Committee members must commit to weekly committee meetings with the conference leadership team to discuss and plan all aspects of the conference. These meetings will be Mondays from 5PM to 6PM. Members must also commit to attending all conference dates. 

Outside of this meeting time, it is expected that committee members will work on their assigned tasks such as: emailing scientists, designing materials, sourcing item donations for raffles & swag bags, creating conference materials, etc. These tasks can be completed remotely at times that align with the committee members schedule so long as communicated deadlines are met.

Combined between meetings & tasks, total commitment will look like roughly 5-10 hours per week, depending on the tasks assigned and the speed self-paced tasks are completed with. All responsibilities will be divided amongst the committee members to create a fair and even distribution of work and participation.

The term of 2023 committee members will span from February 2023 – November 2023 with a summer break between conference seasons.

GIOS Conference Season: February 2023 – May 2023

SOS Conference Season: July 2023 – November 2023

All committee members will oversee BOTH 2023 Teen Conferences. The Teen Conference Committee will be active from February 2023 – November 2023 with a summer break between conference seasons.

GIOS Conference Season: February 2023 – May 2023

SOS Conference Season: August 2023 – November 2023

 Yes! Committee members are required to attend BOTH days of the Stoked on Science conference. They will lead participant groups each day and in doing so will be able to participate in all activities. 

No! You do not need to pay to participate in the Teen Conference Committee. You will serve in a volunteer capacity and we are happy to sign-off on any volunteer hour requirements filled in this capacity. 

Bella Doohan

Masters Student, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Bella is a graduate of University of California, San Diego with her Bachelors degree in Marine Biology and is currently a Masters Student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. There her primary research is on rocky intertidal ecosystems focusing what on geographic features encourage growth of different seaweed species.

Brittney Goodwin

Registered Veterinary Technician, Aquarium of the Pacific

Brittney is a Registered Veterinary Technician at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. As a Veterinary Technician, her day-to-day activities includes administering medical treatments, assisting the veterinarian with examinations, and sample and hospital ogranization.

Christine Bonadonna

PhD Student, University of California, Irvine

Christine started her college career at Orange Coast College before transfering to California State University Long Beach, where she recieved her Bachelors degree. Her current research at UCI focuses on freshwater ecology and the effects of climate change on invertebrate communities found in ponds in Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Devin Spencer

Hatchery and Production Manager, The Cultured Abalone Farm

As a Hatchery and Production Manager, Devin is incharge of spawning and caring for all of the abalone on the farm. She maintains the farm’s bloodstock (parent abalone) and raise juvenile, and manages the movement and growth of the adult abalone on the farm. Devin recieved her Bachelors degree from Texas Christian University and her Masters from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Grace Chan

PhD Student in the Kwasi Connor Lab, University of California, Irvine

Grace recieved her Bachelors degree from University of California, San Diego and her Masters degree from the University of Washington. Her current research at UCI focuses on heat stress tolerances in intertidal mussels to understand how they may respond to environmental stressors and climate change.

Kristen Donald

Pacific Marine Mammal Center

Kristen has been involved with marine mammal research, education, husbandry, rehabilitation, rescue, and training for over 24 years. Her current research is focused on if there are health and developmental benefits to enrichment activities and items to rehabilitating seals and sea lions. She is also involved in a coastal bottlenose dolphin ID effort in Orange County.

Dr. Lei Lani Stelle

Professor of Biology, University of Redlands

Dr. Stelle is a professor of Biology at the University of Redlands, where she studies anthropogenic impacts on marine mammals in Southern California. With the assistance of students and volunteers, she studies and monitors the distribution, behaviors, and physiology of populations of all local cetacean and pinniped species. At the University of Redlands, she teaches courses in marine ecology, comparitive physiology, and GIS mapping.

Dr. Abigail Cannon

PhD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Dr. Abigail Cannon completed her PhD studying tropical seagrass beds in the Smith Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her experience includes underwater research identifying algae and processing data.

Gabriella Berman
Volunteer Researcher, Bowman Lab, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Gabriella graduated in 2018 from the University of Montana with a BS in Biology. During her undergraduate Gabriella studied how animals adapt to live in extreme environments, and how animal behavior and the environment combine to produce fantastic ornamentation. More recently, she has been conducting postbaccalaureate research under Dr. Jeff Bowman studying polar microbial ecology. Gabriella has proposed a PhD project on community connectivity at whale falls in the deep sea.

Heidi Waite
PhD Student, Sorte Lab, University of California, Irvine

Heidi’s research focuses on understanding how climate change is affecting coastal intertidal ecosystems. Specifically, she is studying how intertidal mussels cope with increased temperatures across their life stages. Heidi is passionate about science outreach and fostering diversity in STEM.

