Research interests include the systematics and evolutionary biology of octocorals (soft corals, gorgonians, and pennatulaceans), which comprise 65% of all coral species diversity. Fieldwork is currently focused on two bathymetrically opposite regions of the world's oceans: coral reefs of the tropical western Pacific (the Philippines, Melanesia, and Micronesia), and the deep-sea benthos (particularly the west coast of North America and various deep ocean basins worldwide).
Search for Academy curators, collections managers, and research staff working to answer some of the world's most pressing scientific questions.
Department Chair and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology
Deep-sea and coral reef octocorals - systematics and evolution
Co-Director, Center for Biodiversity and Community Science
Community/Citizen Science, Marine Biology, Intertidal Ecology
The California Academy of Sciences Center for Biodiversity and Community Science connects people to their local nature and each other while simultaneously collecting data critical to science and management.
Research Associate, Entomology
Research Areas
Encyrtidae of California
The Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera) comprise one of the most important groups of insects used for the biological control of economic pests. However there has never been a systematic attempt to characterize the Nearctic fauna. As a preliminary to such a study, I am compiling a checklist of the species found in California, including both native species as well as those established here in biocontrol programs.