Meet the Current Electric EELs! (EELectric current?)

JOSH AMBROSE, Undergraduate student majoring in Marine Science with a minor in mathematics.

Capstone Project: Development of subtidal instrumentation arrays (basically, underwater "weather stations" as well as an ROV to deploy and recover them.

JAMES McCLURE, Undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science Technology and Policy (ESTP) with a minor in mathematics.

EEL Project: James has been employed with EEL working on the C-DEBI ROV project to create small ROVs for use in middle-school and high-school marine science education programs.

EEL Alumni

SHELBY PETERS, Undergraduate student majoring in Biology.

EEL Project. Shelby has been employed with EEL working on the C-DEBI ROV project to create small ROVs for use in middle-school and high-school marine science education programs.

TERESA HENRY, Undergraduate student majoring in Biology.

Capstone Project: Working in a collaboration between EEL and Dr. William Gilly at Hopkins Marine Station on studies of squid mating behavior and reproductive success in the presence of naturally-occurring pulses of low-oxygen water off of Canery Row. The EEL portion of this project is development of underwater camera systems to record squid behavior.

JESUS GALVAN, Undergraduate student with self-designed major blending science and technology.

Capstone Project: Development of an autonomous (self-controlled) paddleboat for systematic sampling of water chemistry in very shallow water over thick, gooey mud on tide flats, where it's difficult to sample by walking or conventional boats.

ROBERTO AVELAR

Senior Capstone Project: Roberto developed some hardware and software that can be used to test ahead of time whether or not computers at a school and the network are configured properly to allow the school to access ROVing Otter, a web controlled undersea robot. It's important to know that early, so any problems can be resolved before the big ROVing Otter piloting day!

Last known coordinates: Busy being a new dad!

MIKE BASS, Undergraduate ESSP major

Senior Capstone Project: Improving the performance of ROVing Otter thrusters for improved maneuverability of the remotely-operated undersea vehicle.

Last known coordinates: As of Fall, 2009, still in the Monterey area.

CODY BARNES, Undergraduate Student in Biology

Capstone Project: Mammal survey of Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve using a variety of techniques, both low-tech and high-tech.

ERIK CLEEVES, Undergraduate student in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy (ESTP)

Capstone Project: Development of underwater cameras for use in education and research at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

NICK HUERTA, EEL and ESSP Alum

Senior Capstone Project: Nick collaborated with Dr. Stacy Kim and Bob Zook at Moss Landing Marine Labs to help them design, build, and operate a very cool (literally) ROV they used to map the extent of a sewage outfall just offshore of McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

Last known coordinates: Nick's current whereabouts are unknown to the EEL. Rumor has it he might disappear into the jungles of Central America. (Probably trying to thaw out after all that time in Antarctica!) Nick, if you're out there, please give Steve a buzz to provide EEL with updated information. Thanks.

KATIE LANNON , EEL and ESSP Alumna

Senior Capstone Project: Katie coordinated and assessed the educational component of an EEL Lindbergh Foundation project that allows school children to deploy network-accessible cameras, so they can observe and study wildlife. She also assisted former EEL Masters student Tamara Myers with camera networks for monitoring California Condors.

Last known coordinates: Katie graduated from CSUMB in Spring of 2009 and was last sighted by the EEL in September 2009. She is gainfully employed with the Ventana Wildlife Society.

SHANE ANDERSON, Masters student in CWSP

Masters Thesis Project: Development of a long-term, automated, undersea video recording system for monitoring fish behavior and habitat preference.

AMANDA GRANT, Masters student in CWSP

Masters Thesis Project: Development of an array of undersea "weather stations" to record spatio-temporal patterns in light levels, temperature, and water flow velocity to test hypotheses about rockfish microhabitat preferences.

ALIN GONZALES, Undergraduate student in Biology

Captone Project: Using underwater cameras to study natural history of Bay Pipefish breeding in lagoons at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

MARIKA MARTIN , Undergraduate ESSP major

Senior Capstone Project: Educational curriculum based on CMS Owl Camera and its archives of photos from inside a barn owl nest. Marika completed this project and gave a formal talk summarizing her results at the CSUMB Capstone Festival.

Last known coordinates: Marika was sighted in September of 2009 gainfully (and happily) employed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

TAMARA MYERS, Former Masters Student in CWSP

Status: Tamara is a former masters student in the EEL, where her thesis project involved planning of wireless networks for monitoring California Condor behavior at remote release site pens.

Last known coordinates: The EEL heard from Tamara in Nov 2009: She is an Independent Studies teacher with the Natural Bridges Green Careers High School in Santa Cruz, CA, where she helps high school students learn techniques for monitoring water quality and other aspects of environmental health. Some of her work was featured on this video.

EEL Director

DR. STEVE MOORE , Lab Director

Dr. Moore is Director of the Ecosystem Electronics Laboratory and Professor in the Division of Science & Environmental Policy. He enjoys teaching. He enjoys building gadgets. He enjoys observing animals. He enjoys teaching students how to build gadgets that allow people to observe animals.