California Academy of Sciences Welcomes 14 New Fellows, Bestows Four Prestigious Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 15, 2024) — The California Academy of Sciences is pleased to announce that 14 new members will join the ranks of the Academy Fellows, a governing group of more than 500 distinguished scientists and other leaders who have made notable contributions to scientific research, education, and communication. Nominated by their colleagues and selected by the Board of Trustees, the Academy Fellows are partners and collaborators in the pursuit of the Academy’s mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The new members will be inducted during a Fellowship meeting held today, and will join well-known Academy Fellows such as Bruce Alberts, Sandra Faber, Tyrone Hayes, Margaret Leinen, and Geerat Vermeij.

“We’re honored to announce this year’s distinguished cohort of Academy Fellows, Fellows Medalists, and Distinguished Service Awardees,” says Academy Dean of Science and Research Collections Shannon Bennett, PhD. “Their remarkable contributions to our understanding of the natural world are at the forefront of biodiversity science, paving the way for future generations of scientists, educators, and storytellers. As we look forward to the upcoming COP16 United Nations biodiversity gathering later this month, our new Fellows embolden us to tackle the biodiversity crisis and address critical questions surrounding life on our planet: How do we measure success on the pathway to biodiversity health, and how can we spread awareness of and action toward the biodiversity crisis, one of the most pressing threats to the future of planet Earth?"

Fellows Daniel P. Costa, PhD, and David R. Lindberg, PhD, will be bestowed with the Academy’s highest honor, the Fellows Medal, which is given to especially prominent scientists who have made outstanding contributions to their specific scientific fields. Medalists are nominated each year by the Academy Fellows and confirmed by the Board of Trustees.

​​The Fellowship will also present two Distinguished Service Awards, an honor that is given to scientists, staff, or other colleagues who have made critical contributions to the Academy itself. This year’s award recipients are Dave Catania, Academy Senior Collections Manager Emeritus, Ichthyology, and Elizabeth Kools, Academy Senior Curatorial Assistant for Recent Invertebrates.

Brief biographies of the Fellows Medalists, Distinguished Service Awardees, and 14 new Fellows are included below.

PHOTOS: Headshots available for download.

Recipients of the 2024 Fellows Medal

Daniel P. Costa, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz
Daniel P. Costa, PhD, studies the foraging ecology, energy use, diving behavior, and physiology of marine mammals and seabirds, focusing on the effects of underwater noise and climate change. His research has taken him to diverse habitats on every continent, from the Galápagos to Antarctica. He has pioneered using electronic tags to study marine mammals' at-sea behavior and distribution, providing an understanding of their habitat needs while simultaneously collecting data on the changing physical characteristics of the ocean. He works with national and international organizations to integrate his research into policy and his mentorship of early-career marine vertebrate biologists fosters a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers.

David R. Lindberg, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Integrative Biology & Center for Computational Biology
Curator Emeritus, UC Museum of Paleontology
University of California, Berkeley
David R. Lindberg, PhD, seeks to understand the relative roles of evolutionary and geological history in the ecology and evolution of taxa, populations, communities, and ecosystems. By quantifying patterns of biodiversity in nearshore marine habitats, his research helps to recognize processes that drive these patterns through time and space. The results of these studies provide a better and deeper understanding of biodiversity and the history of life.

Recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Service Award

Dave Catania
Senior Collection Manager Emeritus, Ichthyology
California Academy of Sciences
Dave Catania began volunteering in the Academy’s Ichthyology Department in the early 1980’s and became Senior Collections Manager in 1993. For three decades, he has been responsible for overseeing the Academy’s vast collection—one of eight international Centers for Ichthyology in North America—which houses more than 2 million individual specimens. Collection computerization has been a major focus during his tenure, from facilitating records-keeping to capturing data from handwritten catalog ledgers. Catania, along with a few other curatorial assistants, even strung the very first network cable at the Academy, which linked Herpetology and Ichthyology collections. Most recently, he participated in the oVert project to CT-scan a representative of every vertebrate genus in the collection. He received his Emeritus appointment in June of 2024.

Elizabeth Kools
Senior Curatorial Assistant for Recent Invertebrates
California Academy of Sciences
Elizabeth (Liz) Kools joined the Academy’s research collections more than forty years ago as a volunteer. Hired in 1984 as a Curatorial Assistant on National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded projects in both recent and fossil collections, she served the department as Collection Manager for two years prior to becoming permanent staff in 1991. During the Academy’s temporary move to Howard Street in 2004, she served as Content Manager and Developer for the Steinhart Aquarium exhibits that opened with the new building in 2008. Today, she continues to contribute to the design and oversight of collection projects, loan and gift registrar functions, data and image digitization, and specimen determinations.

