Welcome

Ocean Recoveries Lab (Stier Lab) Manual Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California, Santa Barbara Updated February 2026

Welcome to the Ocean Recoveries Lab. Whether you are a graduate student, postdoc, technician, or undergraduate researcher, you are now part of a group working to understand how marine ecosystems collapse and recover.

Our research spans coral reefs in Mo'orea (French Polynesia), kelp forests along the Santa Barbara coast, and Caribbean reef systems. We combine field experiments, evidence synthesis, and predictive modeling to study the mechanisms of ecosystem resistance, recovery, and reorganization. The lab is part of two NSF Long-Term Ecological Research programs: the Moorea Coral Reef LTER and the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER. These programs provide long-term datasets, infrastructure, and collaborative networks that enrich our work. You can learn more about current projects and the broader research program at oceanrecoveries.com.

What This Manual Covers

This document is the single reference for how the lab works. It covers:

• Values and expectations — what we care about and how we hold each other accountable
• Communication, safety, and logistics — how we talk, where things are, and how to stay safe in the lab and the field
• Graduate program and postdoc guidance — funding, milestones, mentoring structure, and career planning
• Research policies — authorship, data management, AI use, publishing, collaboration, and how we handle projects after people leave
• Fieldwork — everything you need for Mo'orea, from permits to packing lists
• Support — mental health resources, travel, departure and offboarding

It complements several other documents you should know. You and I will complete a Mentor/Mentee Agreement together. The entire lab revisits the Lab Working Agreement each year. You will also create an Individual Development Plan (IDP). Together, these make explicit what people often pass along informally.

This is a living document. If something is unclear, outdated, or missing, please let me or the lab manager (Molly Brzezinski) know.

Lab Values & Culture

Understanding collapse. Designing recovery. A guide to the expectations, values, and logistics that shape how we work together at UCSB.

Be curious. I got into this work because I find the natural world fascinating, and I hope you did too. I want this lab to be a place where you can explore, sit with uncertainty, and ask the questions that feel too basic to say out loud — those are often the most important ones.

Give honest feedback. I expect us to be direct with each other about ideas, writing, analyses, and presentations. I try to offer criticism with the intent to improve, and I ask that you receive it with openness rather than defensiveness. That goes both ways. I need your honest reactions to my ideas too.

Speak up. If you disagree, say so. If something feels wrong, say so. If you need help, say so. Challenge ideas respectfully, regardless of who holds them, including me.

Think clearly. Good science depends on clear thinking, and clear thinking depends on clear communication — in our writing, our talks, our experimental designs, and our conversations with each other.

Work together. Our best work happens when we combine perspectives, skills, and experiences that none of us have alone. Help each other. Share credit generously. The lab is stronger than any one person in it.

Care about each other. Graduate school is hard. We hold each other accountable while remaining sensitive to the fact that people have lives and pressures outside the lab.

Do honest work. We treat our data with respect, report our results accurately, and hold ourselves to high standards of scientific and professional ethics. There are no shortcuts here.

Treat people well. This lab has zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination, or intimidation of any kind. That expectation applies to everyone, in every context — the lab, the field, conferences, and online. See the Code of Conduct in the Safety section for specifics and reporting channels.

Day-to-Day Lab Life

Be Around

Some of the best scientific insights I have had (and that I have seen students have) came from unplanned conversations. Someone mentions a weird pattern in their data over coffee. Twenty minutes later you have redesigned an experiment. That only happens if people are physically present. I do not expect rigid 9-to-5 hours, and working from home sometimes is completely fine — especially during writing-intensive periods. But I genuinely prefer that you make the lab and office your default workspace most days. The spontaneous interactions matter more than you think, and being around is how you learn from labmates, get unstuck faster, and build the relationships that make a lab work. If your schedule or circumstances make regular in-person time difficult, talk to me and we will figure out what works.

Shared Spaces

The lab is communal space, and keeping it functional is everyone's job. A few specifics:

• Wash your dishes. Seriously. The sink is not a staging area.
• Label your samples clearly: your name, date, and what it is. Mysterious unlabeled containers will get tossed.
• If supplies are running low, help reorder. If equipment is broken, report it. Do not assume someone else will handle it.
• Leave shared spaces at least as clean as you found them.

