Berkeley Center for Ocean Futures

Background image: solutions for healthy oceans

About the Berkeley Center for Ocean Futures

The Berkeley Center for Ocean Futures (BeCOF) is a collective of researchers dedicated to understanding and mitigating critical threats to ocean health, as well as generating ocean-based solutions for human communities. We serve as a globally and locally significant hub of marine expertise, spanning natural and social science, engineering, policy and communication at one of the world’s top public universities. Through community partnerships and diverse knowledge systems, we aim to drive place-based ocean solutions ranging from coastal and estuarine systems to the high seas.

We’re here to connect you to the ocean!

To inquire about how you can get involved in the Berkeley Center for Ocean Futures or support our work, please contact us at oceanfutures@berkeley.edu.

Undergraduates, Graduates, and Postdoctoral fellows: If you are interested in research opportunities, please contact People directly.

Co-Directors

Place-based Coordinators:

Moorea (French Polynesia): Neil Davies (ndavies@berkeley.edu)San Francisco Bay: Dan Okamoto (dkokamoto@berkeley.edu)

Steering Committee:

People

BeCOF is composed of 66 faculty and senior specialists, as well as graduate and undergraduate students, representing 18 departments. BeCOF faculty include (list currently being updated):

Biology, Ecology, and Evolution

  • Ben Becker (Marine ecology, Seabirds, Marine mammals, Restoration, Ecological monitoring, Protected areas)
  • Rauri Bowie (Biogeography; systematics; speciation)
  • Rachel Carlson (Conservation science; marine ecology; geospatial science; ocean governance; coastal social-ecological systems)
  • Stephanie Carlson (fish ecology; evolutionary ecology)
  • Adrienne Correa (community ecology; environmental virology and microbiology; coral reefs; symbiosis; trophic transmission)
  • Neil Davies (Population Genetics; Biodiversity; Evolution; Ecology)
  • Paolo D’Odorico (Ecohydrology; Aeolian Processes; Desertification; Water Sustainability; Water Security)
  • Ivo Duijnstee (Paleobotany; Paleoecology; Plant Evolution; Marine Micropaleontology)
  • Seth Finnegan (Paleobiology; Paleoecology; Paleoclimatology; Stratigraphy)
  • Juan Liu (Paleontology; Functional anatomy; Sensory biology)
  • Cindy Looy (Paleoecology; paleobotany; palynology)
  • Chris Martin (adaptive radiation; speciation; fitness landscapes; craniofacial genetics; adaptive introgression)
  • Kathy Ann Miller (California seaweeds; systematics)
  • Dan Okamoto  (Marine & Fisheries Ecology; Population Dynamics; Statistical Ecology; Kelp Forest Ecosystems)
  • George Roderick (global change; environmental science; biodiversity; invasive species; population genomics)
  • Melissa Roth (microbiology; cell biology; biochemistry & physiology; photosynthesis; plant biology; global change)
  • Albert Ruhi (aquatic ecology; global change; statistical ecology)
  • Hannah Stewart (coral restoration; island sustainability)
  • Jonathon Stillman (marine environmental physiology)
  • Jose Pablo Vazquez-Medina (Comparative Physiology; Redox Biology; Metabolism; Marine Mammals)

Data Collection Tools and Techniques

  • Reza Alam (Theoretical Fluid Dynamics; Ocean and coastal wave phenomena)
  • Jim Hayward (Dive and boat safety)

Data Science and Modeling

  • Reza Alam (Theoretical Fluid Dynamics; Ocean and coastal wave phenomena)
  • Ben Becker (Marine ecology, Seabirds, Marine mammals, Restoration, Ecological monitoring, Protected areas)
  • Jim Bishop (ocean carbon cycle dynamics; remote sensing; aquatic chemistry; marine biogeochemistry)
  • Carl Boettiger (Ecology; Conservation Biology; Stochastic Systems; Tipping Points; Dynamical Systems)
  • Neil Davies (Population Genetics; Biodiversity; Evolution; Ecology)
  • John Deck (Biodiversity informatics, Metadata)
  • Dan Okamoto (Marine & Fisheries Ecology; Population Dynamics; Statistical Ecology; Kelp Forest Ecosystems)
  • Karthik Ram (data science; open source; open science; reproducible research)
  • Albert Ruhi (aquatic ecology; global change; statistical ecology)
  • Rachel Carlson (Conservation science; marine ecology; geospatial science; ocean governance; coastal social-ecological systems)

