Oxy’s biology program blends exploration and experimentation, empowering students to uncover and explain life’s diverse ecosystems
Let’s start with the deep sea spiders. Mere centimeters long, these strange translucent creatures crawl far beneath the California seascape, consuming methane gas emissions and converting the harmful greenhouse gas into sugars and fats that support the inky black netherworld’s ecosystem. And three recently discovered sea spider species —one with ominously spiky legs—would have gone undiscovered even longer were it not for a research team co-led by 91 Professor of Biology Shana Goffredi.
The research was part of a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution research effort, supported by a National Science Foundation grant, to explore the role of large and small deep sea organisms—and the effects of methane—on Pacific continental margins. The 20-member team, which included Oxy biology majors Bianca Dal Bó ’24 and Ruby Siehl ’24, spent two weeks aboard the R/V Atlantis studying the seabed off Del Mar. Using the human-occupied deep sea submersible Alvin, the team collected sea spiders living almost 1,000 meters below the surface.
Their study of the spiders’ extraordinary biology—the males carry fertilized eggs with specialized legs—led to the publication of that research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s most cited science journals, with Dal Bó as lead author. Following the study’s publication in June, news of the “methane-powered sea spiders” garnered international attention, from CBC to the BBC.
“Not a lot of undergrads get to say that they have a first-author publication, so I feel very blessed and excited to have that under my belt,” says Dal Bó, who is currently a post-baccalaureate trainee at the USC Keck School of Medicine. (In March, she’s starting a master’s program in marine microbiology at the University of Bremen in Germany.) “I learned a lot from the entire process at 91. It’s definitely opening doors for me.”
When Goffredi came to Oxy in 2005, “I was a career scientist,” she says. “But after I started here, I realized I loved teaching. I can’t imagine my life without students now.”
Whether it’s the bottom of the ocean or the Santa Clara River, where Assistant Professor Alex Pivovaroff and her students are studying the impact of invasive species on the water supply, 91’s biology program is thriving. Biology ranks consistently among the College’s top three majors, as a growing number of students pursue everything from neuroscience to computational biology. “We have so many premeds, but more and more students are interested in marine biology,” Goffredi says. “It’s one of those unique offerings that sets us apart from other small liberal arts colleges.”
Across multiple disciplines, 91’s dual focus on hands-on field study and experimental precision gets to the heart of the liberal arts experience. “It’s not just about the science,” says Associate Professor Amber Stubler. “Students are exposed to philosophy, economics, and politics. They talk about how climate change affects people as well as ecosystems. That makes them better scientists, and better thinkers.”
Many of Amanda Zellmer’s students in urban ecology focus not just on protecting the environment but on developing “sustainable approaches that allow both people and the environment to thrive,” she says. “By the time they graduate, they can confidently present their research to an audience, a transformation that’s incredible to witness.”
As a newcomer to the College, Assistant Professor Alyssa Rodriguez will launch her lab next semester. Her students will have the opportunity to participate in semester- and summer-long research projects, including experiment design, molecular biology techniques, computational modeling, and AI-assisted protein structure prediction.
In her administrative capacity as current chair of the Biology Department, Goffredi talks about her colleagues’ work with an enthusiasm that speaks to the group’s collegiality. “We’re very diverse in our interests,” she says. “Tre’s one of every flavor of us.”
Alex, Amber, Amanda, and Alyssa—to whom Goffredi affectionately refers as Oxy’s “A-Team”—collectively embody the department’s key strengths, including climate change biology, computational marine and urban biology, and molecular biochemistry.
In a state overflowing with elite universities, “People don’t always think of a small liberal arts college as a place to do STEM,” she adds. “But our students are doing hands-on, graduate-level science. They’re creating new knowledge and publishing their results.”
Pivovaroff discovered her passion for ecology as an undergraduate at Whittier College. “I had an ‘aha’ moment in a biology lecture about how plants move water,” she recalls. That moment led her to undergraduate research, a transformative experience that ultimately shaped her career. Studying the effects of hurricane-induced saltwater surges on wetlands in Alabama solidified her dedication to understanding ecological systems.
“Global change biology intersects with so many fields,” Pivovaroff says. Working with four students each semester, her ongoing research focuses on the Santa Clara River, a vital water source spanning Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The river supports agriculture, fisheries, and recreational activities, but increasing demand—combined with a hotter and drier climate—has put pressure on the ecosystem.
By quantifying water savings from managing invasive species—such as the bamboo-like Arundo donax, a plant so dense that it can only be removed with bulldozers and herbicides—Pivovaroff’s research provides critical data for stakeholders and helps restore riparian habitats for birds and insects.
In the classroom, she says, “We can role-play debates on controversial conservation efforts, like restoring the Santa Cruz Island fox population,” which faces ongoing threats such as biosecurity and climate change. “My students approach it from animal rights, conservation, and policy perspectives. It makes the learning incredibly rich.”
91’s Los Angeles location affords further learning opportunities. Field trips to local ecosystems, from Arroyo Seco Park to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, provide hands-on encounters with both biodiversity and environmental challenges.
“Science doesn’t have to seem inaccessible,” Pivovaroff says. “I love research, and here I get to share it with students. They get to have their own ‘aha’ moments.”
