Staff

Bryn Phillips, [email protected]

Bryn Phillips has been a Research Specialist with the University of California since 1992. He designs and conducts research projects to assess ambient water and sediment quality in marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments. His projects include: integrating and interpreting synoptic data from chemical and toxicological, developing toxicity assessment techniques, evaluating acute and chronic effects of pollutants, and coordinating and conducting aquatic and sediment toxicity tests and research projects.
B.S. Zoological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach (1989)
M.S. Marine Sciences, San Jose State University, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (1995)

Katie Siegler, [email protected]

Katie Siegler works on coastal watershed research and policy. She assists with the sampling and logistics for the Stream Pollution Trends (SPoT) Program, a statewide monitoring program under the umbrella of SWAMP. She has previously worked with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as the Agriculture Water Quality Coordinator, and in laboratory and field research positions in California, Alaska, Mexico, and Central America.
M.S. Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara (2001)

Robert Luckert, [email protected]

Robert has been with the University of California, Davis since 2018 as a Physical Plant Mechanic working at the Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory at Granite Canyon. His work includes maintenance and capital improvements of the 5-acre grounds of the laboratory and the facilities of seven buildings. Robert’s role is to support the overall operations of the Granite Canyon Laboratory. To this end, he manages a seawater pumping station, freshwater well systems, stand by generators just to name a few. His early mechanical training was with the US army reserves as a mechanic, then as a carpenter working for large corporations and also for smaller construction companies. He then went on to become a business owner as a local building contractor working on fine homes and commercial buildings for over 25 years.
State of California General Contractor B
ICC Building Inspector, Building Plans Examiner

Bushra Khan, [email protected]

Dr. Bushra Khan joined University of California Davis as a Project Scientist in August 2022. Her current work includes environmental monitoring and application of toxicological evaluations towards enhancing our knowledge of patterns and effects of chemical contaminants in waterbodies across California. With the use of current and new monitoring tools, she aims to support and expand the efforts of the Stream Pollution Trends Monitoring Program at MPSL. Bushra received her early training in Zoology in India. Her doctoral work includes identification of sublethal biomarkers of environmental stress in aquatic ecosystems. Upon completion of her doctorate, she worked at the US EPA’s Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division as a National Research Council postdoctoral associate for four years and as a research participant with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for two years. Her work at the EPA included bioaccumulation and toxicological assessments of exposures to emerging contaminants including pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials, plastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
B.S. Zoology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India (2006)
M.S. Zoology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India (2008)
Ph.D. Biology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA (2015)

Randi Barton, [email protected]

Randi is a Staff Research Associate and originally joined the laboratory in 2021 as a Lab Assistant. Randi plans and oversees the toxicity testing schedule and overall operation of the lab. She leads the seasonal, statewide field collections of watershed sediment samples for the Stream Pollution Trends (SPoT) Monitoring Program under SWAMP. Randi has a background in biology, ecology, and population genetics, and is completing a master’s degree at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Her thesis involves using population genetic analysis to understand the relationship between marine parasite transmission strategy and their dispersal capacity. In the future, Randi hopes to incorporate her molecular experience into the toxicology work conducted at Granite Canyon, to enhance our understanding of how pollutants are affecting biological systems in both freshwater and marine ecosystems.
B.S. Biology, California State University, Monterey Bay (2020)
M.S. Marine Science, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (In Progress)

Katherine Molinari, [email protected]

Originally from San Diego, Kat moved to Monterey in 2015 to pursue a bachelor's degree in biology at California State University, Monterey Bay. Kat joined the laboratory in 2022 as a Laboratory Assistant. She monitors acute and chronic toxicity tests, maintains cultures of marine and freshwater toxicity test organisms, and contributes to the overall operation of the lab. Kat also helps conduct seasonal, statewide field collections of watershed sediment samples for the Stream Pollution Trends (SPoT) Monitoring Program under SWAMP. Kat has a background in biology, ecology, and herpetology and is working towards an M.S. in Environmental Science at California State University, Monterey Bay where she is examining the relationship between human habituation and behavior in our local population of Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.
B.S. Biology (emphasis in ecology, evolution and organismal biology) Cal State University, Monterey Bay (2021)
M.S. Environmental Science candidate, Cal State University, Monterey Bay (In Progress)

Chloe Parish, [email protected]