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Rachel Morrison | Ph.D. Student | r2morris@ucsd.edu

Short Bio: Rachel, a first-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Sandin’s lab, became interested in general biology in high school and then in marine biology in college, both thanks to wonderful and passionate teachers (Mrs. Susan Turkovich and Dr. Les Kaufman, respectively). Rachel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science from Boston University in 2009, her undergraduate research having comprised much field work and studies of fish abundance, biomass, and distribution, as well as fish age determination methods using otoliths. Rachel’s status as a marine biology nerd was solidified when, to commemorate her graduation, she attended the first annual International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) in Washington, DC in May 2009. It was here that she first heard Dr. Sandin present his research, and Rachel became immediately interested in joining his lab at Scripps. Then, in a fortuitous turn of events, Rachel became involved in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area research team through a post-graduation project at Boston University. She has also collaborated with the New England Aquarium to assess the capture stress physiology of longline-caught Atlantic cod. Finally, Rachel is broadly interested in marine conservation and recently finished editing the 5th edition of the college-level textbook, Essentials of Conservation Biology.

Research Interests:

• Coral reef ecosystem productivity
• Fisheries management and policy
• Marine protected areas

Generally, Rachel is interested in understanding how fish populations function naturally, how they are altered by fishing, and how this knowledge can be applied to improve fisheries management and conservation. In her Ph.D. work, she hopes to study fish age and growth (using otoliths), as well as genetic connectivity among different populations, to better understand these basic biological questions that are of such practical importance. Ever the optimist, Rachel would like to save the world, but she is content with trying to save part of it.

 Posts:

Notes from the field: Rachel Morrison

Notes from the field: Rachel Morrison from the Cook Islands

Reflections from the field: Brazil, Rachel Morrison

Publications:

Morrision, R. and S.A. Sandin. Biogeography and population connectivity of coral reef fishes. In Biodiversity, InTech. in press