Master's Project Directory

Overview of MEDS Capstone projects Overview of MESM Group projects

Conservation Gap Analysis and the Business Case for Protecting Surf Ecosystems

2025 MESM Group Project: Conservation Gap Analysis and the Business Case for Protecting Surf Ecosystems

Group Members: Ryan Anderson, Manuela Díaz, Sofia Gutierrez, Miranda Scalzo, Emma Tao

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Conservation International Indonesia

Kelp floats near the surface of the water

Perceptions of Seaweed Aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

Developing a community engagement and outreach strategy for commercial kelp producer Ocean Rainforest to use as a framework for aquaculture expansion along the California coastline.

Group Members: Janelle Gaun, Madeline McEwen, Sydney Rilum, Laurel Wee

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Ocean Rainforest

Tent perched on cliff overlooking national park

Visualizing Visitor Use Trends at California Campsites to Explore Equitable Access

Producing an interactive web platform that allows National Park managers to easily explore and visualize park-specific patterns such as visitation volume, demand, visitors’ origin, and more.

Group Members: Clarissa Boyajian

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

Clients: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of Montana

Combining Conservation and Community Empowerment to Protect Grauer’s Gorilla

This project hopes to promote the conservation of the endangered Grauer's gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Using a data-driven approach to inform habitat corridor management, we are looking at priority conservation areas to investigate the trade-offs between human activities and gorilla conservation planning.

Group Members: Kelsie Fronheiser, Monica Gordon, Zoe Duerksen-Salm, Lizzy Schattle, Yani Pohl

Faculty Advisors: Mark Buntaine, Frank Davis

Clients: Strong Roots Congo

A Framework for Designing Marine Protected Areas for Sharks and Rays in Mozambique

The goal of this project is to assist the government of Mozambique to improve the management of shark and ray populations and associated fisheries, through appropriate analysis and translation of data into science-based recommendations for policy and management.

Group Members: Anna Abelman, Courtney Krone, Vanessa Rathbone, Rachel Rhodes, Erin Ristig

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Wildlife Conservation Society

Group of five students in courtyard smiling

Evaluating Connectivity in the Northern Appalachian and Acadian Region to Improve Wildlife Mobility

This project developed a framework for habitat connectivity in the Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion to improve conservation outcomes through specific conservation goals, enhanced connectivity models, and methods for priority setting. The framework was applied to a case study in the Mohawk Valley of New York State, a new Staying Connected Initiative priority area. The case study informs future road barrier mitigation and land conservation work undertaken by SCI partners, The Nature Conservancy , and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

Assessing Brazil’s Marine Aquaculture Potential

This study explored the spatial feasibility of mariculture development and create an interactive web-based tool to predict potential locations, yields, and profitability for offshore mariculture of cobia (Rachycentron canadum) in Brazil’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: World Wildlife Fund Brazil

Five female students standing together for a photo

Economic Quantification of Delaying Management in the Midriff Islands, Mexico

Trade-offs associated with marine reserves are believed to have played a key role in the network’s delayed implementation; potential long-term gains in sustainable fishing and the conservation of biodiversity likely generate short-term losses in fishery revenue due to fishery closures. The trade-offs between conservation and livelihood led our team to ask: What are the consequences of delaying the implementation of a reserve network, and how much area should be protected to enhance both fish biomass and catch?

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI)

Testing the Economic Feasibility of Seaweed Aquaculture in Southern California

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Santa Barbara Mariculture, Sustainable Aquaculture Research Center

Lush tropical forest and freshwater pond

Big Island Impacts: Analysis of Land-Use Conversion on Water Quality, Carbon Emissions, and Wildlife at the Kohala Institute

2017 Master's Group Project

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

Clients: Kohala Institute

Five students gathered around a transect in the sand

Planning and Incentivizing Native Oyster Restoration in Southern California

2017 Master's Group Projects

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, Honda Marine Science Foundation

Biological and Social Tradeoffs of Implementing Fair Trade USA in Small-Scale Fisheries: A Case Study of Costa Rican Snapper

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Conservation International

Evaluating Management Scenarios to Revitalize the California Commercial Swordfish Fishery

The goal of our project was to evaluate different management scenarios composed of the main gear types used to catch swordfish to simulate an increase in domestic swordfish catch while incorporating current and proposed conservation regulations in the California swordfish fishery.

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, The Nature Conservancy

Program

Clients

Year

Faculty Advisors

Conservation Gap Analysis and the Business Case for Protecting Surf Ecosystems

Perceptions of Seaweed Aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

Visualizing Visitor Use Trends at California Campsites to Explore Equitable Access

Combining Conservation and Community Empowerment to Protect Grauer’s Gorilla

A Framework for Designing Marine Protected Areas for Sharks and Rays in Mozambique

Evaluating Connectivity in the Northern Appalachian and Acadian Region to Improve Wildlife Mobility

Assessing Brazil’s Marine Aquaculture Potential

Economic Quantification of Delaying Management in the Midriff Islands, Mexico

Testing the Economic Feasibility of Seaweed Aquaculture in Southern California

Big Island Impacts: Analysis of Land-Use Conversion on Water Quality, Carbon Emissions, and Wildlife at the Kohala Institute

Planning and Incentivizing Native Oyster Restoration in Southern California

Biological and Social Tradeoffs of Implementing Fair Trade USA in Small-Scale Fisheries: A Case Study of Costa Rican Snapper

Evaluating Management Scenarios to Revitalize the California Commercial Swordfish Fishery

The Restoration of the Catarina Scallop (Argopecten Ventricosus) in the Ensenada de La Paz

Assessing Resources for Public Access at Tejon Ranch, California

Eco-Entrepreneurship: E-Fishent Foods