New Academy Fellows 2024

Renato Aguilera, PhD
Professor of Biology and Director of the Research Infrastructure Core of the
Border Biomedical Research Center
University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP)
Renato Aguilera, PhD, studies anti-cancer drugs and is currently funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant on the characterization of a novel drug family. After receiving his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1987, he held an assistant professorship at UCLA in the Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology department from 1989-2002. Aguilera obtained his BS and MS degrees in microbiology from the UTEP and later joined the university as a full professor and director of the Biology graduate program in 2002. Aguilera is currently the Director of the NIH Research Capacity Core and Undergraduate and Graduate Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement Programs at UTEP.

Peter Alpert, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Plant Ecology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research Curator, University of California, Berkeley
Peter Alpert, PhD, began identifying plants as a 13-year-old under the tutelage of John Thomas Howell and Elizabeth McClintock in the Academy’s herbarium. Now at UC Berkeley, his research focuses on invasive species, clonal growth, and desiccation tolerance in coastal grasslands, sand dunes, chaparral, and wetlands—specifically in vascular plants and bryophytes. He has collaborated with conservation organizations to locate, protect, and restore natural communities and has worked with federal agencies on the integration of biological conservation and rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Jaime Chaves, PhD
Associate Professor of Biology
San Francisco State University
Jaime Chaves, PhD, explores how biodiversity is generated and maintained in the Neotropics. He employs an interdisciplinary approach that combines molecular genetics, field biology, and natural history collections to explore evolutionary questions at both population and species levels. Based mainly in the Galápagos Islands, his work involves collaborating with local students and communities, and uses birds as a key model to deepen our understanding of biological diversity and inform effective conservation strategies.

Mónica Feliú-Mójer, PhD
Director of Public Engagement with Science, Ciencia Puerto Rico
Director of Inclusive Science Communication, Science Communication Lab
Mónica Feliú-Mójer, PhD, is a bilingual science communicator who leverages her scientific training and her cultural background to engage marginalized Puerto Rican communities with science. Her interdisciplinary work uses culturally relevant science communication, a variety of media, storytelling, and public engagement programs to make science more equitable and inclusive. Feliú-Mójer's efforts aim to challenge stereotypes about what a scientist looks like, promote the civic engagement of scientists, enhance the social appropriation of science, and direct science in service of marginalized communities.

Don Hankins, PhD
Professor of Environmental Geography
California State University, Chico
Don Hankins, PhD, studies pyrogeography, conservation, and water and climate stewardship. His academic background and Miwok traditional cultural knowledge informs applied and visionary transdisciplinary research and projects involving prescribed and cultural burns, ecocultural restoration, policy, and art. Hankins engages in conservation and stewardship with diverse organizations, agencies, and Indigenous entities in North America and Australia. He is internationally recognized for his work on Indigenous fire and for his contributions to ecocultural restoration.

Alexis Jackson, PhD
Associate Director, California Oceans Program
The Nature Conservancy
Alexis Jackson, PhD, focuses on guiding research and catalyzing strategic partnerships to advance ocean policy priorities including reducing plastic pollution, restoring kelp forest ecosystems, and ensuring sustainable fishing. She has worked in academic, government, and nonprofit settings to shape regulations and draft legislation, and has engaged in domestic and international environmental policy negotiations. She is a seasoned environmental advocate and strategist, has played an instrumental role in drafting and securing passage of California’s landmark single-use plastics legislation (SB 54), and was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the California Ocean Protection Council.

Sarah Jacobs, PhD
Assistant Curator of Botany, Howell Chair of Western North American Botany
California Academy of Sciences
Sarah Jacobs, PhD, is a plant systematist and evolutionary biologist studying the drivers of diversification in land plants, with a special focus on characterizing the early stages of speciation. Her research encompasses western North American plants, with a special emphasis on the plant genus Castilleja (also known as "the paintbrushes"). Herbaria have been both central and inspirational to her work and throughout her career. In her current role as Assistant Curator in the Academy herbarium, she helps to guide and shape the Academy's botany collection, ensuring its preservation, growth, and relevance for the future. Jacobs has a passion for education and engagement with the public, with a special focus on increasing plant awareness and fostering an understanding that science is for everyone. Since 2022, she has led the Academy’s effort to digitize approximately 1 million California botany specimens, providing access to the Academy herbarium for scientists, policymakers, and community members around the world.

