI am interested in pathogens in the environment including their sources, fate, and transport in natural and engineered systems. I am interested in understanding of how pathogens are transmitted to humans through contact with water, feces, and contaminated surfaces. My research is focused on key problems in both developed and developing countries with the overarching goal of designing and testing novel interventions and technologies for reducing the burden of disease.
I am also interested broadly in coastal water quality where my work addresses the sources, transformation, transport, and ecology of biocolloids - specifically fecal indicator organisms, DNA, pathogens, and phytoplankton - as well as sources and fate of nitrogen. This knowledge is crucial to formulating new management policies and engineering practices that protect human and ecosystem health at the coastal margins. -
Stephanie Caddell
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2024
Graduate Student Coordinator, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability - Dean's OfficeBioStephanie Caddell graduated with a bachelor's degree in environmental science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with minors in marine science and environmental justice. While at UNC, she researched marine microbiology, fisheries dynamics, and marine ecosystem dynamics in Ecuador and the Galapagos. Additionally, she has researched bycatch mitigation efforts in the North Atlantic for sea turtle species with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Now working on her PhD in the Oceans Department under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Crowder and Dr. Nicole Ardoin, Stephanie is interested in understanding how to implement transdisciplinary solutions to marine management in coastal and island systems to ensure effective protection measures for marine migratory species, reduce interactions between pelagic species and fishing operations, and ensure sustainable resource usage for human communities. She aims to understand how to bring together local community knowledge with that of science to inform more productive policy and management strategies.
-
David Cade
Basic Life Research Scientist
BioFor the most up to date information, check out www.davidecade.com
-
Elsie Cecilia Carrillo
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDiving physiology and foraging ecology of semi-aquatic garter snakes
-
Karen Casciotti
Associate Dean for Facilities and Shared Labs, Professor of Oceans, of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProfessor in Oceans and ESS, focus on marine chemistry and biogeochemistry.
-
Larry Crowder
Edward Ricketts Provostial Professor, Professor of Oceans, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Environmental Social Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEcology, conservation, fisheries, protected species, ecosystem-based management
-
Kristen Davis
Associate Professor of Oceans and, by courtesy, of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioI am an engineer and oceanographer who is interested in studying how physical processes shape coastal waters – combining principles of fluid mechanics, oceanography, and ecology. I use both field observations and numerical tools to examine circulation in the ocean, its natural variability, and influence on marine ecosystems and human-nature interactions. I joined Stanford department of Oceans in 2024. Before that, I was an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.
-
Giulio De Leo
Professor of Oceans, of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am a theoretical ecologist mostly interested in investigating factors and processes driving the dynamics of natural and harvested populations and on how to use this knowledge to inform practical management. I have worked broadly on life histories analysis, fishery management, dynamics and control of infectious diseases and environmental impact assessment.
-
Anne Dekas
Associate Professor of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEnvironmental microbiology, deep-sea microbial ecology, marine biogeochemistry
-
Devin Dollery
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2023
Masters Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2024BioI am interested in computational simulations of the natural world - focusing on developing models of ocean physics to predict the ocean's role in climate variability. At Stanford, my PhD research commencing in Autumn 2023 with Prof Fringer seeks to model and understand the interaction of surface and internal waves. This relationship will be correlated to satellite imagery of ocean surface roughness to infer stratification for assimilation into ocean models.
My professional background started in civil engineering and coastal processes modeling. I received an MSc in computational mechanics at the University of Cape Town (2018) - formulating and implementing a multiscale FEM model for cardiac tissue. Most recently, I was a scientific software developer adding parallelized tools and functionality to the ocean modeling software, UCLA ROMS, at the University of California, Los Angeles. -
Gwendolyn Zoob Donahue
Research Assistant, Oceans
Current Role at StanfordResearch Assistant in the Palumbi Lab at Hopkins Marine Station
-
Rob Dunbar
W.M. Keck Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
On Leave from 10/01/2025 To 09/30/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOcean processes, biogeochemistry, climatology/paleoclimatology, isotopic chemistry, ocean policy
-
Robin Elahi
Advanced Lecturer
BioI am an advanced lecturer at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, where I teach courses in kelp forest ecology, statistics, and scientific computing. In general, I study drivers of spatial and temporal change in marine ecosystems. Ongoing and recent research projects include:
-examining the consequences of fisheries closures on fisher behavior
-understanding why some coral reefs fare better than their neighbors
-biodiversity and body size change, particularly in the context of recent human impacts -
Ilias Foskolos
Affiliate,
Visiting Scholar, OceansBioI have a BSc degree in Biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece, 2016) and a MSc in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St Andrews (Scotland, 2017). I also obtained my PhD in Bioacoustics from Aarhus University (Denmark, 2022) and since then I have worked as a postdoctoral researcher under two different contracts with Aarhus University and the University of Auckland (New Zealand).
