AAUS Scholarship Recipients

2017

1^st place -  Amelia K. Weiss - Ph.D. (Cornell University). Resource stability and chemosynthesis in underwater cave communities.

2^nd place - Kathryn Lesneski - Ph.D. (Boston University). Identifying heat-stress/bleaching resistant colonies of the endangered staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) in Turneffe Atoll, Belize for active restoration projects.

1^st place -  George Jarvis - Masters (California State University Northridge). Evaluating the effects of predation risk on prey reproduction

2^nd place - Tracie Grimes - Masters (San Diego State University). Assessing the potential impact of southern sea otter predation on juvenile Dungeness crab in California estuaries.

2016

1^st place - Corinne Fuchs - Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Barbara).  Effects of a nutrient loading gradient and size-selective fishing on coral reef resilience

2^nd place - Jacquelyn Cresswell - Ph.D. (Texas A&M University Galveston). Modern ecology and primary succession of benthic foraminifera in Bermuda’s underwater caves

1^st place -  Madelyn Roycroft - Masters (California Polytechnic State). Investigating the Impacts of Overfishing on Parrotfish Feeding Behavior in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

2^nd place - Claire Spitzer - Masters (San Diego State University). Parasite-Mediated Predator-Prey Interactions in California Coastal Fishes 

Kevin Flanagan Travel Award - Allie Sifrit (University of Washington) and Charlotte Levy (Oregon State University)

Hollis Gear Award - Alyssa Clevenstine (California State University, Long Beach)

2015

1^st Place - Amalia Harrington - Ph.D. (University of Maine) Impacts of abrupt climate change on the American lobster: using diver-based experiments to explore local adaptations to predation risk across New England

2^nd Place - Chelsea Counsell - Ph.D. (University of Hawaii Manoa) Spatial patterns in biodiversity of semi-cryptic reef communities

1^st Place -  Miranda Brett - Masters (San Diego State University) The consumptive and non-consumptive effects of a microcarnivorous fish, a kelp-grazing limpet, and the feather boa kelp, Egregia menziessi in a tri-trophic interaction

2nd Place - Genoa Sullaway - Masters (San Diego State University) Assessing the consequences of an invasive marine alga on ecosystem functioning

Kevin Flanagan Travel Award - Marissa McMahan (Northeastern University), Catie Mitchell (Vanderbilt University)

Hollis Gear Award - Ali Zwiefler (University of Haifa, Israel)

2014

1^st place - Marissa D. McMahan- Ph.D. (Northeastern University) Ecological implications of a northern range expansion of black sea bass, Centropristis striata

2^nd place - Allison Tracy - Ph.D. (Cornell University) An old battle on a new stage: The consequences of environmental change for coral disease

1^st place - Caitlin Hanley - Masters (Florida Atlantic University) Biodiversity of Micro Benthos on Natural and Artificial Reefs off Southeastern Florida

2^nd place - Katie Davis - Masters (University of California, Santa Barbara) A comparative study of parrotfish movement and indirect effects of fishing on spatial patterns of foraging in Chlorurus sordidus

Kevin Flanagan Travel Award - Lauren Bell and Sonia Ibarra (University of Alaska, Fairbanks)

Hollis Gear Award - Victoria Sindorf (University of Hawaii, Manoa)

2013

1^st place - Lillian Tuttle -Ph.D. (Oregon State University) Effects of the invasive Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans) on native Atlantic goby cleaning mutualisms.

 2^nd place- Darcey Bradley -Ph.D. (UC Santa Barbara) Incorporating behavior into an estimate of reef shark population abundance at a pristine coral reef.

1^st place - Scott Gabara - Masters (Moss Landing Marine Labs) Drift kelp retention, habitat complexity, and macroinvertebrate species richness of coralline agal rhodolith beds at Santa Catalina Island, CA.

2^nd place- Danielle Claar -Masters  (University of Hawaii) Macroecology of microorganisms: Symbiodinium diversity across a gradient of anthropogenic stress and implications for coral reef resilience.

Kevin Flanagan Travel Award - Ross Whippo (University of British Columbia)

2012

1st place - Julia L. Stevens -Ph.D (University of Alabama) Disease resistance of an invasive species: testing lionfish mucus and associated bacterial communities for pathogen inhibition.

2011

1st place - Ryan Jenkinson - Ph.D. (San Diego State University) Biogeographical variation in trophic interactions on temperate reefs of the Southern California Bight.

2nd place -  Ashlee Lillis - Ph.D. (North Carolina State University) Can you hear me now? Habitat-associated sound as a larval settlement cue for estuarine benthic invertebrates.

1st place - Thomas TinHan - Masters (California State University, Long Beach)  Long-term horizontal and vertical movement patterns of yellow snapper  (Lutjanus argentiventris) and leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea) at the Los Islotes reserve, Gulf of California.

2nd place - Michael Fox - Masters (Moss Landing Marine Laboratories) Effects of oceanographic climate on growth and resource physiology of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in a central California kelp forest.

2010

1st place - Aaron Galloway -Ph.D. (Friday Harbor Laboratories and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington) Subsidy of macroalgal derived essential fatty acids to subtidal food webs: molecular characterization of source material and aging effects.

2nd place - Kimberly Tenggardjaja -Ph.D (Long Marine Lab, University of California Santa Cruz) A Genetic Comparison of Endemic and Non-Endemic Damselfishes in the Hawaiian Archipelago.