Lucia G. Lohmann, PhD
Director of the University and Jepson Herbaria and Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Adjunct Professor, University of São Paulo
Lucia G. Lohmann, PhD, focuses on documenting biodiversity patterns and understanding how biodiversity assembled over time. Her research integrates taxonomy, molecular systematics, ecology, evolution, and biogeography, and sheds light on the intricate processes that shape life on our planet. Lohmann has contributed significantly to understanding how species and ecosystems have responded to historical environmental change and provides important information for biodiversity management and conservation. She has served on boards and has presided over various global associations and nonprofits, where she continues to bridge the gap between science, policy, and society.

Patricia Manley, PhD
Research Ecologist
US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station
Patricia Manley, PhD, employs a transdisciplinary approach to research that focuses on the effects of management, landscape disturbance dynamics, and climate change on biological diversity in temperate forests. She has worked at the interface of research, management, and policy at local, state, national and international scales. Most of her career has been dedicated to enhancing our understanding of the role and impact of management in sustaining and improving biological integrity, and to making scientific information on biodiversity, natural resource dynamics, and ecosystem resilience readily accessible to managers and policy makers.

Scott Andrew Morrison, PhD
Director of Conservation and The Victor E. Shelford Director of Conservation Science
The Nature Conservancy
Scott Andrew Morrison, PhD, studies a variety of systems and disciplines, from island restoration (specifically rare species management and invasive species eradication) to systematic conservation planning (including regional land-use policy). Working at the interface of science and conservation practice, he aims for his collaborations and contributions to equip decision-makers and the broader conservation community with the information they need to design and advance initiatives that increase the pace, scale and effectiveness of biodiversity conservation.

Jorge Ramos, PhD
Executive Director, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma)
Lecturer, Department of Biology
Stanford University
Jorge Ramos, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience working in various field stations and research preserves studying the biogeochemistry of a wide range of ecosystems. As the Executive Director of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) at Stanford University, Ramos builds long-term strategic plans and oversees the research, education, and stewardship actions of the preserve. He works in academic, national, and international nonprofit settings where he develops, implements, and manages community stewardship projects. He has founded and led several initiatives to promote the inclusion and retention of a diverse population in STEM.

Andrea Swei, PhD
Associate Professor of Biology
San Francisco State University
Andrea Swei, PhD, focuses on the ecology and transmission dynamics of vector-borne diseases, especially tick-borne systems, using empirical field experimentation, laboratory studies, genetic analyses, and modeling approaches. This research aims to untangle the relationship between environmental and landscape factors, host community composition, and pathogen genetic diversity on the transmission and risk of zoonotic diseases such as Lyme disease. In addition to basic research rooted in community ecology, this work is also applied to targeted intervention methods to reduce the real-world risk of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Swei is also committed to training students from underrepresented groups in science communication.

Martín Tresguerres, PhD
Professor of Marine Biology
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Martín Tresguerres, PhD, explores the cellular physiology of aquatic organisms and their responses to natural and human-induced environmental variability. His research spans a diverse array of organisms (including phytoplankton, invertebrates, and fish) using an approach that facilitates the identification of evolutionary patterns underlying homeostatic and adaptive physiological mechanisms. Through collaborations with oceanographers, ecologists, and aquaculture scientists, Tresguerres aims to contextualize his findings within the “real world,” searching for science-based solutions to environmental issues. He is strongly committed to mentoring students from marginalized backgrounds, popularizing science through massive public engagement activities, and building education and research capacity throughout Latin America.

Desiré Delia Whitmore, PhD
Staff Physicist Educator
Exploratorium Teacher Institute
Desiré Delia Whitmore, PhD, aka “LASERchick”, holds degrees in physical sciences, chemical engineering, and chemical and material physics. Her research focuses on the development of laser systems to study single molecule vibration and electron motion in the surface of metals and semiconducting quantum dots. Whitmore contributed to the K-8 science curriculum for Amplify Science and was the Director of the Laser and Photonics Technology program at Irvine Valley College. Her current work is focused on providing support and professional development to middle and high school science teachers, helping them teach inquiry with an emphasis on equity and inclusion.