Professor Raphael Martin Kudela

RAPHAEL M KUDELA is Lynn Professor of Ocean Health in the Ocean Sciences Department at University of California Santa Cruz. Dr. Kudela has conducted research on aquatic ecology (emphasis on marine systems, but also including land/sea interface and freshwater systems) for nearly two decades. His research focuses on the factors and processes linking phytoplankton productivity to higher trophic levels, including the ecology, mitigation, and prediction of harmful algal bloom events, changes in global productivity and fisheries, and linkages to human use of aquatic systems. His research utilizes the combination of three tools, remotely sensed data from moorings and satellites in combination with biological models; novel bio-optical methods assaying phytoplankton physiology; and the refinement of stable and radio-tracer isotopes. Kudela currently serves as Chair of the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms program (IOC/SCOR), is co-chair of the US National Harmful Algal Bloom Committee, and is a member of the US National Science Foundation Ocean Observing Systems Review Committee and UNOLS Scientific Committee for Oceanographic Aircraft Research (SCOAR). He previously served on the NSF Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP) steering committee. Within the Ocean Observing framework he serves on the Executive Committee for the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) and is the chair of the California Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Alert Program (Cal-HABMAP). He earned his PhD in Biology from the University of Southern California.