-
Christopher Francis
Professor of Earth System Science, of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMicrobial cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and metals in the environment; molecular geomicrobiology; marine microbiology; microbial diversity; meta-omics
-
Veronica Frans
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
BioVeronica is a quantitative ecologist and science communicator focused on understanding biodiversity-human relationships within the contexts of conservation, sustainability, and ecological theory. She advances methods in ecological and synthesis research by creating innovative, open-source databases, modeling tools, and frameworks that have been widely adopted for conservation and industrial applications. Her award-winning research has been published in leading journals such as Methods in Ecology & Evolution and Nature Ecology & Evolution, and has consistently gained global media attention, being featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and Smithsonian Magazine.
Veronica earned a dual Ph.D. in Fisheries & Wildlife and Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior from Michigan State University in 2024. She also holds a dual M.Sc. in International Nature Conservation from Göttingen University (Germany) and Lincoln University (New Zealand). She has studied and worked in many places around the world—from as far north as Alaska’s Bering Sea, to as far south as the Falkland Islands. Speaking six languages, her international experiences and relationships with diverse communities inform her research on coupled human-natural systems at local to global scales.
Veronica is a Stanford Science Fellow and National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology at Hopkins Marine Station (Doerr School of Sustainability). Her faculty host is Fiorenza Micheli, the David and Lucile Packard Professor of Marine Science, Chair of the Oceans Department, and Co-Director of the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. For her postdoctoral research, Veronica is developing a novel framework for predicting human-wildlife relationships under global change. -
Oliver Fringer
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Oceans
BioFringer's research focuses on the development and application of numerical models and high-performance computational techniques to the study of fundamental processes that influence the dynamics of the coastal ocean, rivers, lakes, and estuaries.
-
Prerana Gawde
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2024
BioPrerana is a marine ecologist with over five years of experience working closely with fisher communities and recreational SCUBA divers in Lakshadweep, India, conducting ecological assessments of fishery-important small pelagic baitfish and collaborating with fishers to document traditional ecological knowledge for community-led fisheries management. Currently pursuing a PhD at Stanford University’s Department of Oceans, she is exploring the ecological interactions of shipwrecks and their role in socio-ecological systems through interdisciplinary research frameworks.
-
William Gilly
Professor of Oceans
On Leave from 01/01/2026 To 03/31/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy work has contributed to understanding electrical excitability in nerve & muscle in organisms ranging from brittle-stars to mammals. Current research addresses behavior, physiology and ecology of squid through field and lab approaches. Electronic tagging plus in situ video, acoustic and oceanographic methods are used to study behaviors and life history in the field. Lab work focuses on control of chromogenic behavior by the chromatophore network and of locomotion by the giant axon system.
-
Sydney Aleah Hampton
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2023
Master of Public Policy Student, Public PolicyBioSydney is a PhD student in the Oceans department, interested in using an interdisciplinary approach to explore the biophysical interactions of marine migratory species with their environment, and their responses to ecological and anthropogenic stressors. She is particularly interested in using what we know about various environmental variables and large-scale climate events to further predict and understand changes to the migratory patterns of marine species. Sydney holds a BS in Marine Science and BS in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina.
-
Elliott L Hazen
Adjunct Professor, Oceans
BioI received my master's of science in the Spring of 2003 from the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and my PhD from Duke University in 2008. Currently, I am working at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Monterey, CA. My research interests span oceanography, fisheries ecology to climate change modeling, specifically examining species-habitat relationships in the ocean, predator-prey dynamics, and climate projections on marine top predator biodiversity. My publications have addressed a range of topics from fine-scale foraging ecology of top predators, dynamic ocean management of protected species, to modeling the effects of climate change on top predator habitat and biodiversity.
-
Isabelle Kavanagh
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Winter 2025
BioIsabelle Kavanagh is a first year PhD student in the Oceans department at Stanford University, studying hydrodynamics and heat transfer over coral reefs with Dr. Stephen Monismith.
-
Madolyn Kelm
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Summer 2024
BioMadolyn Kelm is a Ph.D. student in Oceans at Stanford University, specializing in the biophysical interactions of kelp aquaculture in Southern California. Her research aims to optimize farming productivity through predictive modeling. Currently, she is working on validating the MacroAlgae Cultivation MODeling System (MACMODS) through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to advance sustainable kelp farming practices.
