Los Angeles Urban Ocean Expedition

August 19—September 2, 2019

AltaSea, 2456 Signal St., San Pedro, CA 90731

The Natural History Museum is leading a two-week expedition to the urban ocean waters of the Los Angeles region to dramatically improve our knowledge of Southern California marine biodiversity. This program will bring together the best taxonomists and local collectors in an internationally recognized, intensive methodology to collect, live-identify, curate, and DNA barcode as many species as possible.

The pop-up marine science lab at AltaSea will process fresh samples from research ships, live specimens from SCUBA divers, and a team of leading taxonomists assembled for the event will be sorting, identifying, and sampling specimens for genetic analysis, all day, every day. This will also be a wonderful opportunity for the public to take a peek into a major marine research program being carried out at the coast of a major urban center.

The Los Angeles Urban Ocean Expedition is a program of the Marine Biodiversity Center at Natural History Museum.

Participating Taxonomists

Ralph Appy (Cabrillo Marine Aquarium)
Amanda Bemis (Florida Museum of Natural History) 
Holly Bik (University of California Riverside)
Christine Boren (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Don Cadien (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Curtis Cash (City of Los Angeles, Environmental Monitoring Division)
Brittany Cummings (Florida Museum of Natural History) 
Jennifer Dijkstra (University of New Hampshire)
Doug Eernisse (California State University Fullerton)
Bill Furlong (L.A. County Sanitation)
Jeff Goddard (University of California Santa Barbara)
Brent Haggin (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Leslie Harris (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Austin Hendy (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Greg Jensen (University of Washington)
Tonia Kane (University of California Los Angeles)
Gretchen Lambert (Friday Harbor Labs)
Cody Larsen (City of Los Angeles, Environmental Monitoring Division)
Norbert Lee (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Greg Lyon (City of Los Angeles, Environmental Monitoring Division)
Megan McCuller (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences)
Eve Moore (Florida Museum of Natural History) 
Kimo Morris (Santa Ana College)
Marie Nydam (Soka University)
Erin Oderlin (City of Los Angeles, Environmental Monitoring Division)
Kathy Omura (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Julie Passarelli (Cabrillo Marine Aquarium)
Gustav Paulay (Florida Museum of Natural History) 
Tony Phillips (Dancing Coyote Environmental)
Bill Power (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Jennifer Smolenski (L.A. County Sanitation Districts)
Tom Lee (University of California Santa Barbara)
Rebecca Varney (University of Alabama)
Adam Wall (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Jenessa Wall (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Regina Wetzer (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
Jessica Whelpley (Florida Museum of Natural History) 
Shawn Wiedrick (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)

our supporters

Western Association of Marine Laboratories
Catalina Sea Ranch
Braid Theory
USC Sea Grant
Los Angeles Maritime Academy
Aquarium of the Pacific
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Heal the Bay
Ocean Exploration Trust
Nannette and Bill Van Antwerp