Seashells as windows into ecological change
Seth Finnegan, Professor
Integrative Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2025 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2026.
‘Death assemblages’ are the actively accumulating shelly remains of organisms living at the bottom of the ocean. Because death assemblages accumulate over 100s to 1,000s of years, they are powerful tools to estimate past biodiversity. By comparing the ecological composition of living communities and death assemblages, we can assess recent ecosystem changes that may be related to undetected human impacts.
This project aims to characterize live-dead fidelity of marine invertebrate communities from Washington State's Puget Sound, a complex and relatively pristine estuary system with diverse seabed habitats. Despite 35 years of annual biomonitoring across Puget Sound, it has been difficult to determine causal mechanisms for observed ecological declines. By conducting live-dead comparisons from samples shipped to UC Berkeley, we can extend the temporal perspective of this important monitoring effort. This project focuses on mollusks (clams, snails, etc.) as these organisms build sturdy shells and are strong indicators for various threats like nutrient run-off, invasive predators, and ocean acidification.
Role: Working on this project entails the picking, sorting, and identifying of mollusk shells and other marine animal remains from sediment samples, making use of microscopes and taxonomic guidebooks as needed. Students will learn how to record ecological data, properly store fossil specimens, and conduct basic analyses on live-dead datasets. Students interested in pursuing a research question will also be introduced to coding software and have the opportunity to give a short presentation or assemble findings into a scientific poster.
Qualifications: Students interested in marine biology, paleontology, and/or historical ecology are encouraged to apply. No prior research experience is required. Please indicate in your application if you’re interested in developing an independent research question that compliments this project.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Broc Kokesh, Post-Doc
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://finneganlab.org
Biological & Health Sciences