President: Laura Goetz

Laura is interested in fish embryonic development and how genetic and environmental factors influence it. As a graduate student working with Dr. Devon Pearse and Dr. Grant Pogson, they are currently focusing on how parental life history type of steelhead influence offspring life histories. Laura engages in outreach through classroom technology Flipgrid in their own time and hopes to bring similar opportunities to SCMBAS. In their free time, you can find Laura baking, drawing, and reading. For more information about Laura click here.

Vice President: Molly Lane

Hello! I am a 2nd year undergraduate EEB and ENVS major. In my free time I love hiking in the woods behind UCSC and hanging out on the beach. In addition to being the SCMBAS VP, I am a docent at the Seymour Center and greatly enjoy interacting with the curious Santa Cruz public! I enjoy talking anything marine or environmental based and am looking forward to a great year in SCMBAS.

Treasurer: Josh Ayala

Josh is an undergraduate E.E.B. student and serves as the Treasurer for AFS-SCMBAS. He is interested in fisheries management and is currently working for California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Scientific Aid for the CRFS (California Recreational Fisheries Survey). His goal is to streamline fundraising and to grow community events both to increase outreach and create partnerships with small local businesses that support fisheries and environmental health.

Public Relations Chair: Anne Beulke

Anne is a PhD graduate student in the Ocean Sciences department. She studies the genetic and phenotypic variations in salmon and trout to aid conservation of the fish species and their ecosystems. Anne is advised by Dr. Carlos Garza of the NOAA SW Fisheries Science Center. In her free time she enjoys exploring the coasts, forests, and mountains! To learn more, visit her website.

Trout in Classroom Coordinator: Megan Sabal

Megan is a PhD student in the Palkovacs Lab at UC Santa Cruz. She is interested in the intersection of predation and migration. Her dissertation asks—how do predators impact migrating prey behavior? She explores this question both in juvenile salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and more generally with projects that span migratory taxa. Megan's main responsibility is to run the Trout in the Classroom program including coordinating with our partner organizations (CDFW, City of SC), organizing volunteers, and assisting local teachers. Megan also supports other SCMBAS outreach activities. When she’s not thinking about science, she enjoys road biking, scuba diving, and curling up with a book. For more information about Megan click here.

SCMBAS Faculty Mentor: Eric P. Palkovacs

Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Associate Director, Institute for Marine Sciences, Fisheries Collaborative Program
University of California, Santa Cruz
The Palkovacs Lab studies the factors that shape ongoing evolution in fish populations and implications for ecosystems and human uses. Google Scholar

Former President: Doriane Weiler

Doriane is a third-year PhD student in the Alonzo Lab at UC Santa Cruz. She has experience studying behavioral ecology in both marine and freshwater systems and currently focuses on mosquitofish, the world's most widespread invasive freshwater fish. Her research uses mosquitofish as a model system to explore the the ecological consequences of sexually antagonistic traits. She is also interested in the underlying ecological regimes driving variation in sexually selected traits, including temperature, predation, sex ratios, and density. Doriane enjoys outreach activities in the local community, from river clean-ups to teaching in schools, and is delighted to continue her leadership in SCMBAS after a year as the PR Chair. When she isn't thinking about fish (probably >1% of the time), Doriane likes to paint, peer at tidepool critters, and pet dogs. For more information about Doriane, click here.

Former Vice President: Mark Morales

Mark is a fourth year graduate student in EEB co-advised by Dr. Elliott Hazen (NMFS) and Prof. Mark Carr. He has a passion for understanding the linkages between the physical environment and marine fish population dynamics. As the new Vice President of SCMBAS, he will strive to maintain the high standard of the subunit in terms of educating the local and regional community on fisheries conservation through public outreach, continuing professional development programs, and to increase the understanding of marine and freshwater systems and the fisheries they support.

Former Secretary: Taylor White

Growing up in Sitka Alaska, Taylor quickly understood how integral fisheries were in her life. She tagged and spawned salmon at hatcheries, baited longline skates, and participated in marine subsistence harvest (from salmon to sea cucumbers). After 8 years working in the hatchery and aquarium at the Sitka Sound Science Center, Taylor joined UCSC as an Ecology Evolutionary Biology graduate student with a focus on pinto abalone. She has spent the last four years researching pinto abalone population dynamics in Southeastern Alaska. These experiences in continued local harvest have led to her frequent collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game dive fisheries managers. For more information about Taylor, click here.

Former Undergraduate Chair: Hayley Mapes

Hayley is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Biology and will serve as the new Undergraduate Chair for AFS-SCMBAS. She is interested in reproductive biology in fish and is currently working on her senior thesis looking into new methods to conduct fecundity analysis for Rosy Rockfish (Sebastes rosaceus). She hopes to help build an undergraduate community in AFS-SMBAS, providing resources and assistance for research opportunities, graduate school, and overall fun fish-related activities. She can't wait for a fin-tastic year!

Former Education and Outreach Officer: Sara Noguera

Sara is a Senior as Evolution and Ecology Major at UCSC. She currently works in the Alonzo lab looking at sexual harassment behavior in mosquitofish. As the education and outreach chair, her goals are to create programs that engage and educate our Santa Cruz community.

General questions? Send an email to SCMBAS!