From left, Mia Franks, USC Wrigley Institute Director Joe Árvai, Priyanka Soni, and Rice Rander (not pictured: Jacob Denova)

Photo Gallery: 2025 Wrigley Institute Annual Research Symposium

ByUSC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability February 11, 2025

On Thursday, February 6th, USC Wrigley Institute-affiliated researchers, including faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students, presented their environmental and sustainability work at the third Wrigley Institute Annual Research Symposium.

Student Awardees

1st Place Student Speaker – Jacob Denova | Marine and Environmental Biology | Environmental drivers of changes in heat tolerance in the tidepool copepod Tigriopus californicus
2nd Place Student Speaker – Priyanka Soni | Earth Sciences | Understanding Historical Success for Future Predictions: Invasive Mollusks of the Late Pleistocene in Southern California
1st Place Poster Presenter – Rice Rander | Chemistry | Ethanol as a hydrogen carrier with a value-added co-product
2nd Place Poster Presenter – Mia Franks | Marine and Environmental Biology | Dynamic gene expression biomarkers as predictors of restoration success in the branching coral Acropora cervicornis

View the 2025 Wrigley Institute Annual Research E-Booklet for full list of presenters.

From left, Mia Franks, USC Wrigley Institute Director Joe Árvai, Priyanka Soni, and Rice Rander (not pictured: Jacob Denova)

Adib Mustofa | Graduate Student | Marine and Environmental Biology | Is the genetic diversity of corals in restored areas comparable to that of natural reefs? A case study of the MARS restoration site in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Mia Franks | Graduate Student | Marine and Environmental Biology | Monitoring Microbes at the San Pedro Ocean Time-series

Sydney Rilum | Science, Research & Policy Specialist | USC Sea Grant | Clean Streets, Clean Seas: Innovating Public Works to Intercept Microplastics in Urban Runoff

Jacob Denova | Graduate Student | Marine and Environmental Biology | Environmental drivers of changes in heat tolerance in the tidepool copepod Tigriopus californicus

Yeshvi Tomar | Graduate Student | Chemistry | Reliable Grid Energy Storage: Selenate/Selenide Additives Improve Iron Electrode Performance and Longevity in Alkaline Batteries

Bernadeth Tolentino | Graduate Student | Biological Sciences | Blue Inoculants: Harnessing Microbial Potential to Nourish Giant Kelp

Sharanya Kumari | Graduate Student | Computer Science | The USC Wrigley Institute San Pedro Ocean Time-series: A Platform for Collaboration in Coastal and Ocean Science

Natalie Villafranca | Graduate Student | Marine and Environmental Biology | Dynamic gene expression biomarkers as predictors of restoration success in the branching coral Acropora cervicornis

Jenna Dilworth | Graduate Student | Biological Sciences | Identifying research and management priorities for coral reef restoration in the Caribbean

Ryan Guillemette | Postdoctoral Scholar | Wrigley Institute | Marine environmental DNA studies in Big Fisherman Cove off Santa Catalina Island

Priyanka Soni | Graduate Student | Earth Sciences | Understanding Historical Success for Future Predictions: Invasive Mollusks of the Late Pleistocene in Southern California

Rucha Wani | Graduate Student | Earth Sciences | The Fate of Marine Particles After Different Types of Ocean Alkalinity Additions

Hagen Buck-Wiese | Postdoctoral Scholar | Marine and Environmental Biology | Brown algae fucoidan sinks carbon in the ocean

Rice Rander | Graduate Student | Chemistry | Ethanol as a hydrogen carrier with a value-added co-product

Jenna Blyler | Graduate Student | Psychology | Toxic Soups and Silver Spoons: How Health and Wealth Predict Risk Perceptions Near a Radioactive Superfund Site

Paul Rousteau | Postdoctoral Scholar | Earth Sciences | Spatial organization of microbial community surrounding salt march pink berries

Cameron Thrash | Faculty | Biological Sciences & Earth Sciences | Linking microbial spatio-temporal niche partitioning to biogeochemical cycles in a changing world

Karen Lloyd | Faculty | Environmental Studies & Earth Sciences | Carbon degradation in Arctic fjords: When thawing permafrost is washed into rivers, what’s going to happen to it?

Douglas Noble | Faculty | Architecture | The Carapace Pavilion: Joshua Tree National Park

Jim Moffett | Faculty | Biological Sciences & Civil and Environmental Engineering | Turning nickel into gold: Phytomining nickel with hybrid sunflowers

Seth John | Faculty | Earth Sciences | Rapid-response sampling of the recent LA fires: Preliminary Results

Victoria Sperow, research coordinator at Wrigley Marine Science Center (middle), and John Heidelberg, director of Wrigley Marine Science Center, listen to student poster presentations

David C. Bañuelas | Postdoctoral Scholar | Marine and Environmental Biology | Small data, big impact: Expanding the predicted abundances of estuarine bacteria from localized observations to regional scales

Ryan Guillemette, postdoctoral scholar, chats with Priyanka Soni, 2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow

Clay Wang | Faculty | Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences | Detection and Conversion of Marine Debris to Make High Value Products as a Tool to Protect Coastal Communities

Alexander Robinson | Faculty | Architecture | Establishing a Los Angeles River Observatory to Support Nature-Based Infrastructure and Community Stewardship

Travis Williams | Faculty | Chemistry | Decarbonizing with Liquid Hydrogen Carriers

Attendees interact with presenters at the 2025 Wrigley Institute Annual Research Symposium presenters questions

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