Research Background & Interests

Hi, I’m Erica, and I’m postdoctoral scholar in the Halpern Research Group at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). I am currently using the Ocean Health Index to evaluate marine biodiversity and food provisioning in the Gulf of California, Mexico, as part of a larger project effort to inform science-based conservation and management in the region.

My research is interdisciplinary and examines how climate change affects marine ecosystems, ‘fish’, and fisheries across temperate and subtropical regions of the United States and Latin America. I am particularly interested in understanding the impacts of ocean warming and deoxygenation on nearshore ecosystems, invertebrate taxa, and fishery populations targeted by small-scale fisheries and mariculture.

Across these systems, I seek to develop conservation solutions by identifying social-ecological factors that are within our control and can be adapted to enhance resilience in the face of multiple climate change stressors. To accomplish my work, I draw heavily on lessons from the fields of marine ecology and ecophysiology, coastal policy and management, oceanography, and Earth systems science.

Prior to joining NCEAS, I was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Coastal Sustainability Lab at UC Santa Cruz. I earned my Ph.D. in Marine Biology and M.S. in Oceanography at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the Aburto Lab, where I also received formal training in global policy and strategy through the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation’s Program for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research.

I am passionate about the work that I do and believe that our efforts to build a more just, sustainable future will require ambition, clarity of vision, and a willingness to work together across fields and in good faith. As part of this commitment, I dedicate part of my time as a scientist to outreach, teaching, community-building, and service initiatives, including co-founding the Scripps SCUBA DIVERsity Program and UCSC’s ACCESS Diving Program.

Outside of work, I like to spend time at the beach, in the ocean, at the zoo, and with friends!