Socializing

I think it matters that people in the lab actually enjoy spending time together. Lab potlucks, beach days, happy hours, whatever form it takes. The social side of lab life is not a distraction from the science. It is part of what makes a lab function well. I encourage it, though I am not going to prescribe what it looks like.

Seminars

Attend EEMB seminars, thesis defenses, and other departmental talks when your schedule allows. See the Lab Meetings section for more on departmental seminars.

Photos, Videos, and Media

We take a lot of photos and videos — in the field, in the lab, at social events, and during outreach. These images are valuable for the lab website, social media, presentations, grant proposals, and departmental communications.

Before using a photo or video of a lab member in any public-facing context (website, social media, presentation to an external audience, news article), ask the person for permission. This applies even if they were present when the photo was taken. Some people are comfortable being featured publicly; others are not. Respect that without requiring an explanation.

If you would prefer not to appear in lab photos or on the lab website, let me or the lab manager know. You will not be asked to justify it, and it will not affect anything.

Roles and Awareness

You will play multiple roles in this lab: student, teacher, mentor to undergrads, peer. Be aware of how your behavior carries different weight in different contexts, especially when there is a power differential. The way you give feedback to an undergraduate mentee is not the same as how you push back on a fellow grad student's interpretation. Both differ from how you raise a concern with me.

Lab Citizenship

Labs run on invisible work: mentoring undergraduates, maintaining shared equipment, organizing lab meetings, updating protocols, restocking supplies, training new members. This work is real, it takes time, and it matters.

Recognition. I track lab citizenship contributions and acknowledge them in recommendation letters, annual reviews, and IDP conversations. If you are mentoring an undergraduate through a thesis, that is a professional development activity — not uncompensated labor.

Limits. If service commitments are consuming more than roughly 5 hours per week and affecting your research progress, flag it. We will redistribute the load or reduce your share. No one should sacrifice their own research trajectory to keep the lab running.

Equity. Service tasks tend to fall unevenly — often on women and underrepresented lab members. I monitor this through the annual task audit (see the Gender Equity and Lab Climate section) and will intervene if patterns emerge.

Safety

Code of Conduct

The Stier Lab is committed to providing a professional environment free from harassment, discrimination, and intimidation. Everyone in the lab — faculty, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduates, technicians, and visitors — is expected to treat others with respect and dignity.

We do not tolerate harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, familial or parental status, veteran status, socioeconomic background, physical appearance, or any other protected characteristic.

Harassment includes but is not limited to: intimidation, stalking, sustained disruption of meetings or work, unwelcome sexual attention, unwanted physical contact, patterns of exclusion, dismissive or demeaning comments, and using power differentials to coerce or silence. It applies to behavior in the lab, in the field, at conferences, on social media, and in any context where lab members interact.

Reporting Harassment or Bullying

If you experience or witness harassment or bullying:

• Talk to the person directly, if you feel safe doing so. Many offenses are unintentional, and a direct conversation often resolves things.

• If that's not comfortable, come to me. I will take your concern seriously and work with you on next steps.

• If Adrian is the concern, contact Mengshu Ye (Graduate Advisor), the EEMB Department Chair, or UCSB's Title IX Compliance & Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Office (TIX/DHP) at (805) 893-2701 or tixoffice@titleix.ucsb.edu.

• For formal complaints, contact UCSB's Title IX Compliance & Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Office (TIX/DHP) at (805) 893-2701 or tixoffice@titleix.ucsb.edu.

Retaliation against anyone who raises a concern is absolutely prohibited. It will be treated as a separate, serious violation.

These offices will not report to the university without your permission (with narrow exceptions such as imminent danger or child abuse). You do not have to decide anything before talking to them.

Health and Well-Being

Graduate school is demanding. Take care of your health — mental, emotional, and physical.

Work/life balance: There is no expectation that you work evenings and weekends as a default. Some periods (field seasons, manuscript deadlines) will be more intense than others, and that is normal. But chronic overwork is not a badge of honor. It is a risk factor for burnout, poor science, and poor health. Know your limits and take care of yourself.

If you're struggling: Talk to me. You do not need to share details. You have a right to privacy. But letting me know you need time or adjusted expectations helps both of us. If you prefer to talk to someone else, that is fine too. Other lab members, the Graduate Advisor, and campus counseling services are all available.

