Faculty and Postdoctoral Researchers

Faculty and PostDoctoral researchers

Kirsten GroRud-Colvert
Assistant Professor, Senior Researcher
[email protected] (SHE/HERS)
Kirsten's website
Science of Marine Reserves Website

I am interested in the ecology of marine systems, the impact of humans on those systems, and how best to share that information with non-scientists.
My current research is driven by two central questions:
What happens when we protect an area of the ocean?
How do we use that information to design even better protection?
My goal is to help connect these answers with policy makers, managers, neighbors...anyone asking questions about the ocean.

Sarah Gravem
postdoctoral fellow
[email protected] (SHE/HERS)
Sarah's Website
Sea Star Wasting Task Force Website

I am a marine ecologist that works at the intersection of community and behavioral ecology. I focus on rocky intertidal ecosystems and am interested in how species interactions and communities are affected by climate change, environmental variation, and marine diseases. I study how predators affect prey populations and prey behavior, and am particularly interested in the resulting consequences of these key interactions for the rest of the players in the ecosystem.

As a postdoctoral scholar in Bruce Menge and Jane Lubchenco's laboratory at Oregon State University, I am studying the ecological consequences of sea star wasting disease for intertidal communities from Oregon to Central California. The disease struck sea star populations from Mexico to Alaska, wiping out 60-90% of Pisaster ochraceus individuals in most populations. Because these sea stars are the apex predator, we have observed large increases in their mussel and barnacle prey. However, this has not happened in all places, so I am using this large-scale natural experiment to determine how and when predators shape communities. This work is especially important as predators are increasingly threatened by human activities in all ecosystems.

I am also the leader of the sea star wasting task force, which is a collaborative groups of scientists, agencies, conservationists and stakeholders working together to identify research and management priorities for the disease.

Jenna Sullivan-Stack
POSTDOCTORAL Scholar
[email protected] (SHE/HER)
JENNA'S WEBSITE

I work at the intersection of science and policy for marine protected areas. I am passionate about engaging diverse audiences in science, including through enhancing public engagement with sciences and through advancing the connection of actionable, use-inspired science with policymakers and managers.

I recently completed a PhD in marine community ecology with advisor Bruce Menge. I studied the processes by which individuals, populations and communities respond to change, focusing on (1) finding predictability in how climate change stressors, including ocean acidification and temperature change, will affect individuals, populations and species interactions; and (2) understanding the community effects of loss of a top predator - here, coast-wide decline of the keystone predatory sea star Pisaster ochraceus as a result of sea star wasting disease.