Alexis M. Jackson

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Lab: 831-459-1282
E-mail: jackson@biology.ucsc.edu

I am a first year PhD student in the Bernardi lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). I am interested in assessing genetic connectivity and larval dispersal of over-exploited commercial species in order to gain a greater understanding of their population structure. Our greater understanding of spatial structuring of populations and of inter-population processes within species may facilitate more effective conservation and management strategies. I'm currently investigating how oceanographic processes and the reproductive biology could structure Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea) populations in the Gulf of California by use of molecular and otolith microchemistry techniques.

I was awarded a bachelors of science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 2008. My previous research addressing these interests has surrounded use of elemental microchemistry and molecular techniques to assess spatial and temporal variation among populations of species. In the summer of 2005, I worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution assessing population connectivity via temporal and spatial variation in the elemental uptake of Mya arenaria shells. I performed an isotopic analysis on the shells with the use of an LA-ICPMS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer). Certain isotopes provided significant environmental signals, which allowed different localities to be distinguished from one another. In the summer of 2006, I worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory in conjunction with Boston University researching genetic connectivity of two commercially important reef fish in the Indo-West Pacific. The research revealed that vicariance events in the IWP still have an effect on creating dispersal barriers for many pelagic fish populations that were thought to be panmictic. This is valuable information to contribute to the management of commercially important marine stocks.