Who is SCOPE?

Anya Štajner (she/her/hers) - Coordinator since 2022

We've all seen a butterfly before -- perhaps you've even seen one flying around in your own backyard -- but did you know there are butterflies under the sea too? Right here in La Jolla Shores Cove and in ocean basins all over the world live tiny little creatures called pteropods or "sea butterflies"! Pteropods are small marine snails that swim in our open ocean, but they earned the name "sea butterfly" because of the way they flap their wing-like structures and "fly" through the water. 

As a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography in the Decima Lab, I combine physical, chemical, and biological data to understand the tolerance of pteropods to the effects of climate change. Because so many other ocean animals rely on pteropods as food, it’s important to understand how pteropod communities react in response to a changing climate.

Fun Fact: Before becoming a PhD student, I used to be a princess! In highschool I worked as a character actor, which meant I sang, performed shows, sculpted balloons, and painted faces at parties all over the Bay Area.

anjali narayanan (she/her/hers) - Coordinator since 2022

You may have heard the quote “Not all who wander are lost.” Phytoplankton, whose name comes from the Greek words “phyton” meaning plant and “planktos” meaning wanderer, are water-borne wanderers who are definitely not lost! These tiny plants that live in our oceans and lakes produce at least 50% of all the oxygen and absorb at least 40% of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. They form the base of the marine food web, play an important role in nutrient cycling, and inform us about climate change.

As a PhD student, I study phytoplankton in the Arctic and their response to climate change. I analyze optical data collected on ships to determine their potential as a basis for algorithms which can be applied to data from satellites. We have satellite data going back decades, so I can use my algorithm to figure out how Arctic phytoplankton have changed over the years and deduce if these changes are a
result of climate change.

Fun Fact: So far, I’ve been to four continents, eight countries, and over 10 states! My favorite place I’ve visited so far is Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, which is three provinces away from my childhood home in Ontario, Canada.

 ShaNNON DOLAN (she/her/hers) - coordinator since 2023

Fun Fact: I trekked over 500 kilometers to complete the Camino de Santiago in Spain the summer before beginning grad school.