With a unique interdisciplinary background, Madolyn integrates biological and physical dynamics to drive focused coastal ocean research. Committed to addressing the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems, she aspires to become a professor and contribute to fostering diversity in STEM. -
Christopher Knight
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
Research Assistant, OceansBioChris (he/him) is a Biology PhD candidate, a Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, and a National Geographic Explorer. He employs a planetary health approach to understand the linkages between ecosystem and human health - with the goal of improving accessibility to safe and nutritious seafood. Chris investigates the social and ecological connections of ciguatera poisoning, a debilitating seafood-borne disease, across Kiribati in collaboration with the Kiribati Government and the Pacific Planetary Health Initiative. As a US Fulbright Fellow in Italy, he explores how climate change impacts the nutritional content of seafood and the potential consequences for human nutrition. Chris is deeply interested in environmental justice issues and is drawn to working on research questions and solutions that can improve the lives of others and minimize social and economic inequalities. Furthermore, he strives to foster an inclusive and welcoming community in academia. Chris was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow to Chile, and earned a MS in Biology from San Diego State University, as well as a BA in both Ecology and Spanish from the University of California, Davis. Chris is co-advised by Dr. Larry Crowder and Dr. Fiorenza Micheli.
-
Peter Mastnak
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2024
BioPeter is a PhD student in the Oceans department, leveraging his interdisciplinary expertise to develop advanced computational models that predict the movement patterns of large marine predators in response to environmental change. With a Master's degree in Computer Science from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Peter's research bridges computational science with oceanography, applying advanced mathematical modeling techniques to ecological data while incorporating international policy and economic considerations—a truly interdisciplinary approach to addressing complex marine conservation challenges.
His work focuses on synthesizing diverse environmental variables and large-scale climate phenomena to forecast shifts in marine species distribution, ultimately informing evidence-based policy for ocean protection and sustainable fisheries management. Peter is pioneering innovative technological solutions—from advanced sensor networks to sophisticated predictive software—designed to address global oceanic ecosystem threats. Through this synthesis of computational rigor and conservation science, he strives to transform how we understand, monitor, and protect our ocean ecosystems for future generations. -
Fiorenza Micheli
David and Lucile Packard Professor of Marine Science, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr Fiorenza Micheli is a marine ecologist and conservation biologist conducting research and teaching at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. Micheli’s research focuses on the processes shaping marine communities and incorporating this understanding in the management and conservation of marine ecosystems. She is a Pew Fellow, a fellow of the California Academy of Science and the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, and past president of the Western Society of Naturalists.
-
Stephen Monismith
Obayashi Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHydrodynamics of lakes, estuaries, coral reefs, kelp forests and the coastal ocean
-
Carolina Olguin Jacobson
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
BioMy research focuses on socio-ecological systems within fishery cooperatives in Baja California, Mexico, exploring their resilience and adaptation strategies to climate change and COVID-19 impacts through oceanographic and ecological monitoring. Working with marine protected areas and climate refugia areas.
-
Stephen Palumbi
Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor of Marine Sciences, Professor of Oceans and of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe're interested in ecological, evolutionary, and conservation questions related to marine (and sometimes terrestrial) organisms and ecosystems. We use evolutionary genetics and molecular ecology techniques, and our fieldwork takes us all around the world. Currently, we're studying coral diversity, the adaptive potential of corals in response to climate change, the movement of organisms between marine reserves, genetic changes in abalone in response to environmental.
-
Quinn Mitsuko Parker
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Autumn 2023
Ph.D. Minor, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Research Assistant, OceansCurrent Research and Scholarly InterestsQuinn Parker studies social-ecological dynamics of small-scale fisheries, and their ties to gender equity, food security, and food sovereignty. She examines the cultural, socio-economic, and historical drivers that impact SSF governance, and how these governance models in turn affect resilience of and access to blue food systems.
-
Manu Prakash
Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Oceans
BioWe use interdisciplinary approaches including theory and experiments to understand how computation is embodied in biological matter. Examples include cognition in single cell protists and morphological computing in animals with no neurons and origins of complex behavior in multi-cellular systems. Broadly, we invent new tools for studying non-model organisms with significant focus on life in the ocean - addressing fundamental questions such as how do cells sense pressure or gravity? Finally, we are dedicated towards inventing and distributing “frugal science” tools to democratize access to science (previous inventions used worldwide: Foldscope, Abuzz), diagnostics of deadly diseases like malaria and convening global citizen science communities to tackle planetary scale environmental challenges such as mosquito surveillance or plankton surveillance by citizen sailors mapping the ocean in the age of Anthropocene.
-
Krish Seetah
Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences, of Oceans, of Anthropology and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioI am a zooarchaeologist, whose focus is primarily on colonisation and colonialism. My zooarchaeological research has used butchery analysis (with the benefit of professional and ethnographic actualistic experience) to investigate agency within the human-animal relationship. More recently, I have employed geometric morphometrics (GMM) as a mechanism for identifying and distinguishing animal populations. This approach to studying colonial activity centres on understanding how people manipulate animal bodies, both during life and after death.
Alongside the strictly faunal research is a research interest in technologies associated with animal processing. This has been used to investigate issues of technology, trade and socio-economic attitudes within colonial contexts in the Mediterranean (Venice & Montenegro) and the Baltic (Poland, Latvia & Lithuania).
