Research & Monitoring

an rov on the deck of a ship — Marine Applied Research and Exploration's ROV *Beagle* on the back deck of R/V *Shearwater*. Photo: Jackie Buhl/NOAA

Science activities at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary are directed at helping to solve specific management problems, enhance ecosystem protection efforts, and assist in the educational interpretation of the ecosystem. Sanctuary staff partner with a variety of science entities to help coordinate sanctuary resource characterization, monitoring, and research.

Ecosystem Connectivity and Animal Movements

The sanctuary is involved in multiple projects to further our understanding of how animal movements impact the scale, degree, and frequency of connectivity between the sanctuary and the mainland.

Soundscape

The sanctuary and partners are characterizing the sanctuary soundscape at both shallow and deep water listening stations to improve our understanding of soundscapes and to assess variation over time and space.

Seafloor Mapping

The sanctuary and partners have been collecting high-resolution seafloor data both inside the sanctuary and in the region through a series of initiatives.

Deep-Sea Corals

The sanctuary is home to vibrant deep-sea coral and sponge habitats supporting a diversity of species. Sanctuaries are working to discover, monitor, and conserve these ecosystems and the life they support.

Integrated Status and Trend Reporting

The sanctuary and partners are developing products to help dynamically update the sanctuary status and trend report and make this information readily available through the Internet to everyone including managers, scientists, and educators.

yellow flowers with a rock island and water in the background

Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network (SIMoN)

The SIMoN website captures a wide variety of research and monitoring activities underway at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary led by various academic, agency, and non-governmental partners.

Research Team

View our staff bios.

Chris Caldow
Research Coordinator
Chris.Caldow@noaa.gov
805-893-6419

Julie Bursek
Team Lead for Education and Outreach
Unit Diving Supervisor
Julie.Bursek@noaa.gov
805-893-6422

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Duncan
Research Ecologist
lizzie.duncan@noaa.gov
805-893-6432

Ryan Freedman, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist
Ryan.M.Freedman@noaa.gov
805-893-6434

Jennifer Brown, Ph.D
Project Scientist, ECOS Consulting
jennifer.brown@noaa.gov
925-310-4152

Jennifer (Jenny) Selgrath, Ph.D.
Spatial Ecologist and Social Scientist, Cardinal Point Captains and California Marine Sanctuary Foundation
jennifer.selgrath@noaa.gov

Vanessa Van Deusen
Marine Ecologist, Contractor with Cardinal Point Captains
vanessa.vandeusen@noaa.gov

Ryan Logan, Ph.D.
N-PAcT Node Manager, Cardinal Point Captains
ryan.logan@noaa.gov

Emily Meese, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara
emily.meese@noaa.gov

Jai Ranganathan
Marine Ecologist, Cardinal Point Captains
jai.ranganathan@noaa.gov
805-697-2932

Lisa Krigsman
Research Operations Specialist, Cardinal Point Captains
lisa.krigsman@noaa.gov

Grace Kumaishi
Marine Ecologist, Contractor with Cardinal Point Captains
grace.kumaishi@noaa.gov

Manuela Diaz
Ocean Access Program Coordinator, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation
manueladiaz@ucsb.edu