Maya Munstermann has been awarded a National Geographic Explorer Grant through the “American Keystones” initiative. Her work focuses on how global change affects bull kelp and sea urchin populations and has been pursued in partnership with the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and funded by the National Science Foundation. Her new work will specifically address how traditional management and environmental stress affect bull kelp growth, physiology, and nutrient dynamics. Her project is entitled “Dynamic and reciprocal interdependence: The importance of keystone bull kelp for the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and the imperiled northern California coast.” Maya joins exceptional company as a National Geographic Explorer. Congrats Maya!!
This position is part of a multi-disciplinary project focused on the restoration, ecology, physiology, and reproductive biology of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) in Northern California in collaboration with the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and researchers at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML). The position will be based at BML full time and will at a minimum involve scientific diving, coordination of field sampling, and abalone husbandry. They will also have the capacity to lead experimental work in large seawater mesocosms, conduct population genomics analysis, and/or lead ecological modeling studies. Candidates should have excellent laboratory skills, experience with animal husbandry, strong quantitative and data management skills, and experience in cold-water SCUBA diving and AAUS certification. Exceptional candidates will have strong expertise in bioinformatics, biostatistics, and/or ecological modeling.
Seaweed Biogeography, Productivity, and Ecophysiology
This position is based within the International Bioeconomy and Macroalgae Center (IBMC) at UC Berkeley in collaboration with the Energy and Bioscience Institute (EBI), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and IBMC collaborators in Canada. The candidate will be responsible for coordinating coast-wide analysis of seaweed population dynamics, genetics, and/or physiology within a network of partners across the northeast Pacific and abroad. The candidate will be based physically on campus at UC Berkeley but will have the opportunity to work with partners in Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Canada, and Alaska as well as in California and more broadly through the IBMC. Minimum qualifications are background and experience in statistics (especially spatial and time series analysis and data synthesis), and seaweed ecology and physiology. Exceptional candidates will have expertise in genetics, bioinformatics, and have experience and/or certifications in scientific diving (AAUS or CAUS).
Interested candidates should send an email inquiry to dkokamoto@berkeley.edu by Dec 15, 2025(will continue to consider inquiries until the position is filled).Please include: 1)the phrase“post-doc inquiry” in the subject line, 2) a cover letter (one page maximum), 3) which position is of interest 4) and a CV.
PhD candidate Maya Munstermann was awarded “best-talk” at the International Temperate Reefs Symposium in Brest, France this summer and PhD student Grace Westphal was awarded “best-talk” at the Western Society of Naturalists. Amazing work Grace and Maya!!
Kelp forest in Gwaii Haanas, Haida Gwaii. Photo credit: Ryan Miller/millermarine.ca
The Okamoto Lab and colleagues at the Energy and BioScience Institute, in collaboration with groups in Canada, Korea, and the UK, have been awarded funding to build a Global Center – the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center (IBMC)! Read more about it here. Soon we will be recruiting new members to assist and sending opportunities for collaboration! Stay tuned.
Dr. Diana Lopez was recently awarded a six-month Fulbright fellowship to conduct research on coral ecophysiology in Colombia! A dual citizen of the USA and Colombia, Dr. Lopez will travel to Gorgona Island (a former prison..) to study the response of coral photophysiology and endosymbiont composition to dynamic changes in environmental conditions. Congrats Diana! Photos coming soon….
Two new students, Olivia Ruffins (currently a lab manager in the Williams lab) and Grace Westphal (finishing a masters at Florida State with Dan and Tara Stewart-Merrill) are joining Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley as PhD students in fall 2024!
We are moving! Starting Jan 2024, we will be relocating to the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley as a result of a search focused on Global Change Biology. Stay tuned for advertisements for various positions in the lab!
Nate Spindel, the first PhD student in the Okamoto lab has accepted a post-doc to work with Dr. Scott Hamilton at Moss Landing starting in August. Congrats Nate! We can’t wait to see what you get up to next!
PhD student Donaven Baughman (co-supervised with Joel Trexler) was awarded the NSF GRFP in 2023 to work on how predators and abiotic conditions shape survival and physiology of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Apalachicola Bay. Huge congrats to Donaven!
Incoming PhD student Grace Westphal, co-supervised by Dr. Tara Stewart-Merrill, was a awarded a prestigious FSU Legacy Fellowship that will carry her through five years at FSU!
Post-Doc Dr. Diana P. López was awarded a Provost’s Post Doctoral Fellowship at FSU, that will provide two more years of salary and research funds to continue her work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
PI Okamoto was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to work on abalone management plans in Haida Gwaii that consider climate change, predator recovery, and Indigenous harvests.
The Okamoto Lab 