Carol Blanchette

Associate Research Biologist, Marine Science Institute
photo of Carol Blanchette

My main areas of research are marine and community ecology, and my work has largely focused on nearshore marine ecosystems; rocky intertidal, kelp forest and seagrass. Further research interests include: biomechanics, thermal stress, ecological networks, climate change, ocean acidification, sustainable resource management, marine protected areas, and science education. I am a PI on PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans), a large scale research consortium focused on understanding the ecology and dynamics of the coastal marine region of the California Current.  I am also a PI on OMEGAs (Ocean Margin Ecosystems Group for Acidification Studies) aimed at understanding the effects of ocean acidification on nearshore organisms of the California Current. I lead the baseline data collection effort for the rocky intertidal ecosystems of the southern and central California Marine Protected Areas. I am the co-director of Education for the SBC-LTER (Santa Barbara Channel Long-term Ecological Research) group, the Biodiversity strand leader of the UCSB Math Science Partnership project, and serve on the MSI committee for OCTOS (Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Science).