Engineering

  • Reza Alam (Theoretical Fluid Dynamics; Ocean and coastal wave phenomena)
  • Jim Bishop (ocean carbon cycle dynamics; remote sensing; aquatic chemistry; marine biogeochemistry)
  • Alexis Kaminski (shear instability; stratified flows; stratified turbulence; geophysical fluid dynamics)
  • Mark Stacey (estuarine and coastal systems; climate change and adaptation policy)
  • Hannah Stuart (Robotic sampling systems, Teleooerated dexterous manipulation)
  • Evan Variano (Environmental fluid mechanics)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • Reza Alam (Theoretical Fluid Dynamics; Ocean and coastal wave phenomena)
  • Thiago Correa (Nature-based solutions; sustainability; low carbon energy)
  • Neil Davies (Population Genetics; Biodiversity; Evolution; Ecology)

Oceanography and Biogeochemistry

  • Jim Bishop (ocean carbon cycle dynamics; remote sensing; aquatic chemistry; marine biogeochemistry)
  • Bethanie Edwards(microbial oceanography; biogeochemistry; lipidomics)
  • Alexis Kaminski (shear instability; stratified flows; stratified turbulence; geophysical fluid dynamics)
  • Melissa Roth(microbiology; cell biology; biochemistry & physiology; photosynthesis; plant biology; global change)

Paleontology, Geobiology, and Paleoceanography

  • Ivo Duijnstee(Paleobotany; Paleoecology; Plant Evolution; Marine Micropaleontology)
  • Seth Finnegan(Paleobiology; Paleoecology; Paleoclimatology; Stratigraphy)
  • Juan Liu (Paleontology; Functional anatomy; Sensory biology)
  • Cindy Looy(Paleoecology; paleobotany; palynology)

Policy, Law and Public Engagement

  • Holly Doremus (ocean law; environmental regulation; administrative law; biodiversity)
  • Jason Spingarn-Koff(journalism; filmmaking; science communication)
  • Rachel Carlson (Conservation science; marine ecology; geospatial science; ocean governance; coastal social-ecological systems)
  • Thiago Correa (Nature-based solutions; sustainability; low carbon energy)
  • Neil Davies(Population Genetics; Biodiversity; Evolution; Ecology)
  • Mark Stacey (estuarine and coastal systems; climate change and adaptation policy)

Sustainability, Conservation and Coupled Human-Natural Systems

  • Ben Becker(Marine ecology, Seabirds, Marine mammals, Restoration, Ecological monitoring, Protected areas)
  • Carl Boettiger(Ecology; Conservation Biology; Stochastic Systems; Tipping Points; Dynamical Systems)
  • Justin Brashares(Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and Socioeconomics)
  • Rachel Carlson(Conservation science; marine ecology; geospatial science; ocean governance; coastal social-ecological systems)
  • Stephanie Carlson(fish ecology; evolutionary ecology)
  • Adrienne Correa(community ecology; environmental virology and microbiology; coral reefs; symbiosis; trophic transmission)
  • Neil Davies(Population Genetics; Biodiversity; Evolution; Ecology)
  • Paolo D’Odorico(Ecohydrology; Aeolian Processes; Desertification; Water Sustainability; Water Security)
  • Holly Doremus (ocean law; environmental regulation; administrative law; biodiversity)
  • Dan Okamoto(Marine & Fisheries Ecology; Population Dynamics; Statistical Ecology; Kelp Forest Ecosystems)
  • Melissa Roth(microbiology; cell biology; biochemistry & physiology; photosynthesis; plant biology; global change)
  • Hannah Stewart(island sustainability)
  • Mark Stacey(estuarine and coastal systems; climate change and adaptation policy)

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