Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Dan Okamoto (he/him/his) is an assistant professor of Global Change Biology in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley (starting in 2024) and in the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (since 2018). He is a statistician, modeler, and field ecologist. He works on how trophic interactions, climate, and fishing combine to affect dynamics of populations and communities, especially species like sea urchins, kelp, abalone, and forage fish. He enjoys working with communities and environmental managers to make fisheries and conservation more sustainable, productive, and equitable. He received his PhD from UCSB, a masters in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Simon Fraser University and the Hakai Institute and at Florida State University.
Graduate Students
Maya Munstermann (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in Integrative Biology. She is interested in combining ecological and genomic research to investigate sea urchin thermal tolerance and biological response to multiple stressors. Maya received her Master’s degree from University of Hawaii at Hilo and her undergraduate degree from University of Connecticut. Outside of the lab, Maya enjoys free diving, photography, fishing, and hiking! For more information about her past research activities and community outreach experience, check out her website: http://www.mayamunstermann.weebly.com!
Donaven Baughman is a PhD student in Ecology and Evolution, co-advised by Dan Okamoto and Joel Trexler at FSU. Before joining the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Lab, he received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Wichita State University in Kansas. Donaven’s research interests combine organismal biology, population ecology, and community ecology to understand how marine invertebrates respond to environmental stress and how their responses impact the sustainability and persistence of environmentally and commercially important marine species. In his free time, Donaven enjoys playing basketball, fishing, painting, and playing video games. Find him on Twitter @communityecodonGrace Westphal is a PhD student in Ecology & Evolution and is co-advised by Tara Stewart Merrill and Daniel Okamoto. She completed her undergraduate degree in Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with a dual major in English. Her current research focuses on understanding the role of genes and the environment in shaping invertebrate immunological traits, and the extent to which infectious disease drives clonal selection in Daphnia. Her research interests include environmental stressors on invertebrate health and disease and epidemiological modeling. She is passionate about conservation and science education; outside of the lab she enjoys reading and running.Olivia Ruffins is a first year PhD student with a background in ecophysiology and is brand new to marine science! Welcome to the lab Olivia!
Postbaccalaureates
Shantelle Bartley graduated from Boston University in 2024 with a B.A. in Marine Science. She is passionate about studying the effects of climate change on marine life, with a focus on genetics and physiology. Her interests span both the microscopic and macroscopic levels of marine ecosystems. In her free time, Shantelle enjoys reading, singing and composing music, and going on cruises.
Technicians
Becca Ward-Diorio is a lab tech at UC Berkeley. She graduated from Brown University in 2023, where she studied species behavior and interactions at the Witman Lab. Becca’s research interests include community ecology of benthic organisms, alongside behavioral and population ecology of marine mammals. When not at Berkeley or BML, she volunteers at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, helping rehabilitate seals, sea lions, and otters. Outside of her work, Becca enjoys reading, singing, skiing, and hiking
Post-Docs
Dr. Diana P. López (she/her/hers) is an NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellow at FSU and starting in 2023 has been awarded an FSU Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her work with PI Okamoto and Dr. Don Levitan. She is a marine invertebrate enthusiast and her research focuses on physiological mechanisms of coral resistance to climate change driven stressors. She works closely with Smithsonian collaborators in Panama including Drs. Sean Connolly and Mark Torchin. She enjoys mentoring students from underepresented minorites in STEM and will leverage her native language, spanish, to mentor Latino students in Panama. She received her PhD from Temple University, a masters in Environmental Studies from Florida International University, and her undergraduate in Biological Science from Florida Atlantic University. Find her on twitter @marinecolopez
Undergraduates
Ellington Chen is a fourth year UCB undergraduate working on bioenergetics of red abalone and red sea urchins in the lab.Elena Wang is a fourth-year UCB undergraduate majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology. She is working on experimental feeding trials for red and white abalone in the lab.
Jessica Chan is a UCB graduate
LJ Jung is a 5th year UCB undergraduate
Ellie Franklin is a 3rd year UCB undergraduate
Joanna Chen is a 4th year UCB undergraduate
Josephine Whalen is a 4th year FSU undergraduate
Kenna Gonzalez is a 4th year UCB undergraduate
Nick Nguyen is an REU summer undergraduate student from SJSU
Mariana Ierardi is a 3rd year UCB undergraduate
Alumni
Matthew Schumm (he/him) completed his PhD at FSU in 2025. Matthew studied excited to study population dynamics, distributions and evolution of marine and aquatic organisms. He is particularly interested in studying effects of harvest on evolution and demography using quantitative modeling, observations, and experiments. He is now an instructor at Southern Illinois University. Matthew’s personal site: sites.google.com/view/mschumm.Dr. Sam Karelitz (he/him/his) completed a post-doc at UC Berkeley in 2024 focusing on transgenerational ecological responses of purple sea urchin larvae to climate change. He is now a post-doc working on fish in the Atlantic! He completed his PhD at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand in 2020, where his research focused on transgenerational plasticity and acclimation of sea urchins in response to ocean warming and acidification. His work combines physiology and molecular biology to better understand how organisms respond to changing environments as well as the mechanisms that may drive acclimation and adaptation to future ocean conditions.Dr. Nate Spindel completed his PhD in Biological Science at FSU in 2023 and is now an NSF post-doc at Moss Landing Marine Lab with Dr. Scott Hamilton. Before coming to FSU, He received his undergraduate degree from UCSB, and worked as a researcher and AAUS diver for PISCO, the Moorea Coral Reef LTER, and the UCSB SONGS monitoring program prior to migrating to FSU to work on kelp forest ecosystems and abalone population dynamics in beautiful British Columbia. Find him on twitter!Dr. Christian Commander (he/him/his). Currently an Assistant Professor at Fayetteville State University. Christian was a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University from 2021-2023. He examined how sea otter recovery affects both nearshore ecosystems, communities, and commercial fisheries. His research interests are centered around using modeling and other approaches to better inform management and conservation. He received his Ph.D. from UNC Wilmington, a M.S. from CSU Sacramento, a B.S. from UC Davis, and worked as a postdoc at the University of Washington and NOAA. He is passionate about conservation and teaching, and outside of research he enjoys hiking and exploring with his dog Leo, sports, guitar, and traveling.Rachele Ferraro (she/her) is a recent FSU graduate and former lab as a research technician. In 2021 she received her undergraduate degrees in Biological Science and Environmental Science from Florida State University. Through the FSU scientific dive program, she became an AAUS certified diver and has volunteered with FWC on their artificial reef program. She is interested in the effects climate change and anthropogenic stressors have on ecosystems and how species adapt to environmental changes.
Sophia WilliamsMarina Nunez (UROP 2021)Isaiah Vasquez (UROP 2021)Krista Fauni (UROP 2021)Sofia Perez (UROP 2020)Maya Tiseth (BSc 2021)Kara Thornton (BSc 2020)Tony Cappellino completed his BSc at FSU. He assisted the lab in researching the effects of food availability on the annual growth of red sea urchins. In addition to research, Tony is passionate about music and is a member of the FSU Marching Chiefs. [he/him]
Trevor Alspach (UROP 2020)
Markus Thompson, MSc, RPBio is a Masters graduate advised by Dan Okamoto and Anne Salomon at SFU. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia and has worked as an environmental consultant prior to enrolling in graduate school. He works as the CEO of Thalassia Environmental and works with Dan Okamoto on projects relating to herring, abalone, kelp forests and anything else underwater. [he/him]
The Okamoto Lab 