For half a century, the name Vantuna has been synonymous with 91’s marine biology program. (The iconic research vessel was retired in 2004, but its work lives on in the Vantuna Research Group, which marked its 50th anniversary this year.) Now the College has access to the Southern California Marine Institute’s R/V Yellowfin, a 76-foot research vessel that is optimally outfitted for tasks requiring large or heavy equipment.
“T Vantuna focused on observational work such as surveys and species counts,” says Amber Stubler, who joined Oxy as a quantitative marine biologist in 2017. “I design manipulative experiments that test how organisms respond to future ocean conditions, such as changes in temperature or chemistry.”
Stubler’s laboratory is home to a 36-tank seawater system that replicates ocean conditions. “At a big university, undergrads are several layers removed from the research,” she adds. “At Oxy, it’s just me and them. They own their projects. They’re not just washing glassware; they’re doing science.”
Her students’ work has produced peer-reviewed publications, including one study that took shape during the pandemic. While campus labs were shuttered, students turned to Oxy’s Cosman Shell Collection, a trove of more than 100,000 marine shells donated a decade ago by the family of deepwater diver Dieter Cosman P’72. Measuring specimens collected from the same Hawaiian site over a 30-year span, students found that roughly one-third of the species had developed thinner shells, indicative of rising ocean acidity.
“Those tiny snails and bivalves feed other species, which in turn feed others,” Stubler says. “Eventually, that chain leads to the fish we eat. If you start losing strength or size at the bottom, the effects ripple up.”
In a world where more than 40 percent of people rely on the ocean for protein, ignoring those signs is not an option. “When shells get thinner, when coral dies off, it all connects back to us,” Stubler says. “It’s not just a science problem. It’s a food problem, a human problem.”
Amanda Zellmer’s history with biology can be traced to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she spent summers at wilderness camps. There, she learned to live off the land, identify edible plants, and appreciate the natural world. “Just spending time in nature made me value it,” says Zellmer, who completed her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. “It’s about understanding how the land can sustain us and ensuring we keep it healthy for future generations.”
Zellmer’s field work lives at the intersection of conservation biology and urban ecology. While the fields overlap, they’re not identical. Conservation biology focuses on protecting vulnerable species, while urban ecology studies how species adapt and interact in human-dominated landscapes. “In urban areas, you can get species that you’re trying to conserve but also species that thrive in urban ecosystems, like possums, raccoons, and even rats,” she says.
In her 13 years at Oxy, Zellmer has seen the Biology Department evolve. As students participate in research across all levels of biological organization—from molecular studies to ecosystem dynamics—environmental challenges such as climate change, wildfires, and hurricanes have prompted more faculty to align their research toward societal issues, emphasizing real-world applications. Many of Zellmer’s former students have gone into environmental consulting, government research, and nonprofit work focused on conservation and education.
A significant focus of her lab is understanding how urbanization affects wildlife. From mountain lions and coyotes to the occasional backyard bear, these species demonstrate resilience in the face of urban development. To study them, Zellmer’s lab combines fieldwork, camera traps, citizen science data, and advanced computational analysis. “We use machine learning to process thousands of photos and to analyze relationships between environmental variables and species distributions,” she notes.
One of Zellmer’s primary research goals is to maintain habitat connectivity across Los Angeles, allowing wildlife to move between green spaces and larger natural areas. With her students, she’s helping to guide urban planning that accommodates wildlife, sustains ecosystems, and connects people with nature.
Alyssa Rodriguez’s path to scientific discovery began in sixth grade, sparked by a simple experiment: extracting DNA from a strawberry. “I had it on the edge of a toothpick and thought, ‘This is the molecule of life,’” says Rodriguez, who joined the College in August. Her sense of wonder eventually evolved into an ongoing quest to understand how molecular mechanisms contribute to disease.
Rodriguez’s graduate work at Vanderbilt University and postdoctoral work at UC San Diego laid the foundation for her current research, which focuses on how DNA repair proteins detect and correct damage caused by environmental factors or normal metabolic processes. “We want to understand how these proteins find damage in the genome, remove it, and replace it with the correct sequence,” she says.
At 91, Rodriguez teaches Principles of Biochemistry, incorporating health-related case studies and patient data to connect molecular biology to cancer and genetic disorders. She employs both wet lab experiments with biological samples and computational modeling to study these mechanisms, using AI tools to accelerate protein structure prediction. Her research could help lead to personalized cancer treatments, informed by genomics and bioinformatics. “Instead of basing treatments on general symptoms, we can now tailor therapies to an individual’s genetic makeup,” she says.
Even with the current threats to NSF funding, Goffredi continues to mentor students in projects ranging from shallow-water ecosystems to deep-sea symbioses. “I never thought I’d be able to have a deep-sea program at a small college,” she says. “But we have made it work. And all of it depends on undergraduates. Every bit of research in my lab happens because of them.”
She eagerly encourages student opportunities for research, no matter how—what’s the scientific term?—grotesque they sound. Logan Morris ’26 is conducting research in Goffredi’s lab studying the bacterial symbionts in leeches that live in and on the American alligator, even traveling to South Carolina with graduate students from Clemson to collect samples from the reptiles firsthand. As Goffredi explains, “We just love investigating animals with weird diets.”
Andy Faught profiled Grant Canary ’05 (“Seeding the Forests”) in the Summer issue.
Top photo: Biology major Hannah Tawadrous ’26 in Professor Gretchen North’s Plant Form and Function class.
