Veronica Larwood (ALUMNA 2014-2015)
Veronica diving at Crystal Cove, Orange County, California
Veronica Larwood is a NSF undergraduate research trainee studying Marine Science at CSU Monterey Bay in Dr. Corey Garza’s Marine Landscape Ecology Lab. As part of the Geomorph Project, Veronica Larwood's research focuses on accumulating data to better understand the geomorphological drivers of squid population dynamics in Monterey Bay, California. Towards this end, Veronica is leading a collaboration with Dr. Steve Moore’s lab, to develop a video-laser quadrat that can be readily used by scuba divers to facilitate area quantification during seafloor surveys (click on the video to the right to see Veronica's video from the first prototype). Veronica is leading in its design, building as well as flying in the field. She is also assisting with populating the sandy habitat species catalog for the continental shelf in Monterey Bay (chordates and arthropods).
Her previous research experience includes assisting Drs. Corey Garza, Carlos Robles and Patty Halpin during the summer of 2014 at Bamfield, Canada. There she assisted daily with data sheet population and data input, assembling, disassembling and taking drogue readings throughout the sea mussel beds, Mytilus californianus, with geospatial documentation using a Trimble, Topcon, and inputting the data into ArcGIS. This included tagging, sizing, and dissecting Pisaster ochraceus, as well as piloting small personal crafts. Veronica is a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and AAUS Scientific Diving and Reef Check certified. She is currently enrolled in Dr. James Lindholm’s Marine Transects course collecting data on scuba and using stereo video to aid in describing the biogeography of the California coast.
Veronica Larwood will obtain her B.S. of Marine Science from CSU Monterey Bay in Spring 2015 and will continue to assist Dr. Garza, Dr. Robles and Dr. Halpin in the summer of 2015. Beyond graduation, Veronica is interested in applying her skills and experience by assisting with conducting research within the marine system and to further her education in Marine Science.
Laser quadrat, prototype 1.