May 2014 - November 2014

Research Diver 

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For six months, I was a research diver for the SONGS Mitigation Monitoring Program with the Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara. I conducted biological surveys on both artificial and natural reefs created to offset the impacts by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). I conducted SCUBA surveys to monitor the abundance of algae, invertebrate and fish communities in kelp forests off Southern California. This position also involved EANx and drysuit diving, processing, sorting, and classifying samples collected in-situ, small boating, field gear maintenance,  data entry, performing quality assurance and quality control procedures.

Junior Specialist
Raimondi-Carr Lab UCSC

January 2014 - April 2014

After the onset of sea star wasting syndrome in October 2013, we conducted rapid observational surveys to record densities, distributions, and level of wasting in multiple sea star species located throughout Central California and Washington. This position included data collection using SCUBA, long term monitoring protocols (PISCO), data entry, collecting and processing specimens.

Sampson, S., C. Hume-Flannery, E. Tucker, H. Perlkin, T. McHugh, C. Gaylord, P. Raimondi, and M. Carr. A rapid assessment of sea star populations after the onset of wasting syndrome in California. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Currents Research Symposium, 26 April 2014. Seaside, CA.

Senior Thesis Intern/Lab Assistant
Raimondi-Carr Lab UCSC

September 2012 - April 2014

I assisted Kristen De Nesnera to understand settlement and recruitment for California mussels (Mytilus californianus). My thesis focused on identifing possitive and negative associations between recruitment and avaliable settlement substrates as a facilitation technique for future rocky intertidal restoration strategies. This position included data collection, long term monitoring protocols (PISCO), materials sorting and identification, training field volunteers, data analysis in SYSTAT, SURFER and JMP.

Sampson, S. and K. De Nesnera.  Identifying positive and negative associations between California mussel (Mytilus californianus) recruits and available settlement substrates.  UC Santa Cruz Environmental Studies Senior Research Symposium, 3 June 2014, Santa Cruz, CA.

Research Diver
The Mehta Lab UCSC

September 2013

As a summer field technician, I assisted in a long term monitoring program for California moray eels (Gymnothorax mordax) on Santa Catalina Island, CA. Surveys included eel distribution, habit and prey availability, tracking and morphological measurements. This position also involved collecting data using SCUBA, PIT tagging, trapping, small boating, data entry,  collecting and processing specimens.

Database Intern
Island Conservation UCSC

September 2011 - April 2012

In conjunction with Island Conservation, we created the Threatened Island Biodiversity Database by synthesizing data and research on the distribution of island-breeding endangered species from scientific literature, conservation databases and experts in the field  to prioritize conservation action on islands. The internship involved extensive literature reviews, collecting metadata from numerous sources, ArcGIS, Google Earth Pro, EndNote Web, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access

Research Intern
The Zavaleta Lab UCSC

September 2010 - June 2011

My project focused on conducting isotopic analysis on ecological nitrogen deposition to specifically look at the effects of traffic pollution on tree ring growth in leather oaks at several serpentine reserves in the Bay Area from 1895-2010. This position involved data collection, sample processing & data input of nitrogen concentrations for tree and soil samples