Eliana is a first-year Master’s student studying kelp forest ecology in the Hughes Lab. She earned her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology at UC Santa Cruz. As an undergraduate researcher, she contributed to multiple research projects, including studying the effect of the sunflower sea star on urchin grazing at the Kroeker Lab and exploring artificial intelligence applications in ocean science with the AI for Oceans project. For her senior thesis, she researched the effects of heat stress on Fucus, a rockweed species, in Sitka, Alaska. She then became an AAUS Scientific Diver and began studying seaweed in the kelp forest. For her master's thesis, she will study the difference in palatability between northern and central bull kelp populations using feeding rate experiments. She ultimately hopes to understand if northern bull kelp populations have adapted in response to the loss of a keystone predator, the otter. Beyond research, you can find Eliana exploring nature or making art with seaweed.