I am a California girl to the core. I grew up in Los Angeles, earned an undergraduate degree in Integrative Biology from University of California, Berkeley, followed by a Ph.D. in Marine Science at University of California, Santa Barbara and now work as a professional biological oceanographer and lecturer at University of California, Santa Cruz. In between my doctorate and current position, I worked as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow at NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and as a postdoctoral researcher at University of South Carolina and UC Santa Cruz. I am interested in a range of topics in the coastal ocean that deal with phytoplankton, their detection from space, and the biological-physical interaction that contributes to blooms. Much of my attention has been concentrated on developing a forecasting system for harmful algal blooms in California.