Growing up in San Diego I spent more time in water than on land, fueling my passions for kelp forest ecology and marine mammalogy. As a first generation college student, my journey in academia began at the University of California Santa Barbara. After graduating in 2022, I continued work at UCSB as a scientific diver for the Caselle lab. Here I assisted with research projects such as PISCO, CCFRP, and intertidal zone surveys– where I fell in love with kelp forest ecology and diving. This led me to joining the Hughes lab where I am a first year Masters student. I will be assisting with bull kelp restoration along Northern California through culturing kelp at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, outplanting, and surveying along the way. My thesis will explore the ecological impact of purple urchin removals on competing herbivores such as Tegula snails. I hope to provide additional research to support future kelp restoration efforts.