Dr. Jenny Hofmeister
Environmental Scientist, California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Dr. Jenny Hofmeister splits her time between invertebrate fishery management and endangered species restoration. She manages the California spiny lobster fishery, which involves collecting and analyzing fishery and population data to ensure the fishery is sustainable. In addition, Dr. Jenny works to restore abalone populations in Southern California and prevent one species, the white abalone, from going extinct. Dr. Jenny also studies how a major abalone predator, the octopus, moves through its’ environment and uses different habitats.

Dr. Kristen Sakamaki
Veterinarian, Pacific Marine Mammal Center

Dr. Kristen Sakamaki is the veterinarian at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California. Many of their patients are California Sea Lions, Northern Elephant Seals and Pacific Harbor Seals. Dr. Kristen is responsible for assessing their health, nutrition and hydration on intake into the center, as well as performing any diagnostics and prescribing treatment. She also performs necropsies, sends out tissue samples for histopathology and collects tissue samples for research. Dr. Kristen’s greatest passion is taking animals on the brink of death, rehabilitating them and releasing them back to their ocean homes.

Dr. Regina Guazzo
Scientist, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

Dr. Regina Guazzo studies marine mammals for the U.S. Navy. Since whales spend most of their lives below water and produce sounds to communicate over long distances, Dr. Regina records underwater sound over long time periods to learn about whale behavior. She investigates how Navy activity, and natural changes in the environment such as background noise, storms and climate change, impact whale behavior.

Taylor Smith
Graduate Student, Shark Lab, California State University, Long Beach

Taylor is a graduate student studying the metabolism of Pacific Sleeper Sharks, a species that inhabits deep, cold waters in Alaska. Her research has taken her to Alaska where she utilizes respirometers to read the sharks’ oxygen consumption levels. Sleeper sharks have a lifespan of hundreds of years, and Taylor aims to better understand their health and metabolic rate to inform critical conservation efforts. Additionally, Taylor is a key member of both the lab’s Educational Outreach and Jaw Identification programs.

Angelina Komatovich​
Aquarist, Aquarium of the Pacific

Angelina is an esteemed aquarist known as the “octopus whisperer” at the largest aquarium in Southern California, and the fourth largest in the nation. She has the important job of keeping the animals safe, happy and healthy.

Holly Lohuis
Marine Biologist and Educator, Ocean Futures Society

Holly has been a marine educator for over 25 years. She has worked with the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Ocean Futures Society and Island Packers. Acting as a liaison between the Ocean Futures Society and scientists, Holly has been diving the world’s oceans with Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team since 1996. One of her many responsibilities includes confirming the factual accuracy of Ocean Futures Society’s documentaries and publications. Holly is enthusiastic to share her personal story of ocean exploration, marine education and environmental advocacy.

Dr. Kristy Forsgren
Associate Professor, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF)

Dr. Kristy Forsgren is a reproductive physiologist and endocrinologist. She leads the Fish Reproductive Biology Lab at CSUF, to study rare, deep-sea, and internally fertilizing fishes. Dr. Kristy enjoys teaching, conducting research and participating in service activities.

Dr. Melinda Nicewonger
National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Dr. Melinda Nicewonger is an earth scientist with a focus on atmospheric chemistry and changes to atmospheric composition. She monitors the abundance and variability in ozone-depleting gases released to the atmosphere through natural climate processes: wildfires, the ocean, and plants and vegetation. Before her work at NOAA, Dr. Melinda took core samples from polar ice sheets, which contain tiny samples of the past atmosphere. With these samples, at the University of California, Irvine, she was able to reconstruct the levels of different gases in the atmosphere over the past 52,000 years, in order to understand the variability of wildfires through time.

Mo Wise
Wetland Scientist, Irvine Ranch Water District

Mo works in the Natural Treatment Systems Department at Irvine Ranch Water District. She helps treat urban runoff before it ends up in the Upper Newport Bay Marine Ecological Reserve, diverting urban runoff into manmade wetlands located throughout the Irvine region in the San Diego Creek watershed. Wetlands remove pollutants, bacteria and potentially harmful nutrients, which Mo monitors through water quality testing and ecological surveys.

Sachi Cunningham
Associate Professor, San Francisco State University (SFSU)

Sachi is a documentary filmmaker, surf photographer and multimedia journalism professor at SFSU. Her work in environmental filmmaking has spanned from filming a 350-pound blue fin tuna to big wave surfers. Sachi has been known to swim out into dangerous surf with her camera to make documentaries that can change the way people think about what is possible for themselves and others.

