Credit: Nick Nidzieko

The issues facing our oceans and coasts are complex and multifaceted; they require interdisciplinary training and research to provide solutions. Adjacent to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the home of two Long Term Ecological Research programs, the UCSB campus is the perfect place to tackle these problems. Students in IGPMS are trained not just as academics, but also for industry, government, and non-profit careers. Current research in this area includes evaluating the feasibility of kelp as an aquaculture crop, improving fisheries restoration through better ecological practices, and understanding the impact of beach management decisions on local ecosystems.

Affiliated Faculty

Mark Brzezinski

Professor
The power of plankton.
Carbon & Climate
Marine Organisms

Deron Burkepile

Professor
Marine ecology, community ecology, trophic interactions, coral reefs.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Jenn Caselle

Research Biologist
Marine ecology and conservation, community ecology, trophic interactions, coral reefs and kelp forests.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Christopher Costello

Professor
Chris’ research addresses natural resource and environmental management under uncertainty and incomplete property rights.
Marine Resources & Conservation

Jenny Dugan

Research Biologist
Coastal Marine Ecologist.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Erika Eliason

Associate Professor
Ecological and evolutionary physiology, Fish biology, global change biology, comparative physiology.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Halley Froehlich

Assistant Professor
The Froehlich Lab studies the sustainability of seafood and marine ecosystems under climate change.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Steve Gaines

Professor and Dean, Bren School
Marine ecology, sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, oceans and climate change.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Ben Halpern

Professor
Director, NCEAS
Marine ecology, conservation science, aquaculture and fisheries, food system sustainability, indicator science.
Marine Resources & Conservation

Sally Holbrook

Distinguished Professor
Marine ecology, community ecology, species interactions.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Patricia Holden

Professor
Environmental microbiology, water quality, pollutants, soils, urban and protected areas.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Bruce Kendall

Professor
Bruce is an ecological theoretician and modeler who applies population ecology to problems in conservation and fisheries management.
Marine Resources & Conservation

Hunter Lenihan

Professor
Professor of Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology.
Marine Resources & Conservation

Douglas McCauley

Associate Professor
Understanding the ecology of communities and ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Eckart Meiburg

Distinguished Professor
Stratified and multiphase flows, sediment transport, computational fluid dynamics.
Marine Resources & Conservation

Russell Schmitt

Professor
Population and community ecology, marine ecology.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

David Siegel

Professor
Physical oceanographic / ecological coupling, biogeochemistry and coastal spatial ecology using the tools of an applied physicist, radiative transfer and fluid mechanics.
Carbon & Climate
Marine Resources & Conservation

Adrian Stier

Associate Professor
Ocean Resilience: biodiversity, assembly, and sustainability of harvested ocean ecosystems.
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

David Valentine

Professor
Chair, IGPMS
Carbon Climate, Marine Organisms Genomics.
Carbon & Climate
Marine Organisms
Marine Resources & Conservation

Libe Washburn

Professor
Libe Washburn is an oceanographer and professor at UCSB who studies the coastal ocean and related marine ecosystems.
Marine Resources & Conservation
  • Ochre seastar on a mussel bed at San Miguel Island. Credit: Katie Davis Koehn
  • Kapingamarangi Atoll, Micronesia. Credit: Alyson Santoro
  • Reefscape at Nukuoro Atoll, Micronesia. Credit: Alyson Santoro
  • The Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) is a temperate damselfish and is California's state marine fish. Credit: Katie Davis Koehn