Marine Science Institute University of California, Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute Annual Report 20052005-06 Table of Contents
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Marine Science Institute University of California, Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute annual report 20052005-06 Table of Contents Director’s Statement 4 Organizational Charts 6 Administrative Staff 6 Centers and Units 7 Other Projects and Activities 9 Seminars, Workshops, Conferences, and Meetings 10 Coastal Research Center 18 EcoInformatics Center 20 Marine Biotechnology Center 22 National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis 26 Ocean and Coastal Policy Center 32 UC Natural Reserve System 33 Analytical Laboratory 35 REEF/Outreach 36 Young Marine Scientists Program 37 Awards Administered 39 Awards 40 Research Summaries 54 Space 119 Statistical Summary 125 Research Support Summary 126 Budget Summary 128 Statistical Summary 2004-2005 130 Five-Year Research Support Summary 132 Funding Agencies 135 MSI Advisory Committee, 137 Administrative and Technical Staff Principal Investigators 140 Director’s Statement Director’s Statement The Marine Science Institute is inching toward its 40th birthday, and there is a lot to celebrate. MSI was founded to promote interdisciplinary research in marine science. In some ways fulfilling this mission is an easy task, since UCSB’s unique location as an ocean campus attracts faculty interested in ocean issues to a wide range of academic departments across campus. Marine science is embedded within the campus fabric. In the vast majority of marine programs at other universities around the country, marine science is separated from the main campus. In many cases, the marine program is hours away in a separate marine lab or oceanographic institute. The isolation of a marine lab is wonderful, but it has historically isolated much of marine science from other disciplines. Over the years, we have exploited the interdisciplinary opportunities that arise from simple proximity to do things at MSI that are difficult to do elsewhere. We believe this is one of the hallmarks of our success. To tap the interdisciplinary potential at UCSB, MSI has employed a two pronged strategy – entice participation by encouraging innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit and support these efforts with an outstanding administrative staff dedicated to a culture of excellence in grant administration. The combination of creative programs with superb implementation has been the secret to MSI’s long success. In many ways, MSI was ahead of its time. National funding priorities often cited the need for interdisciplinary research, but agencies typically parceled out funding within disciplines. In the last decade, this approach has changed dramatically in a number of federal agencies. In addition, private Foundations with interests in ocean science and conservation have emerged as major sources of new interdisciplinary research funding. MSI was preadapted for these institutional changes and has grown dramati-cally, more than tripling in new research awards in the last decade. This past year clearly highlights this rapid growth. As we nuzzled close to the $20 million landmark 4 for new research awards in each of the last two years, this year MSI researchers brought in more than $25 million in new awards. This is a dramatic increase of more than 30% in a single year. Most of the dramatic growth over the last decade has come from the continuing addition of large, multi- investigator awards. Of particular note this year, was a new $5 million program funded by the Paul G. Allen Foundation to promote the development of new, more sustainable approaches to fisheries management. This new program is one of several new emerging partnerships between MSI, NCEAS (the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis) and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. New Awards ($ millions) 30 25 20 15 10 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Although research funding is one metric of the success of any research in-stitute, an even more important metric is the findings that emerge as a result of this research support. With an institute as large as MSI that produces hundreds of publications each year from more than 100 researchers and several hundred graduate students and postdoctoral fellows spanning more than a dozen different broad disciplines, singling out the most important findings is an impossible task. All I can do to show the vibrancy of the collective efforts of the institute is to highlight a diverse few of the many major research successes from the past year. M. Medina-Elizada & D. Lea addressed one of the most pressing issues in climate change research – the functional link between CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and temperature. Using a remarkable 1.3 million year record, they showed that variation in CO2 concentration has indeed