I am a PhD student in the graduate group in ecology and co-departmental safety coordinator for the Center for Watershed Sciences. My research is primarily focused on how human activities are affecting the aquatic ecosystems of the upper San Francisco Estuary. My first academic passion was fish, but I have become increasingly fascinated by organisms that make up the base of the food web and the physical factors that determine their growth. Specifically, I am interested in how nutrients from agricultural runoff and wastewater influence primary production in the North Delta. Additionally, I focus on the role that managed waterfowl hunting ponds play in shaping fish and invertebrate communities in Suisun Marsh.