Lydia Kapsenberg

Office Phone: 805 893-6176
Email Address: lydia.kapsenberg@lifesci.ucsb.edu

I joined the Hofmann lab in 2010 to study the effect of global ocean change on marine organisms. My research interests involve the assessment of the synergistic interactions of ocean warming and ocean acidification. Specifically, I want to study physiological processes during the sea urchin larval development from adults collected across their biogeographic range or environmental gradient, under different climate change scenarios. With the use of autonomous pH sensor, we can parameterize these laboratory experiments and characterize near-shore carbonate chemistry. 

I have worked on sea urchin fertilization success and thermotolerance of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri under future high CO₂ conditions, at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. In 2011 I received the George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship which has funded my research in the Channel Islands National Park. We are currently measuring ocean pH at 2 sites in the Channel Islands. Additionally, I have assessed fertilization success of sea urchin populations, from two species, from both sites, in future low pH and high temperature conditions.