Julie Bursek
I currently work as education coordinator for NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary's Ventura County office in Channel Islands Harbor. I have a tremendous passion to conserve our ocean resources through stewardship and my career provides me the opportunity to do just that - to connect people to the place - the Channel Islands and Santa Barbara Channel. Growing up in southern California, I've always been drawn to the ocean - my interests include diving, sailing, kayaking, tidepooling and boogie boarding. I'm where I want to be, I love what I do, and I can't imagine doing anything else.
BA in Aquatic Biology, UC Santa Barbara 1988
Expected graduation date: Fall 2003
Email: julie.bursek@noaa.gov
Master's
Thesis:
Long-term Changes in the Abundances of Rocky Intertidal Populations at Little
Corona del Mar, California: A Synthesis Using Traditional and Non-traditional
Data Sources.
Long-term changes in the abundances of rocky intertidal macrophyte and macroinvertebrate populations at Little Corona del Mar, California are described. The status of Little Corona del Mar populations from 1945-1970 was determined using information obtained from oral interviews, specimen collections, unpublished species lists, and qualitative published records. The abundances of macrophytes and macroinvertebrates during the winters of 1975-1979 and 1999 were determined from past and new quantitative sampling studies. These traditional and non-traditional data reveal that large changes in species composition and abundances have occurred at Little Corona del Mar over the past 50 years. The period of greatest change occurred prior to the mid-1970s during which several species of invertebrates (e.g., nudibranchs and larger gastropods) disappeared or became extremely rare. Comparative studies indicate that additional changes occurred between the mid-1970s and 1999, resulting in further losses and reductions in the abundances of large macroinvertebrates, and increases in crustose and jointed-calcareous algae and decreases in fleshy, coarsely-branched and thick-bladed (kelps and rockweeds) macrophytes. These changes corresponded with historical patterns of urban development and human use at Little Corona del Mar and have transformed an area once rich in marine life to one characterized by reduced macroinvertebrate diversity and disturbance resistant algae.