Current lab members

Graduate Students:

 

Samantha Ahlman                                                                                                       

I am looking at the burrowing ability and byssal thread production of an invasive mussel (Arcuatula senhousia) in different sediment grain sizes to see how predation rates are affected to ultimately better explain the observed distribution patterns of adult A. senhousia in Mission Bay.

 

 

 

 

Emily Zavacki

I am from Chicago, IL and have always been passionate about invasion biology. My growing curiosity of non-indigenous marine species led to my current research, which focuses on the non-indigenous spaghetti bryozoan (Amathia verticillata, previously named Zoobotryon verticillatum [delle Chiaje, 1822]). I hope to better understand their community role in Mission Bay by examining their distribution, structural complexity, and associated marine invertebrate community.

 

 

Alberto Rivera

Hey everyone! I am Alberto. Berto. Beto. Whichever you prefer. I am a first year graduate student here at USD in the EOS MS program. I am falling for San Diego every day thanks to the staff and students at USD. I am a Salvadoran American from LA, so I still say – “Go Dodgers! (Or Go Displacers, iykyk).” I graduated from Tufts University in 2018 and then taught for 3 years. I will be working on some larval transport or larval settlement research as a part of the Reyns lab team. I love playing soccer, going to the movie theaters, visiting aquariums and trying new things: I want to play beach volleyball at some point for some reason. I am a relatively open book so ask anything and I will likely have something to say.

 

 

Undergraduate Students:

 

Kai Monteil-Doucette

I’m researching the distribution of Arcuatula senhousia in Mission Bay, San Diego, an invasive mussel species. I’m specifically examining how sediment type and predators affect A. senhousia distribution.