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My name is Zoe.
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I am a National Parks biologist broadly interested in marine food webs, parasitology, and ecosystem connectivity. I completed my PhD in both Dr. Hillary Young's and Dr. Armand Kuris's labs at UCSB. I study species interactions in California’s iconic rocky intertidal zone. I want to understand not only who eats who, but how understudied interactions like parasitism, mutualism, epibiosis, and resource subsidies shape the energy flow in this dynamic, intense environment. My work is deeply centered around a desire to inform coastal management and conservation by studying basic ecological processes. In addition to research, I am interested in scientific education, the intersection of art and science, outreach, and incorporating anti-racism into science and science curriculum.
I first became interested in scientific research at a very young age, telling people at 5 years old that I wanted to be an entomologist. Fast forward 13 years, and I found myself pursuing exactly that path as a bright-eyed undergraduate at UCSB. After four research-filled years in the Kuris Parasitology Lab, I went on to work various science and education jobs, eventually ending up enrolled as a Masters of Science student at Western Washington University. There, I completed a multi-faceted research project examining the combined effect of ciliate parasites and Sea Star Wasting Syndrome on the ochre star Pisaster ochraceus. Immediately after finishing my Masters research, I decided it was time to return to Santa Barbara and begin a PhD expanding my knowledge of intertidal organisms and their diseases. I am currently studying how species interact in the California rocky intertidal zone, or "the RIZ". This research includes building a food web network that represents all of the trophic connections between organisms that call our iconic tidepools home. However, unlike many other food webs, I incorporate historically underrepresented trophic interactions such as parasitism, epibiosis, and cross-ecosystem foraging. My research both expands and deepens our understanding the California RIZ, and of how to create, use, and interpret a food web network. In my free time, I love to surf, rock climb, make art of all kinds, and romp on the beach with my service dog/research assistant Juniper. If you have any questions about me, my research, or my path to becoming a scientist, feel free to contact me! |
NEWS and UPDATES1 January 2025 I HAVE A JOB! I've accepted a position as a biologist with Channel Islands National Park! 9 December 2024 I have officially completed and defended my PhD dissertation. You may now call me DOCTOR! 15 October, 2024 The finalized California Rocky Intertidal Interactive Food Web is available to fiddle with! 12 May 2024 Nice News does a write-up about Project ECOTONE. We're almost famous! 24 August, 2023 Project ECOTONE is featured in Hakai Magazine! December 2023 The first pub to come out of Project ECOTONE is now available in Food Webs! |
My blue heeler mix, Juniper, accompanies me in the field, as in all things. She is especially interested in mollusks and crabs.