Robert J. Dellinger

Source: Blanchette, et al. (2016) Ecosystems of California.

Climate change will profoundly affect marine organisms, the ecosystems that organisms are embedded within, ecosystem processes, and the services and necessities that ecosystems provide for humanity. As a graduate student, my primary focus is to build upon previously established ecological theory to better elucidate how the global scale phenomena of ocean acidification and ocean warming may impact ecosystem functioning. Specifically, I will conduct my research on the rocky intertidal zone, an ecosystem that experiences drastic natural diel variability, to further my understanding of the interactive effects of multiple environmental drivers on biological interactions. I’m primarily interested in studying the synergistic, additive, and antagonistic interactions of confounding abiotic factors on organismal physiology and marine ecosystems through mechanistic approaches. Assessing the mechanisms under which confounding stressors interact on marine ecology may yield further insights regarding ecological surprises (sensu Paine et al. 1998) and therefore inform conservation and remediation strategies. In addition to better understanding how multiple interacting environmental parameters affect organismal physiology, I am examining how measurements of performance (e.g. growth, calcification, etc.) will alter in response to ocean warming and acidification to exemplify how organismal-level interactions may amplify or reduce the effects of environmental change, as each organismal function uniquely scales up to affect different ecosystem functions. My results could infer how vital rates that govern population dynamics will scale up to affect ecosystem response in a changing ocean environment. Further, I’m interested in learning about the embeddedness of humanity within socio-ecological systems to build a more nuanced understanding of how exploitative practices impact coastal communities and how multiple drivers of environmental change may lead to uncertainty. As I pursue graduate studies, I hope to use my future research to engage groups of folks who have been historically excluded from marine conservation. I am inspired by the diverse wave of marine scientists entering the field and the changes that are yet to come.

BODEGA MARINE LABORATORY

The UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute's Bodega Marine Laboratory is a leading research facility at the forefront of providing science that serves society and informs solutions to environmental challenges. The BML research program allows students to gain multidisciplinary knowledge of marine ecosystems through faculty-led research and field-based courses.

THE BAY LAB

The Bay Lab in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis studies the ways in which human-induced environmental change alters evolutionary trajectories using a combination of ecological and physiological experiments and genomic data. The goal is to develop a predictive framework for evolutionary responses to climate change.

STUDY ABROAD GUATEMALA

Taking place at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, this program focuses on ecological, social, & political issues related to environmental degradation. Students in this program learn about aquatic-ecosystem processes through experimental and observational studies. Emphasizing the socio-ecological interactions of aquatic and wetland ecology, students work with NGO projects and local communities.