Kerstin Wasson is currently accepting new graduate students.

Students from diverse backgrounds or under-represented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

Wasson lab students have a rigorous undergraduate background in ecology and a strong interest in coastal conservation biology. Some or all of their graduate fieldwork is conducted at Elkhorn Slough, since this is where she is based, and their research should focus on a topic in coastal conservation science.

Examples of potential research topics of relevance to conservation of estuarine ecosystems at Elkhorn Slough:

Marsh sustainability: investigation of physical and biological correlates of marsh persistence vs. degradation

Recovery from invasion: restoration experiment to track salt marsh recovery following removal of non-native ice plant

Eutrophication and salt marshes: experimental manipulation of macroalgal cover to determine whether there are negative effects on salt marsh plants

Oyster restoration: restoration experiments to track survival in different habitats and under different levels of competition from non-native species

Estuarine snail conservation: genetic and geographic analysis of populations of a potentially threatened brackish water snail throughout coastal California