Research Interests

• Coral reef community ecology
• Complex systems
• Nonlinear and spatial dynamics
• Social-ecological systems
• Environmental Justice

Degrees

Present    Ph.D. Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA
Thesis: “Linking spatio-temporal coral reef dynamics to coastal human societies”

2014    M.S. Marine Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

2006    B.S. Biology, Magna Cum Laude, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL

Bio

Marlene was born and raised in Chicago, IL, where she later received her B.S. in Biology from Northeastern Illinois University. As an SIO graduate student, she briefly worked in a marine mammal acoustics lab before happily settling into the coral reef ecology lab. Marlene is now a doctoral candidate studying the link between the ecology of complex coral reef systems and the human societies that depend on reef resources. Using primarily models, her dissertation employs a complex systems approach to generate a dynamically grounded multi-scale understanding of 1) demographic patterns of coral colonies, 2) emergent patterns of coral reefscapes, and 3) the behaviors of coupled human-reef fishing societies. Results are far-reaching in coral reef conservation efforts aimed at acknowledging and learning from the diversity of coupled human-seascape relationships across the globe. In the long-term, Marlene plans to use her work to stimulate increased correspondence between mathematical modeling and field experiments, as well as between science and tropical coastal communities committed to environmental justice. Marlene’s scholarly awards include fellowships from NSF, the Ford Foundation, UCSD’s San Diego fellowship program, and UCSD President’s Dissertation Year program. She is also a member of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.

Learn more at: scrippsblogs.ucsd.edu/sandinlab/members/marleneb/