Educational & Academic Background

Educational Background

BS BIOLOGY: University of Notre Dame 1988

PhD ZOOLOGY: Oregon State University, 1994 (Drs. Bruce Menge & Jane Lubchenco: advisors)
Thesis: The effects of biomechanical and ecological factors on population and community structure of wave-exposed, intertidal macroalgae

Academic Background

ASSOCIATE RESEARCH BIOLOGIST: University of California, Santa Barbara 2006-present

ASSISTANT RESEARCH BIOLOGIST: University of California, Santa Barbara 1999-2006

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW: University of California, Santa Barbara 1995-1999

INSTRUCTOR: University of California, Santa Barbara 1997 - 1999

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW: Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station 1994-1995

INSTRUCTOR: Oregon State University 1992-1996

Biography

Coast to Coast -

I was born in New Brunswick, NJ and grew up in Scotch Plains, NJ until going to college in South Bend, IN. After graduating from Notre Dame, I spent a short time working at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) in Land O'Lakes, WI. From Wisconsin I moved to graduate school in Corvallis, OR then to a postdoc at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA. My next move took me to the University of California at Santa Barbara, CA where I am today.

As a child, I spent a lot of time at the beach on the New Jersey shore. Fishing, boating and spending time in the ocean fueled an early and lifelong interest in marine biology.