2012 Delta Science Fellowships Awarded

LA  JOLLA  – On behalf of the Delta Science Program, California Sea Grant is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of Delta Science Fellowships. With these awards, seven outstanding doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers will receive a stipend, research support and mentoring from academic and nonacademic experts to address priority issues for the San Francisco Bay-Delta.

This year's winners are:

• Iryna Dronova, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, who will be modeling wetland plant cover to better estimate carbon fluxes and identify wetland bird habitats.
• Emma Gatti, a postdoctoral researcher in Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, who will develop a seismic hazard map for identifying levees at high risk of failure during an earthquake.
• Emily Howe, a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, studying whether and how marsh habitat loss has altered the base of the estuarine food web.
• Brittany Kammerer, a postdoctoral researcher, Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, who will study salinity tolerances of longfin and delta smelt.
• Lisa Komoroske, a doctoral student, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, UC Davis, investigating potential impacts of climate change on sensitive species such as delta smelt.
• Gavin McNicol, a doctoral student, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, exploring methane production and carbon sequestration in wetlands.
• Matthew Young, a doctoral student, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, UC Davis, studying the causes of recent resident fish population declines in shallow nearshore waters of the delta.