A contingent of CSU Monterey Bay students and faculty members will be among those presenting research at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.

More than 3,000 environmental scientists will attend the meeting in Sacramento, scheduled for Aug. 10-15. The theme: “From oceans to mountains: It’s all ecology.”

Miles Daniels, who just graduated with a Master of Science in Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy, worked with Professor Fred Watson. They explored ways to protect human and wildlife health in the Monterey Bay region from waterborne diseases by using wetlands as a filter. The wetlands filter out dangerous disease-causing organisms before people and animals come into contact with them.

“Overall, our research demonstrated that by improving valuable wetland habitat in the Monterey Bay, water quality may also be improved,” Daniels said. He will present his work on Aug. 14.

Daniels is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Epidemiology Department at U.C. Davis. “I am combining my background in environmental science with health sciences to work on research questions in public, wildlife and environmental health,” Daniels said.

Stefanie Kortman, a graduate student in Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy, worked with Professor Marc Los Huertos on a project involving greenhouse gas emissions from strawberry farming on the Central Coast.

Agriculture is the main contributor to nitrous oxide emissions, Kortman explained, and there is much concern on how farm management practices influence its production. "My research project aimed to quantify and assess potential differences in nitrous oxide emissions from organic and conventional strawberry farms in Monterey Bay," Kortman said.

She concluded that there was no significant difference between organic and conventional growing methods.

Kortman will present her work on Aug. 14.

April Makukhov worked with researchers from Hopkins Marine Station and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on a project involving red abalone settlement in Monterey Bay. She will present her work on Aug. 15.

The senior biology major explained that her research is the first assessment of abalone settlement in Monterey Bay, which is important because abalone are key grazers that maintain the kelp forests. She learned that, despite low densities of adult red abalone, recruitment of newly settled red abalone has been consistently high over the past few years.

"This is interesting," she said, "because adult red abalone are preyed on my sea otters, so future studies can look at the aggregation of adult abalone to see if the presence of sea otters is leading to the more successful settlement we have been observing compared to Northern California."

Makukhov was recently named a CSU Pre-Doctoral Fellow, and awarded $3,000. The biology major is working with Professor Cheryl Logan this summer, investigating the impacts of ocean acidification on juvenile rockfish.

Scott Blanco, who earned a master's in applied marine and watershed science in May, will present his thesis research about the eological control of toxic algae in Watsonville's Pinto Lake.