Susan Williams

The Coastal and Marine Science Institute is pleased to announce the first-ever recipient of the Dr. Susan Lynn Williams Memorial Graduate Award: Jessica Griffin, a Ph.D. Candidate in the University of California, Davis and San Diego State University joint doctoral program in ecology. This $1,000 award will help support Jessica’s project, titled “The Importance of Environmental Context for Mediating Bivalve Effects on Eelgrass”.

Suzie and the Eelgrass Geese is the story of a young girl who lives in a small town on the coast of California whose love of the ocean leads her to work with a Professor at a local marine lab on an experiment that teaches important lessons about the balance of nature.

“We’re in a region with a Mediterranean climate and upwelling— what’s cool is that both of these are associated with high levels of biodiversity,” says Grace Ha, an ecology Ph.D. student. In upwelling zones, nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean are transported to coastal regions, which makes them hotspots for biodiversity.

Read more at the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences

A scientific name means more than just Linnaean nomenclature. Names go out into the world like buoys in the ocean, mere indicators of the stories and relationships weighted below them. Grace Ha writes about discovering a new marine species — and naming it.

Read more in Bay Nature

At the Bodega Marine Laboratory and CMSI, we couldn’t be more honored and humbled to have Dr. Susan Williams a part of our community for so long. On the 26th of October, over 180 people from around the world gathered to celebrate the life of Dr. Williams.  

“I wanted to be an oceanographer since second grade, without understanding what that meant other than being fascinated by "things" that washed up on the beach during seaside family vacations.” - Dr. Susan Williams in her CMSI Spotlight.

I took in a deep breath then let it out quickly as I approached the group of middle schoolers gathered around a single desk.

I blurted out, “Apa kabar?” One of my few memorized Bahasa Indonesia greetings.

Half a dozen young faces turned towards me.  There was a brief pause before they shrilly responded,

“Biiiiiaaak!!” and promptly collapsed into a pile of laughter.

New ‘Spider’ Technique Found to Help Coral Reefs

Even after being severely damaged by blast fishing and coral mining, coral reefs can be rehabilitated over large scales using a relatively inexpensive technique, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis, in partnership with Mars Symbioscience.

 Dr. Susan Williams (1951 –2018) was an internationally recognized Marine Biologist and UC Davis based professor of marine biology whose research pushed the boundaries of science and redefined international policy. Dr. Williams graciously took the time to answer some of our questions below.