1st place - Scott Toews -Masters (Division of Science and Environmental Policy, California State University Monterey Bay) Linking habitat heterogeneity to genetic partitioning in the rocky subtidal using black surfperch (Embiotoca jacksoni).

2nd place - Tania Eskin -Masters (Three Seas Professional Masters in Marine Science Program at Northeastern University) Assessing the effects of chronic and acute exposure to ship noise on plasma cortisol levels in the lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus.

2009

1st place - Lauren Garske - Ph.D. - ( Bodega Marine Lab, University of California, Davis) Integrating oceanographic, chemical and ecological processes to identify 'zones of impact' for runoff in coastal waters.

2nd place - Katherine Grablow - Ph.D. (Department of Biology, University of Central Florida) Recruitment and dispersal of the long-spined urchin, Diadema antillarum. Note: K. Grablow declined the scholarship.

2nd place - Robin Elahi - Ph.D. (University of Washinton, Friday Harbor Labs) Identifying ecological and phylogenetic factors underlying the distribution of exotic tunicates in the subtidal rocky habitats of Washington.

1st place - Alecia Adamson - Masters - (Fisheries and Aquatics Sciences, University of Florida) Do sanctuary preservation areas provide hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) significant protection against exploitation?

2nd place - Arley Muth - Masters (Moss Landing Marine Lab) - Substrate rugosity effects on kelp spore aggregation and fertilization success.

2008

1st place - Zy Biesinger - Ph.D (Dept of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida) Linking gag grouper performance to habitat and density.

2nd place - Mary Hart - Ph.D (Dept of Biology, University of Kentucky) Environmental effects on mating strategy in a simultaneously hermaphroditic fish.

1st place - Bonnie Rogers - Masters (California State University Long Beach) The effects of fishing-related barotrauma on the visual acuity of black-and-yellow rockfish (Sebastes crysomelas).

2nd place - Joshua Copus - Masters (Northern Arizona University) Population Structure of Chaetodon trichrous: Does genetic differentiation exist?

2007

Suzanne Arnold -Ph.D. - (U. of Maine;Department of Oceanography, Marine Biology and Marine Policy) Coral Recruitment in the gardens of good and evil: a regional look at the role of herbivory (Bonaire and Belize).

Kendra Karr - Masters -(UC, Santa Cruz;Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Ecological role of Macrocystis pyrifera canopy for kelp forest community dynamics (Northern California).

2006

Jodi Pirtle: - Ph.D. - The Influence of Living Habitat in Structuring Nearshore Fish and Invertebrate Communities in Southeast Alaska.

Karl Mueller: - Masters - Shelter Competition Between Native Signal Crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852) and Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkia (Girard, 1852) in Pine Lake, Washington, USA: The Role of Size and Sex.

2005

Nicole Fogarty: Florida State University, Ph.D. Primary: The Significance of Hybridization in Depauperate Caribbean Acropora Populations.

Dan Warren: University of California, Davis, Ph.D. Secondary: Ecological Speciation and Gamete Compatibility in Caribbean Wrasses.

Cyndi Dawson: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Masters Primary: Movements, Habitat Use, and Seasonal Abundance of the Prickly Shark, Echinorhinus cookiei, in the Vicinity of the Monterey Submarine Canyon.

Joshua Bouma: University of Washington, Masters - Secondary Juvenile Recruitment Dynamics of the Pinto Abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) in the San Juan Islands, Washington State.

2004

Luis Vinueza, Oregon State University Ph.D. Bottom Up and Top Down, Factors in the Regulation of Rocky Shore Communities in the Galapagos Islands: Implications for Marine reserve design and conservation.

Andrew Weispfenning, Western Washington University Masters Assessment of Nearshore Bottom Fishes and Rocky Reef Habitat within Eight Candidate Marine Reserves in Skagit County, Washington.

2003

Chad McNutt- Ph.D.(University of Houston) Population Genetic Structure and Connectivity of Montastraea faveolata Across the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. James Dimond -Masters (University of Rhode Island) A field investigation of facultative symbiosis in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata.

2002

Kerri Scolardi - Masters (University of South Florida) Distribution, Abundance and Predatory Impact of Atlantic Ctenophores.

Peter B. McIntyre- Ph.D. (Cornell University) Tropic ecology of benthic herbivores in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.

2001

Salvador Jorgensen - Masters (University of California, Davis ) Pelagic fish assemblages: Implications for Marine Reserve Design.

Irene Tetreault Beers-Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles) A test of the spillover effect from no-take marine reserves using California Sheepshead in Southern California. 2000

Robin Willoughby- Ph.D. (Florida Institute of Technology) Stress Induced Gene Expression in Marine Sponges.

1999

Mathew Edwards-Ph.D. (University of California at Santa Cruz) The impact of the 1997-98 El Nino on coastal marine ecosystems of California and Mexico.

1998

Diana Stellar -Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz) Importance of rhodolith beds as shellfish recruitment habitat for the catarina scallop, Argopecten ventricosus, along the coasts of Baja California peninsula, Mexico.

1997

Helen Fox (University of California, Berkeley) Coral Reef Rehabilitation in Komodo National Park, Indonesia.

1996

Rebecca Beavers -Ph.D. (Duke University Marine Laboratory) Documenting Storm Sedimentation with Diver-Collected boxcores and Acoustic Altimeters Offshore of Duck, NC.