Do not come to lab sick. If you have a condition that affects your work -- physical, cognitive, psychiatric, or any other -- talk to me so we can figure out accommodations. You can also contact the Disabled Students Program (DSP) directly at (805) 893-2668. DSP coordinates accommodations under the ADA, and you are not required to disclose your disability to me. They will work with you and, as needed, with the department.

See the Mental Health Resources section for specific campus services.

Lab and Field Safety

Do not put yourself or others at risk. If you feel pressured to do something unsafe (by anyone, including me), you have the right and the responsibility to refuse. Speak up.

• Point of contact: When conducting fieldwork, always have someone who is NOT in the field with you who knows your location and expected return time. If you do not return on schedule, they should attempt contact and request help if needed.

• SCUBA and boating: You must meet all UCSB and American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) requirements before diving. I serve on the MSI diving and boating safety board. See the Required Trainings section and the separate UCSB Dive Safety Manual (available from Eric Hessell or at marineops.ucsb.edu) for details.

• Lab chemicals: See the Chemical Health and Safety Plan subsection in Required Trainings. Always check Safety Data Sheets (SDS), complete required Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and get proper training before handling hazardous materials.

• Reporting: Report all safety incidents, near-misses, and equipment failures immediately. There is no penalty for reporting. There is a problem with not reporting.

Communication Norms

Clear communication sounds obvious but is hard to get right. This is especially true in a lab where people have different schedules, are sometimes in Mo'orea, and are juggling coursework, teaching, and research. Here is how I prefer we handle it.

The Basics

• Check email at least once per business day. Respond to things that need a response within one business day. You do not need to have the answer. Just acknowledge you saw it.

• If you will be away from email for more than a day (fieldwork, travel, vacation), let me and relevant labmates know in advance.

• Do not disappear without notice. If you need time away, that is completely fine. But tell someone first.

How I Use Different Channels

Slack is my primary communication tool and the fastest way to reach me. Our workspace is at stierlab.slack.com. I check Slack throughout the day. It is the best channel for anything that needs a timely response: questions, coordination, sharing updates, day-to-day logistics. Use the "Do Not Disturb" settings to protect your evenings. I encourage this.

Email is fine for longer-form communication, especially with external collaborators or for things that need a paper trail. But emails can get lost in my inbox. If something is time-sensitive or you have not heard back in a day or two, follow up on Slack. I will sometimes send emails at odd hours (evenings, weekends, early mornings). This does not mean I expect a response outside of business hours. I write when something is on my mind so I do not forget, not because I need you to act on it at 10 PM.

Oh, and I like salutations. A "Hi Adrian" at the top of an email goes a long way. It is a small thing, but emails that jump straight into a request read as curt to me, even when I know they are not intended that way.

Text or phone: Reserve these for urgent matters. If it is a real emergency, call rather than text. I mean things like safety issues in the field, a freezer failure, or something that cannot wait until the next business day.

In person is best for anything that will turn into a long email thread. If you find yourself drafting a third reply in the same chain and it is getting complicated, just come knock on my door or schedule a meeting. I almost always prefer a 15-minute conversation over a week of back-and-forth emails.

A Note on Timing

I encourage communication during roughly standard business hours (8 AM--5 PM). If you are writing after hours, consider using scheduled-send so it arrives in the morning. This is not a rigid rule. Field schedules and time zones sometimes make off-hours communication necessary. But as a default, let's respect each other's non-work time.

Vacation and Time Away

Take vacation. You need it, and you will do better work because of it. Graduate school is a marathon, not a sprint, and people who never step away from their work tend to burn out or produce diminishing returns.

There is no fixed number of vacation days for graduate students. As a general guideline, two to three weeks per year (outside of field seasons and major deadlines) is reasonable. Some of this may overlap with university holidays and the break between quarters. Use your judgment.

When you plan time away:

• Let me and relevant labmates know at least a week in advance for short breaks (a few days), and further ahead for longer trips (a week or more).
• Add your time away to the Stier Lab Availability calendar so the lab can plan around it.
• If you have ongoing responsibilities (samples being processed, TA duties, undergraduate mentees), arrange coverage or communicate the gap before you leave.
• If you are going somewhere without reliable internet or phone service (Mo'orea, backcountry, etc.), make sure someone knows your plan and expected return.

