Author: Albert Ruhi

A robust contingent from the Ruhi Lab participated in the Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting in Philadelphia! We presented talks on a variety of topics: estuarine phenological shifts by Robert, riparian tree-groundwater interactions at Pinnacles by Rose, effects of drought on Sierra Nevada stream communities by Kyle, flow variation and riparian birds in Southern California rivers by Melissa, and time-varying effects of Delta outflow on Longfin smelt by Parsa. It looks like they also managed to sneak in some sightseeing!

Melissa’s doctoral research project is titled “Understanding Flow-Ecology Relationships to Inform the Restoration of Effluent-Influenced Coastal Streams in Southern California.” She is quantifying how changes in flows along the Los Angeles and Santa Clara Rivers may affect birds, invertebrates, and plants. Additionally, she is exploring people’s perceptions of and priorities for flows along these rivers. Melissa’s work will assist environmental managers in understanding the socio-ecological implications of changes in riverine flows and investigate how flow can be used as a restoration tool in the context of these two sister rivers.

Left: Melissa conducts bird point counts along the Santa Clara River / Right: A great egret rests along an effluent-influenced part of the Los Angeles River

Congratulations to Kyle Leathers and Jessie Moravek – the first two Ph.D. graduates of the Ruhi Lab! Both walked at the May 2024 graduation ceremony at The Greek Theater—and both have exciting postdoc positions lined up. We are very proud of you!

Congratulations to everyone on wrapping up this semester, particularly the amazing group of undergraduate researchers who are graduating after being part of the Ruhi Lab! Best of luck in your next freshwater adventures!

Congratulations to Kyle Leathers on publishing your drought experiment paper, ‘Climate change is poised to alter mountain stream ecosystem processes via organismal phenological shifts‘, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences! You can access the paper here and see also the article that appeared in Berkeley News, among other media outlets!

Great job Jessie Moravek on publishing the paper ‘Restored off-channel pond habitats create thermal regime diversity and refuges within a Mediterranean-climate watershed‘ in Restoration Ecology! Check it out if you’re interested in water and air temperature modeling — you can access the paper here.

Our very own Megan Pagliaro participated in the biennial conference of the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) to share exciting work on the use of stable isotopes to monitor wetland restoration trajectories. Well done, Megan!