Zeke Spooner is a 1st year PhD student in the Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry Graduate Group interested in the accumulation of microplastics in California coastal ecosystems and coastal multiple-stressors toxicology issues. Recently, his research project on microplastics accumulation in California rockfish was selected for three awards, including the Donald Crosby Fellowship, the Dennis Salisbury & Patricia K. Salisbury Graduate Student Award, and the Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship at Bodega Marine Laboratory. Under the mentorship of Dr. Sascha Nicklisch and Dr. Christina Pasparakis, Zeke will investigate biological, chemical, and physical factors affecting the accumulation and toxicity of marine microplastics while working with coastal fishing communities whose livelihoods rely upon the well-being of these aquatic ecosystems.

Zeke is holding a china rockfish (Sebastes nebulosus) captured on a research expedition in Bodega Bay with the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program. Photo Credit: Francine De Castro