MARINE LIAISONS | Coastal Science and Policy Program

Who We Are

MARINE (Monterey Area Research Institutions’ Network for Education) provides professional development opportunities to prepare future ocean leaders for interdisciplinary, real world problem-solving. MARINE is a collaboration between UC Santa Cruz Coastal Science & Policy Program and seven Monterey Bay area academic campuses.

MARINE’s primary audience are interdisciplinary graduate students and early career professionals interested in coastal and ocean-related topics within our seven campus network:

CSU Monterey Bay
Moss Landing Marine Labs
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Naval Postgraduate School
Stanford University
Stanford Hopkins Marine Station
UC Santa Cruz

Each campus is represented by volunteer MARINE student and faculty liaisons. Both advise and inform program development from each campuses’ perspective.

MARINE 2025-2026 Co-Chairs

Caroline Daley
Co-Chair
MLML
caroline.daley@sjsu.edu
Nearshore fisheries ecology

Jordan Pilcher
Co-Chair
MLML
jordan.pilcher@sjsu.edu
Evolutionary and ecological genetics of rockfish

MARINE Newsletter Leads

Contact:
MARINE-News-group@ucsc.edu

We’re looking for the next MARINE Newsletter Co-Leads
Interested in joining? please email MARINE_chairs@ucsc.edu

Social Media Coordinator

Position vacant

2025-2026 MARINE Liaisons

Anik Grearson
UCSC
agrearso@ucsc.edu
Deep sea adaptation in ctenophores

Jenna Contuchio
UCSC
jecontuc@ucsc.edu
Sea turtle ecology in a changing climate

Ava Besecker
CSUMB
abesecker@csumb.edu
Coral thermal tolerance

Kerri Johnson
Moss Landing Marine Lab
kerri.johnson@sjsu.edu
Fish ecology; Marine Protected Areas and de facto MPAs

Kayla Vidal
Moss Landing Marine Lab
kayla.vidal@sjsu.edu
Purple sea urchin aquaculture, urchin reproductive performance in response to sublethal temperature changes

Poppy Brittingham
Stanford Hopkins Marine Station
poppyb@stanford.edu

Sylvie Alexander
Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey (MIIS)
smalexander@middlebury.edu
Climate adaptation, ocean-climate solutions, marine conservation/restoration for climate resilience