I am also the Director of the ‘Mauritian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage’ (MACH) project, which studies European Imperialism and colonial activity. This project centres on the movement of peoples and material cultures, specifically within the contexts of slavery and Diaspora. The work of this project has focused on key sites in Mauritius and is based on a systematic programme of excavation and environmental sampling. The underlying aims are to better understand the transition from slavery to indentured labour following abolition, the extent and diversity of trade in the region and the environmental consequences of intense, monoculture, agriculture. -
Erik Sperling
Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe research interests in the Sperling Lab are Earth history and the evolution of life, and the interactions between the biosphere and the geosphere. As such this research can generally be considered paleontology, insofar as paleontology encompasses all aspects of the history of life.
Consequently, we define our research agenda by the questions we are interested in, rather than the tools used. This research incorporates multiple lines of evidence, and multiple tools, to investigate questions in the history of life. These lines of evidence include fossil data, molecular phylogenetics, sedimentary geochemistry, and developmental and ecological data from modern organisms. Ultimately, the goal is to link environmental change with organismal and ecological response through the lens of physiology.
Our field research takes place all over the world--current areas include:
-NW Canada (Yukon and Northwest Territories): Research has been conducted on the early Neoproterozoic Fifteenmile Group, Cryogenian and Ediacaran Windermere Supergroup, and on the Ordovician-Devonian Road River Group in the southern Richardson Mountains
-Southern Canadian Cordillera: Work here has focused on the early Cambrian Mural Formation and its soft-bodied fauna.
-England and Wales: Cambrian-Silurian successions in the Welsh Basin
-Namibia: Ediacaran Nama Group
-Upwelling zones: We study the oxygen minimum zone offshore California as an analogue for ancient low-oxygen oceans. -
Griffin Srednick
Postdoctoral Scholar, Oceans
BioGriffin Srednick, PhD, is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford Oceans and a community ecologist specializing in the spatiotemporal dynamics of marine communities. His postdoctoral research investigates how coral reef communities recover from disturbance and respond to the effects of climate change. Conducted within the National Science Foundation's Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, his work examines how spatiotemporal heterogeneity in coral communities can promote ecological resilience. By integrating oceanographic modeling with coral reef ecology, his research aims to reveal the mechanisms underpinning coral recovery following disturbance. His broader scientific interests focus on understanding the complex architecture of ecosystems and how a holistic view of ecological systems can inform and enhance conservation and restoration strategies.
-
Leif Thomas
Professor of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPhysical oceanography; theory and numerical modeling of the ocean circulation; dynamics of ocean fronts and vortices; upper ocean processes; air-sea interaction.
-
Brooke Weigel
Assistant Professor of Oceans
BioDr. Brooke Weigel is a marine ecologist. Her research focuses on the ecological and physiological responses of primary producers and microbial communities to global climate change, and the consequences of those changes for marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. She is particularly interested in the feedbacks between climate change, kelp forests, microbes & carbon cycling in the ocean. Her research uses a variety of tools and methods, including field and laboratory experiments, genomics, bioinformatics, algal culturing, ecophysiology, and biogeochemistry to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on nearshore marine ecosystems. The Weigel Lab is part of the Oceans Department, within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. The lab is based at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA.
-
Adam Wendt
Diving and Boating Safety Officer, Oceans
BioMy diving career started by surfing and snorkeling in Mexico with my family at a young age. I became a NAUI Divemaster and lived in Roatan Honduras. I later moved to Arlington Texas where I became a NAUI Instructor at University of Texas at Arlington. Later I moved to Panama City Florida and worked at Florida State University as the Diving Safety Officer and Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Instructor. I logged over 2500 dives in the North Florida waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the freshwater caves. It is my dream to make diving accessible to as many people as possible so they can share my love for the underwater world.
-AAUS Dive Safety Officer
-USCG 100 Ton Captain
-IANTD Course Director 10183
-NAUI Instructor 50617
-PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer 293578
-DAN Instructor 15470
-Public Safety Diving Instructor
-IANTD Cavern Instructor
-PSAI Full Cave Diver
-EFR CPR/AED Instructor
-TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression
-SCUBAPRO, AUP, Oceanic, Aeries, Kirby Morgan, Apeks, US Divers, OTS and Hollis Repair Technician -
Earle Wilson
Assistant Professor of Earth System Science, by courtesy, of Geophysics, of Oceans and Center Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioEarle Wilson is an assistant professor in the Department of Earth System Science. He is a physical oceanographer who studies ocean dynamics at high latitudes and their far-reaching impacts on the global climate. He is particularly interested in the circulation of the Southern Ocean and its interactions with the cryosphere (i.e., sea ice and marine-terminating glaciers). Dr. Wilson and his group explore these research questions using various tools and methods, ranging from in situ ocean observations and idealized numerical models.
