{"id":21,"date":"2011-09-23T19:39:25","date_gmt":"2011-09-23T19:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-01-07T01:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T01:45:59","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/?page_id=21","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Principal Investigator<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cascade Sorte – <\/strong>Ph.D. University of California, Davis (2010); M.A.\u00a0University of California, Santa Barbara (2003); B.A. Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA (1999)<\/p>\n

Curriculum vitae<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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Current graduate students<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rizelle Mazon <\/strong>(2025-present), M.S.<\/p>\n

Behavioral responses of resident species to range-shifting species<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Chloe Goodsell <\/strong>(2025-present), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Population demographic modeling of range-shifting species<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Irissa Danke <\/strong>(2025-present), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Predicting impacts of range-shifting species using quantitative meta-analysis<\/p>\n

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.<\/span>Note: MS students are thru the UCI 4+1 program for UCI postgrads<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Undergraduate researchers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Solana Leonard <\/strong>(2025-present)<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Kelsey Djan <\/strong>(2024-present)<\/p>\n

Concentration of microplastics in mussels following storm events In Southern California<\/p>\n

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We are always on the lookout for new graduate and undergraduate students to join the lab, and 1-3 positions typically come available every year. Please email a CV\/resume, unofficial transcripts, and description of research experience and interest if you would like to be considered.<\/p>\n

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Graduate students advised<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ryan Beshai <\/strong><\/a>(2020-2025), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Interactions and impacts of invasive and range-shifting species<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Kyle Suen <\/strong>(2022-2025), M.S.<\/p>\n

Mussels as a refuge for prey of a range-shifting predatory whelk<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Racine Rangel <\/strong><\/a>(2018-2023), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Multi-stressor effects of acidification and warming on the physiological responses of coastal marine invertebrates<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/u>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Heidi Waite<\/strong><\/a> (2018-2023), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Development of thermal tolerance across demography in species with complex life cycles<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong>Samuel\u00a0Mahanes<\/strong> (2017-2022), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

The shifting ecological impacts of dominant and invasive marine species under climate change<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/u>\"\"<\/a>Piper Wallingford<\/strong><\/a> (2015-2020), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Impacts of climate change on predators, prey, and range shifting species interactions<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Lauren Pandori <\/strong><\/a>(2014-2019), Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Age-dependent responses of marine invertebrates to climate change<\/p>\n

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Former lab members<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Alexa Magee <\/strong>– Undergraduate research (Bio 199) student (2024-2025) Predicting the effects of range-shifting species: adapting impact assessments for a changing ocean<\/p>\n

Soffia Ramsey\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research (Bio 199) student (2023-2024) Interactions between range expanding and native resident whelks<\/p>\n

Edward Nguyen\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2023-2024) Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis with mussels and gooseneck barnacles<\/p>\n

Safa Sherzai <\/strong>– Research assistant (2023-2024) & undergraduate research student (2021-2023) Distributions and impacts of a range-shifting whelk in Southern California<\/p>\n

Vanessa Lau\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2021-2023) Impacts of warming and ocean acidification on a critical shellfish<\/p>\n

Jonathan Reyes\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2022-2023) Using invasive species impact assessment to evaluate potential effects of native range expansions<\/p>\n

James Kim\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2022-2023) Using invasive species impact assessment to evaluate potential effects of native range expansions<\/p>\n

Courtney Cameron\u00a0<\/strong>– Research assistant & graduate student (2022-2023) Distribution & demography of range-shifting species<\/p>\n

Abigail Gonzalez\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2021-2022) Methods for temperature control in a lab aquarium facility<\/p>\n

Caitlyn Cortes\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2021-2022) Demographic patterns across tide height in an intertidal range-shifting whelk species<\/p>\n

Caroline Hoeft<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2020-present) Using hierarchical clustering to assess relative noise levels of backyard chickens<\/p>\n

Katherine Phan <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2020-present) The effect of simulated climate warming and ocean acidification on three intertidal marine invertebrates<\/p>\n

Genevieve Bernatchez<\/strong> – Lab technician (2014-2020)<\/p>\n

Leah Samuels\u00a0<\/strong>– Summer intern, Whitman College (2020) Impacts of climate change on the coastal community of Sitka, AK<\/p>\n

Stephany Lira <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2020) Do light levels effect intertidal community productivity?<\/p>\n

Jolene Viramontes<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2019-20) Parental effects on larval offspring thermal tolerance; Community drivers and feedbacks of tide pool pH<\/p>\n

Abigail Vara <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2019-20) The effect of ocean acidification on shell thickness of the Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus<\/em>) and Sitka periwinkle snail (Littorina sitkana<\/em>)<\/p>\n

J. Connor Basile\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2019) Impacts of ocean warming on invertebrate physiology and community ecology<\/p>\n

Grant Gallaher <\/strong>– Summer intern, Whitman College (2019) Effects of climate change on foundation species abundance and ecosystem functioning (undergraduate thesis)<\/em><\/p>\n

