Research Scientist, Vantuna Research Group
My research includes monitoring and restoration of rocky reefs, kelp forests, artificial reefs, and estuaries, as well as assessing compliance with water and sediment quality objectives.
Research Description
Our research is dedicated to studying long-term and large spatial scale ecological processes in the Southern California Bight, including both the longest continual time series studies of rocky reefs in the world and the largest spatial-scale studies of reefs in the Bight. We gather data using scuba, ROVs, drop cameras, sonar, and a myriad of other oceanographic instruments. We use this monitoring data to inform restoration efforts, including kelp forest restoration and building artificial reefs.
In addition, we focus on the taxonomy and life history of southern California marine fishes and ichthyoplankton, perform fisheries surveys in southern California bays and estuaries, and monitor sediment and water quality with respect to industrial and wastewater processes.
As a non-profit educational program, we encourage our undergraduate students to participate in all aspects of our research, from data collection to publishing in peer-reviewed journals, preparing them for graduate programs or careers in marine science.
Students learn:
- How to collect and sort ichthyoplankton and infauna samples using dissecting microscopes
- How to perform field research on boats and beaches
- How to enter and organize monitoring data
- How to use oceanographic and environmental sampling equipment
- How to analyze ecological data
Courses
Topics in Biology: Ecological Restoration and Enhancement (Bio 103)
Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems (Bio 260)
Biostatistics (Bio 268)
Senior Seminar (Bio 490)
Student Research Opportunities
Any interested students (of any major!) are welcome to join the lab. Nearly all skills required are learned on the fly. We always have basic tasks (sample sorting, data entry, etc) that can be done on day one, but as you develop your scientific and field skills, you’ll be able to go on monthly plankton collections, quarterly environmental monitoring efforts, seafloor mapping surveys, and the occasional fisheries survey.
Students interested in performing research by scuba diving must be American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) certified – if you are interested and willing to invest a lot of time and energy over the long-term, we can help you with that!
Select Publications
Kitchel, Z.J., J.T. Claisse, D.J. Pondella, C.M. Williams, J.P. Williams, D.M. Schroeder. 2025. Community structure of southern California’s subtidal rocky reefs and implications for artificial reef design. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 774: 91-108.
Pondella, D.J., J.T. Claisse, C.M. Williams, J.P. Williams, D. Witting. 2025. Palos Verdes Reef: A test of artificial reef design criteria to increase regional fish production in southern California. Bulletin of Marine Science. 101(4): 1827-1846.
Williams, J.P., E.M. Jaco, Z. Scholz, C.M. Williams, D.J. Pondella, M.K. Rasser, D.M. Schroeder. 2023. Red rock crab (Cancer productus) movement is not influenced by electromagnetic fields produced by a submarine power transmission cable. Continental Shelf Research. 269: 105145
Allen, L.G., J.P. Williams, J. Bredvik-Curran, D.J. Pondella II, S. Graham, N. Martinez-Takeshita. 2022. A quarter century of monitoring the fish assemblages of San Diego Bay, California from 1995 to 2019. Southern California Academy of Sciences. 121(3): 111-134.
Williams, J.P., C.M. Williams, D.J. Pondella, Z.M. Scholz. 2022. Rebirth of a reef: As-built description and rapid returns from the Palos Verdes Reef Restoration Project. Frontiers in Marine Science. 9:1010303
Martin, G., S. Stamnes, N. Henderson, J. Lum, N. Rubin, J.P. Williams. 2021. Hemocyte activation and nodule formation in the giant keyhole limpet, Megathura crenulata. Invertebrate Biology. 140(4): e12355.
Williams, J.P., J.T. Claisse, D.J. Pondella II, C.M. Williams, M.J. Robart, Z. Scholz, E.M. Jaco, T. Ford, H. Burdick, D. Witting. 2021. Sea urchin mass mortality rapidly restores kelp forest communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 664: 117-131.
Pondella, D.J. II, J.P. Williams. 2020. Sea basses, groupers, temperate basses, and wreckfishes. Pages 218-228 in M.S. Love and J.K. Passarelli, editors. Miller and Lea’s guide to the coastal marine fishes of California, 2nd ed. Davis: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3556.
Williams, J.P., C.M. Williams, C.A. Blanchette, J.T. Claisse, D.J. Pondella II, J.E. Caselle. 2018. Where the weird things are: A collection of species range extensions in the Southern California Bight. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. 117(3): 189-202.
Williams J.P., L.G. Allen, M.A. Steele, D.J. Pondella II. 2007. El Niño periods increase growth of juvenile white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) in the Southern California Bight. Marine Biology 152(1): 193-200.