Featured Event

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and USC Sea Grant invite you to a series of virtual community dialogue roundtables (via Zoom) on the ecological importance and human use of rocky intertidal habitats along the coast of Southern California.

These community dialogues will include presentations from a variety of stakeholders including researchers, organization and agency representatives and community members, as we work toward a common understanding of the rocky intertidal ecosystems.

Sessions:

Panel I:  Understanding the Changing Intertidal
Date: Wednesday, August 12
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Via Zoom: Link will be provided upon registration

Click here to RSVP 

Guest Panelists Include (find our about our panelists below): 

• Steve Lee, Somona Ecology Center
• Alan Miller, California State University, Long Beach
• Dr. Susanne Lawrenz Miller, Director Emerita Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
• Dr. Steve Murray, California State University, Fullerton

Save the date:

Mr. Lee is a marine and freshwater biologist/ecologist with over 25 years of experience designing, conducting, and reporting on scientific research projects in subtidal, rocky intertidal, estuarine, riverine and other systems. Steven spent most of his career working in academia, including five years at UC Santa Cruz and over 20 years at UCLA’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, where he managed or collaborated on a wide variety of pure and applied research projects. Steven is an expert in the nearshore marine flora and fauna of the west coast and for 20 years helped manage a long-term rocky intertidal monitoring program with sites spread across the California shoreline. During that time he was a key participant in a SCUBA—based subtidal exploration and monitoring program in southern California’s Channel Islands, carried out numerous biological/ecological and fluvial/hydrological assessments of river, stream and riparian systems in southern California associated with the now-defunct EMAP program (BMI, e-fishing, streamflow, water quality, riparian vegetation assessments), participated in the initial testing and refinement of the California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM) and, for his dissertation research, carried out a statewide study of wetland mitigation success associated with Clean Water Act Section 401 and 404 permitting under contract with the State Water Resources Control Board. Steven now applies his breadth of knowledge and experience to the Sonoma Ecology Center’s Research Program working to improve conditions in the creeks and neighborhoods he played and grew up in as a kid. Streamflow sampling, water quality testing, fisheries restoration and water management planning are key aspects of his SEC work along with grant development and management. He also continues to work as a contract ecologist for the National Park Service (Point Reyes and Golden Gate) helping them implement their shoreline monitoring program.

Alan Miller is Professor Emeritus from California State University Long Beach, retired in 2010 after 36 service years. He taught marine and terrestrial ecology courses, as well as statistics. Believing that students learn best and improve their creativity when actively engaged in group and individual research projects, he established field courses that took students on weekend excursions to Starr Ranch Audubon Sanctuary and Death Valley, and on longer trips to Hawaii and Baja California Sur. These field courses also involved the students in assisting the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium to conduct counts of abalone, sea urchins, and sea stars at three fixed study sites on the Palos Verdes Peninsula over a 30-year period. Alan received his B.S. in Biology from Stanford University in 1967 and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in 1974. After a 3-month job as ecologist at the Southern California Coastal Research Project, he took a position at CSU Long Beach in the fall of 1974. Scientific studies included marine molluscan diversity in temperate and tropical intertidal communities, nutrient contributions of fishes to the shallow-water kelp and coral reef communities at Catalina Island and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, and the source of shells in Native American middens uncovered at CSU Long Beach, as well as their energy content for human diets.

Susanne Lawrenz Miller is Director Emerita of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CMA), a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. Beginning as Cabrillo Marine Museum Exhibits Director in 1974 and museum co-director in 1976, she worked with architect Frank O. Gehry to develop the new $3 million museum-aquarium which opened in 1981. When Programs Director and co-director John Olguin retired in 1987, she became CMA Director until her retirement in 2006 following a $10 million expansion of CMA completed 2004. Susanne received a B.A. degree in zoology from UC Berkeley in 1967 and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1972. Her scientific work focused on the ecology, biomechanics, and long-term population changes of seashore animals, including 30 years of annual surveys of intertidal organisms on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Dr. Steven N. Murray retired from the position of Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Fullerton in 2012. Previously, he served as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and was a member of Fullerton’s Biology faculty for 41 years. Dr. Murray received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from U.C. Santa Barbara and his Ph.D. from U.C. Irvine. He is a coastal marine ecologist and has published numerous papers and reports on topics such as invasive seaweeds, marine herbivory, long-term changes in intertidal populations and communities, human impacts on coastal systems, and the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in urban settings. He has also served as Principal Investigator on National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Education grants to increase the number of degree recipients in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Dr. Murray was named CSU Fullerton’s Outstanding Professor in 2003 and was awarded the 2007 Wheeler J. North Award for Scientific Excellence by the Southern California Academy of Sciences. He is past-President of the Western Society of Naturalists and the Phycological Society of America, where he currently serves on the executive committee and Board of Trustees of the nation’s premiere algal scientific society. Dr. Murray was appointed to the inaugural Federal Advisory Committee on Marine Protected Areas for the U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce. He also was a member of the marine reserves science panel for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Federal Advisory Committee for the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management. Dr. Murray was an original member of the Marine Life Protection Act’s (MLPA’s) Master Plan Team. He co-chaired the MLPA’s South Coast Region Science Advisory Team and served on the MLPA’s Science Advisory Teams for California’s Central Coast and North Coast Study Regions. He currently serves as a member of the Science Advisory Team for California’s Ocean Protection Council and a member of the IUCN California EAGL.

Share