Danny Truong<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2017-19) Assembly processes in California fouling communities (#1 Judges Choice Award in UROP Video Challenge – view video <here><\/a> )<\/em><\/p>\n

Haley Heesch<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2018-19) Effectiveness of wildlife corridors; Thermal biology of marine invertebrates; Human impacts on intertidal communities (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grants)<\/em><\/p>\n

Deida Lopez <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2018-19) Impacts of competition on behavior of invertebrate predators (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grant)<\/em><\/p>\n

Keira Monuki\u00a0<\/strong>– <\/em>Summer intern, UC-Irvine (2016-18) Spatial and temporal gradients in recruitment processes and physiological condition of intertidal mussels (Presented at Western Society of Naturalists 2016, Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology 2018)<\/em><\/p>\n

Ritika Singh<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2017-18) Prey preference of avian and invertebrate predators in intertidal communities (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grants, 2017 Summer Undergraduate Research Program Grant)<\/em><\/p>\n

Eduardo Cruz<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2017-18) Thermal biology of intertidal invertebrates (Undergraduate Research Program Grants)<\/em><\/p>\n

Mackenzie Peich <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2016-17) Ecophysiology of intertidal invertebrates across thermal stress gradients<\/p>\n

Nyssa Silbiger<\/strong> – Postdoctoral scholar, UC-Irvine (2015-17) Biophysical feedbacks of carbonate chemistry in coastal ecosystems<\/p>\n

Savannah Todd <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2015-16) Distributions of predatory snails across latitudinal and intertidal gradients; Final presentation: Abundance of the non-native predatory whelk, Mexacanthina lugubris<\/em>, and the native predatory whelk, Nucella emarginata<\/em>, along the coast of southern California (link to video podcast here)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Alyssa Medina <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2015-16) Population and thermal biology of California mussels; Investigating a possible (but eventually refuted) invasion of Perna viridis<\/em>\u00a0(Excellence in Research Paper: Reproductive maturity of the California mussel <\/em>Mytilus californianus across an intertidal gradient)<\/em><\/p>\n

Samer Khan <\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2016) Feedbacks between temperature, pH, species distribution and dissolved oxygen in tide pools<\/p>\n

Kunheng Cai\u00a0<\/strong>– Undergraduate research student (2015) Interaction between climate change and sea star wasting disease<\/p>\n

Betzy Alvizo<\/strong> – Undergraduate research student (2014-15) Seasonality of thermal tolerance and recruitment of the California mussel<\/p>\n

Victoria Davidson <\/strong>– Summer intern, Whitman College (2014) Blue mussel population trajectories and their relationship to community diversity in the Gulf of Maine (undergraduate thesis)<\/em><\/p>\n

Marcus Franklin<\/strong> – REU student, CREST program, UMass-Boston (2013) Blue mussel abundance in the Gulf of Maine: a historical approach to determining population trajectories<\/p>\n

Carissa McKinney<\/strong> – REU student, CREST program, UMass-Boston (2011) Changes in dogwhelk color polymorphisms during 27 years of global warming<\/p>\n

Robert Spackman<\/strong> – REU student, CREST program, UMass-Boston (2011) Mapping shell chemistry of blue mussels from sites across the Gulf of Maine<\/p>\n

Rachel Wong<\/strong> – Research Intern, NU Marine Science Center, MA (2010) Thermal biology of marine invertebrates across a latitudinal gradient<\/p>\n

Marcy Cockrell <\/strong>– M.S. Northeastern University (2009) Predicting population growth via <\/em>stage-specific demographic modeling of non-native species in a marine epibenthic community<\/p>\n

Robyn Zerebecki<\/strong> – M.S. Northeastern University (2009) Thermal tolerances of native versus invasive species in a marine epibenthic community<\/p>\n

Jasmina Cerda<\/strong> – REU student, UCD Bodega Marine Lab, CA (2009) Interactions between native and invasive predators (Caprella<\/em> spp. skeleton shrimp) and prey (Bugula <\/em>spp. bryozoans)<\/p>\n

Adam Fuller<\/strong> – M.S. Northeastern University (2008) Impacts of heat waves on invasive dominance in a marine epibenthic community<\/p>\n

Omar Bonilla<\/strong> – REU student, UCD Bodega Marine Lab, CA (2007) Role of priority effects in fouling community assembly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Principal Investigator Cascade Sorte – Ph.D. University of California, Davis (2010); M.A.\u00a0University of California, Santa Barbara (2003); B.A. Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA (1999) Curriculum vitae . Current graduate students Rizelle Mazon (2025-present), M.S. Behavioral responses of resident species to range-shifting species . Chloe Goodsell (2025-present), Ph.D. Population demographic modeling of range-shifting species Irissa Danke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":155,"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881,"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascadesorte.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}