been a major driver of variation in sea surface temperatures over this long period of earth’s history. D. Wilson led an international team of researchers who, for the first time, recovered black rocks known as gabbros from intact ocean crust. This finding has eluded marine scientists for over 40 years and opens new opportunities for under-standing the fundamental processes that form ocean crusts, a key process in the cycle of plate tectonics. R. Warner and colleagues showed that the microchemistry of larval fish ear bones differed sufficiently among sites along California’s coastline that they could be used to identify the locations of individuals and begin to unravel the mysteries of where microscopic fish drift as they develop. M. Love and colleagues showed that artificial structures, such as oil platforms and pipelines, harbor surprisingly large populations of fishes relative to nearby natural habitats, a finding with significant implications for the decommissioning andemoval r of these manmade structures. Finally, working groups and postdoctoral fellows at NCEAS were spectacularly productive and generated major advances in fields that extend far beyond the boundaries of the oceans. Major findings ranged from the observation that the removal of top predators by fishing can have surprising large cascading effects on kelp forest dynamics to a disturbing global synthesis that shows that declines in birds and bees are putting a wide range of terrestrial plant species at risk of extinction. By any metric, this has been an incredibly exciting and productive year at MSI. With the continuing rapid expansion of our research programs and the onset of major new initiatives, I am certain that this excitement will only grow in the future. 5 Steven D. Gaines Director Organizational Charts MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE 2005–2006 ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Steven D. Gaines Mark Brzezinski Director Deputy Director Dan Reed Assistant Deputy Director Tim Schmidt Amelia Picciotto Nannette Pedroso Administration Development Officer Assistant to Director Manager Jim Woods Monica Pessino Bonnie Williamson Joyce Wolever Laurie Eusey Rachel Whitacre Deb Owens Donna Moore Systems/Network Ocean o' Graphics C & G Admin Personnel Unit Financial Services Purchasing Unit Budget Unit Natural Reserve System Administrator Creative Director Manager Manager Manager Manager MSO Mike Franklin Julia Kwinto Marisol Hernandez Judy McCaslin Elvira Rose Steve Gilbert Sandy Camp Michael O’Neil Natural Reserve System Desktop Support Graphic Designer Travel Assistant C & G Officer Personnel Analyst Purchasing Assistant Budget Analyst Admin Assistant Marisol Hernandez Joanna Yates Adrienne Estes Bonnie Roper Student Assistant Nicole Zavala Student Assistant Desktop Support C & G Assistant Personnel Analyst Personnel Assistant Budget Analyst India Morgan Student Assistant Student Assistants Student Assistants Personnel Analyst Student Assistants 7 MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE 2005–2006 ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Steven D. Gaines Director Mark Brzezinski Deputy Director Dan Reed Assistant Deputy Director Coastal Reseach Marine Biotechnology Ocean & Coastal Marine Science Natural Reserve Ecoinformatics Center Analytical Laboratory Center Center PolicyCenter Education & Outreach System Robert Petty Russell Schmitt Daniel Morse O. J. Reichman Allison Whitmer William Murdoch Michael McGinnis Manager Director Director Deputy Director Director Director Director Faculty/ Faculty/ Faculty/ Faculty/ William Clinton Scott Simon Donna Moore Susan Swarbrick Professional Researchers Professional Researchers Professional Researchers Professional Researchers Staff Research Assoc. REEF Manager MSO Associate Director Technical Staff Specialists Specialists Diane Chakos Michele Kissinger Krista Vogel Lab Assistant Education Adm. Assistant Admin Assistant Graduate Students Postdoctorals Postdoctorals Matthew Lee Student Docents Student Assistant Lab Assistant Undergraduate Students Technical Staff Technical Staff Student Assistant Faculty Managers Reserve Directors Graduate Students Graduate Students Resident Caretakers Undergraduate Students Undergraduate Students National Center for Stewards Ecological Synthesis and Analysis O.J. Reichman Education Coordinator Director Scheduling Assistant Faculty/ MSO Computer Facility Dir. Professional Researchers Postdoctorals Administrative Staff Computer Staff Graduate Students 8 Other Projects &Activities Seminars, Workshops, Conferences, and Meetings The Marine Science Institute continues to support various seminars, workshops, conferences and meetings. During the 2005-2006 fiscal year 125 events took place, in which a wide range of marine science topics were highlighted. Dates Coordinator Topic July 5-9, 11, 13, 2005 Allison Whitmer Marine Science Instutite, K-12 Scott Simon Outreach Program July 6-August 2, 2005 John Alroy Paleobiology