In parts of coastal California, warm weather days are often balanced out by misty, low-hanging clouds. This marine fog layer hugs the ground and provides coastal ecosystems with a critical buffer from the harsh heat of the summer months.

San Diego State University senior Ivanna Arrizon Elizarraras learned that California’s critically important kelp forests were in trouble during class, but it wasn’t something the biology major had given much thought to before. Admittedly, she had her eye on the region’s flashier ocean life like California sea lions, harbor seals, common dolphins or even the occasional grey whale.

While some might have side-eyed the New York Times’ recent suggestion to slather a dollop of caviar over warm cheese steaks or to pile the eggs atop zesty Doritos, there are surprising reasons to be on board with the briny delicacy’s expanding reach.

California (CA) Sea Grant and University of Southern California (USC) Sea Grant have received just over $5.2 million in funding from the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to fund four new projects to give the state a greater understanding of the human health risk and ecological risk due to deep ocean DDT+ deposits (i.e., ocean disposal sites, other coastal sources, and DDT processes) in the Southern California Bight. 

In 2022, Aaron Angel completed the California Sea Grant State Fellowship. This program provides fellows with hands-on training with either a municipal, state or federal host agency in California. Over the course of 12 months, fellows work at the intersection of science, policy, communication and management. During her fellowship, Aaron worked with the Planning and Performance Division for the Delta Stewardship Council. Upon completion of her fellowship, she accepted a position as an environmental scientist in the Delta Stewardship Council’s Science Division.