Mentors and Projects
For inquiries about mentors and their projects, please look over the mentor's webpages (linked to their names). If you still have questions, please email us at reu@csumb.edu. Please do not contact the mentors directly. Students who contact mentors may be removed from consideration for the REU.
Each year we highlight a selection of mentors across our six research partners. See below for the REU mentor list, which highlight the types of research available to students in our program.
*Please note: only mentors who have a "*" next to their name are confirmed to be mentors for summer 2024. Mentors without a "*" next to their name may be available to mentor you, but are not confirmed at this time.
| Mentors |
Research Themes |
| Dr. Alison Haupt |
Population Genetics, Land-Sea Connections, Kelp Forest and Coastal Ecology, Anthropogenic Impacts on Ecosystems |
| Dr. Arlene Haffa |
Agricultural Nutrient and Pesticide Management to Reduce Greenhouse Gases, and Water Contamination |
| Dr. Cheryl Logan |
Marine Physiology, Climate Change Stress Physiology, Ecological Forecasting, Ocean Climate Change Policy |
| Dr. Daniel Fernandez |
Fog Water Collection and Measurement |
| Dr. James Lindholm |
Fish Ecology |
| Dr. John Olson |
Freshwater Ecology, Invasive Species, Microplastics, Coastal Rivers |
| Dr. JP Dundore-Arias |
Role of Native Microbial Communities on Plant Community Assembly in Coastal Marshes, Influence of Plant-Invasion and Establishment of Non-Native Species |
| Dr. Liz Alter* |
Population and Ecological Genomics of Fishes and Marine Mammals, Environmental DNA, Conservation Genetics |
| Dr. Nathaniel Jue |
Evolutionary Genomics of Marine Organisms |
| Dr. Sherry Palacios* |
Biological Oceanography |
| Mentors |
Research Themes |
| John Haskins |
Water Quality Science |
| Dr. Kerstin Wasson |
Estuarine Conservation Biology |
| Dr. Rikke Jeppesen |
Estuarine Ecology, Invasive Species, Marsh Restoration |
| Mentors |
Research Themes |
| Dr. Mariana Bernardi Bif* |
Biogeochemistry, Carbon Cycle |
| Dr. Colleen Durkin |
Biological Oceanography |
| Danelle Cline and John Ryan |
Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| Dr. Francisco Chavez |
Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Hypoxia, El Niño, Observational Genomics |
| Gene Massion* |
Ocean Engineering, Autonomous Technology, Oceanography |
| Dr. George Matsumoto* |
Deep-sea Ecology |
| Dr. James Barry |
Biology and Ecology of Marine Benthic Communities |
| Dr. Kakani Katija |
Bioinspired Design |
| Dr. Yui Takeshita* |
Chemical Sensor Development, Coral Reef Metabolism and Biogeochemistry, Seawater CO2 Chemistry, Benthic Fluxes, and Seagrass and Kelp Forest Biogeochemistry |
| Mentors |
Research Themes |
| Dr. Amanda Kahn* |
Invertebrate Ecology: Trophic Ecology, Suspension Feeders, Natural History of Marine Invertebrates |
| Dr. Birgitte McDonald* |
Marine Mammal and Seabird Ecology, Physiological Ecology and Polar Science |
| Dr. Diana Steller |
Macroalgal Ecology |
| Dr. Holly Bowers* |
Environmental Biotechnology |
| Dr. Ivano Aiello |
Marine Geology |
| Dr. Luke Gardner* |
Aquaculture, Nutrition, Genomics, Physiology |
| Dr. Max Grand |
Chemical Oceanography, Analytical Chemistry, Nutrient & Trace Metal Cycling |
| Dr. Michael Graham |
Algal Ecology |
| Dr. Sarah Smith* |
Phytoplankton, Diatoms, Genomics |
| Dr. Scott Hamilton* |
Fish Ecology |
| Dr. Tom Connolly |
Physical Oceanography |
| Dr. Nate Spindel* |
Marine Ecophysiology |