Stephen Whitaker
Bren PhD student
Office: off-campus
Email: stephen_whitaker@ucsb.edu
In addition to being a PhD student, Steve is a marine ecologist at the Channel Islands National Park (CINP). He plans to use long-term CINP survey data to examine different factors that have affected the abundance of a foundation species, the rockweed Silvetia compressa, in rocky intertidal habitats. Steve’s dissertation will seek to identify the causes of a recent population decline of Silvetia, assess the risk to the species under future climate conditions, and investigate potential mitigation measures for restoration of rockweed.