Sam Clements
Lab Manager and Staff Research Associate, Smith Lab, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Sam completed her MS research in the Smith Lab in 2015, where she studied the functional roles of herbivorous fishes on the coral reefs of Maui. In addition to her current role as the Smith Lab manager, Sam oversees the Scripps Ocean Acidity Real-time (SOAR) Monitoring Program. She also assists with a variety of projects, including the 100 Island Challenge, as a coral reef benthic scientist identifying coral, algae and other benthic invertebrates.

Jessica Nielsen
Conservation Specialist, Coal Oil Point Reserve, UCSB

Jessica manages, monitors, and implements recovery programs for endangered species native to the Coal Oil Point Reserve. Many of the programs are centered on restoration, conservation, monitoring and appreciation.

Linda Chilton
Sea Grant Education Programs Manager, USC

Linda develops and manages a variety of marine educational programs in Southern California that call for the help students, teachers, and citizen scientists. One of USC’s Sea Grant programs, the Urban Tides Community Science Initiative, is introduced in Ocean Institute’s Coastal Citizen Science Investigations program where students can learn and actively participate in the Urban Tides program.

Jennifer Palmer
Wildlife Biologist, Founder of Women for Wildlife

Inspired by her travel, adventure and wildlife research, Jennifer founded Women for Wildlife. Her mission is to create an international voice to support, empower and unite women passionate about wildlife and conservation.

Angelina Komatovich
Aquarist, Aquarium of the Pacific

Angelina is an esteemed aquarist, also known as the “octopus whisperer” at the largest aquarium in Southern California, and the fourth largest in the nation. She has the important job of keeping the animals safe, happy and healthy.

Dr. Sula Vanderplank
Plant Conservationist, San Diego Zoo Global

Dr. Vanderplank is a Postdoctoral Fellow at San Diego Zoo Global working to protect approximately 200 rare, threatened, or endangered plants from Baja California. Dr. Sula strives to determine conservation status for the California flora through seed collection, genetic material, and population data.

Dr. Shannon Klotsko
Marine Geologist, Department of Geological Studies, SDSU

Dr. Klotsko, a Postdoctoral Fellow at San Diego State University, maps faults to determine their locations, geometry, and rupture history. Dr. Klotsko uses the data to examine sea level fluctuations, climate variability, and plate tectonic influences in the ocean.

Dr. Kerry Nickols
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, CSUN

With a focus on nearshore oceanography, Dr. Nickols studies the effects of climate change. She recently embarked on a 21-day expedition to Antarctica to explore how to battle climate change with the collaboration of 80 other women from 27 different countries.

Dr. Nigella Hillgarth
Environmental Advocate

Dr. Nigella Hillgarth is an evolutionary biologist who has held leadership positions at the New England Aquarium, Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego, and the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City. During these leadership roles she founded the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Boston and developed one of the first major exhibits on climate change in the U.S. Dr. Nigella has researched behavioral ecology and evolution of birds in Thailand, the Arctic, and beyond. Furthermore, Dr. Nigella uses her love for photography to connect people to the environment and communicate the significance of science in their lives.

Katy Laveck Foster
Site Search and Rehab Coordinator and Communications, the Whale Sanctuary Project

Dr. Ericka Holland
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, CSULB

Dr. Holland’s laboratory is studying the effects of pollutants on aquatic organisms, particularly fish, through molecular and ecological toxicology. Her team plans to document and evaluate specific pollutants and their impacts on the environment.

Katy is a marine mammal field researcher with experience in rescue and rehab projects. Additionally, Katy’s award-winning photography has been featured in National Geographic, and is largely focused on the research and conservation of marine mammals. Her work has taken her to multiple countries to work with species including dugongs in Indonesia, orcas in New Zealand, bears in the Cloud Forest of South America, and more.

Emily Meese
Graduate Student, Shark Lab, CSULB

Emily studies the ecological footprint and activity of horn sharks along the coast of Catalina Island in Southern California. Emily advocates for hands-on research and the importance and conservation of sharks for all ecosystems through mathematics, computer science and engineering.

Katie Nichols
Marine Restoration Director, Orange County Coastkeeper

Katie works to design and implement projects for the restoration of multiple marine organisms and habitats through collaboration with students, volunteers, citizen scientists, and agencies in Southern California. She is interested in resource management and developing solutions to the multiple challenges marine ecosystems face.

Andrea Stockert
Videography Professional, Co-Founder of The Ocean Lab

Stockert’s passion for the ocean has taken her around the world to dive and shoot in a multitude of marine environments. Her love for documentary films led her to co-found The Ocean Lab, which brings live-streaming ocean science expeditions into classrooms around the world using traditional and 360 degree video production.