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William Gilly
William Gilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently Graduated Students:

Ben Burford

Ben Burford

Former Graduate Student. Earned his B.S. in field and wildlife biology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2013. After graduation, he worked for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the National Marine Fisheries Service in the respective fields of deep sea and anadromous fish ecology. In fall 2015, he enrolled in the Biology PhD program at Stanford University where his research utilized in situ footage, scientific surveys, animal-borne data loggers, oceanographic data and molecular techniques to understand the migratory behaviors of ecologically and economically important Pacific squids and the environmental drivers and impacts of these movements. 

Elan Portner

Elan Portner

Former Graduate Student. His work in the Gilly lab is focused on the definition of suitable habitat for Humboldt squid based on temperature and food availability. He used scientific sonar and diet analysis to quantify the availability of Humboldt squid food (mostly small fishes and squids) and to describe how the density and distribution of food affects what Humboldt squid are eating. He measured temperature throughout the water column to assess whether changes in the thermal profile will exclude Humboldt squid from portions of the water column. These thermal and biological data are combined into mathematical models that allowed him to describe how food availability and temperature interact to produce suitable habitat for Humboldt squid and to define thresholds for these characteristics, that when crossed produce the astounding plasticity observed in the distribution and life history of Humboldt squid.

Diana Li

Diana Li

Former Graduate Student. She studied how squid swim and the ways that the physical environment influences their swimming. As highly active animals, squid swim to find food and mates, migrate, and escape threats. The success of these behaviors shapes their abundance and distribution in the oceans, and their locomotion in turn is impacted by changes in the environment (e.g. temperature, oxygen availability, and fluid dynamic interactions between their bodies and the water as they swim through the ocean). Her research focused on the neurophysiology and biomechanics of squid locomotion.

Alumni and more Collaborators