This also applies to sick days: if you are unwell, stay home and let the relevant people know. You do not need to justify it beyond a quick message.

Conflict Resolution

I expect conflicts to arise. Put a group of people in close quarters with high-stakes work and real deadlines, and disagreements will happen. Some will involve me, and some will be between other people in the lab. What matters is not whether conflicts occur but how we handle them.

Start Direct

My expectation is that the people involved talk to each other first. Meet privately, discuss the issue honestly, and try to find a fair resolution. Most conflicts resolve at this stage when both people approach the conversation in good faith. I know this can be uncomfortable, especially across power differentials. But it is almost always better than letting things simmer.

If That Doesn't Work

If a direct conversation does not resolve things, or if you have tried and it is not getting better:

• Bring it to me. I am happy to listen, mediate, or help figure out a path forward. I would much rather hear about a problem early than discover it has been festering for months.

• If the problem involves me (and it can, because I am not perfect), please go to Mengshu Ye (Graduate Advisor) or the Department Chair. I would rather you raise it with someone who can help than sit with it silently.

• For persistent or serious issues, UCSB's Ombuds Office provides confidential, neutral mediation services. They exist for situations where normal channels feel insufficient.

• For authorship or project completion disputes specifically, the Completing Projects After Departure section has its own escalation pathway, including a 30-day notice window before any authorship changes. If you are navigating a disagreement about credit or timelines on a manuscript, start there.

A Few Principles I Care About

• Address things promptly. Conflicts fester and escalate when ignored. A small misunderstanding today can become a real problem in a month.

• Assume good intent initially, but hold people accountable for impact. Someone can mean well and still cause harm. Both things can be true.

• Talk about people the way you would if they were in the room. Do not gossip about labmates, and do not speak negatively about someone who is not present. If you have a concern about someone's behavior or work, raise it with them directly or bring it to me. This is a basic standard of professionalism and trust. A lab where people talk behind each other's backs is a lab where no one feels safe.

• Keep notes. If you are dealing with a recurring issue, document what happened and when. This protects everyone and makes any later conversation more productive.

• Retaliation for raising concerns is prohibited, full stop. I take this seriously, and I expect everyone in the lab to as well.

Valuable Contacts

Detailed contact information for administrative staff, SCUBA operations, mechanical support, travel finance, and campus resources is maintained in a shared Google Sheet that Molly Brzezinski (lab manager) keeps current. Ask Molly for the link when you join the lab.

The contacts below are stable institutional resources unlikely to change frequently.

Emergency and Safety

• UCSB Police: 911 (on-campus) or (805) 893-3446 (non-emergency)
• Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS): (805) 893-4411
• UCSB Office of the Ombuds: ombuds.ucsb.edu
• Title IX / Office of Equal Opportunity: oeqd.ucsb.edu

Key Administrative Contacts

• Molly Brzezinski, Lab Manager — day-to-day lab operations, equipment, sample processing, inventory, supply orders. Email: mollybrzezinski@ucsb.edu
• Mengshu Ye, Staff Graduate Advisor (EEMB/IGPMS) — fellowships, courses, enrollment, forms, petitions. Email: mengshuye@ucsb.edu
• Hillary Young, Faculty Graduate Advisor — academic questions, petitions, advisor relationship concerns. Email: hillary.young@lifesci.ucsb.edu
• Life Sciences Computing Group (LSCG) — technical issues, network, NAS access. Email: help@lscg.ucsb.edu or help@lifesci.ucsb.edu

International Students

• Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS) — visa questions, travel signatures, employment authorization, immigration compliance. Start travel signature requests at least 5-10 business days before international travel.
  • Phone: (805) 893-2929
  • Email: oiss@sa.ucsb.edu
  • Office: Student Resource Building, Room 3130
  • Website: oiss.ucsb.edu

Diving and Marine Operations

• Eric Hessell — Dive & Boat Safety Officer, AAUS paperwork, gear inspections, Webdiver
• Marine Operations — marineops.ucsb.edu

For all other contacts (department chair, building manager, finance officers, MSI travel, storeroom, mechanics, library liaison, Graduate Division counselor), see the shared contact sheet.

Required Trainings

You must complete several trainings before you can get to work. It feels like a lot of paperwork, but these trainings keep you, your labmates, and our study organisms safe. Work through them in your first few weeks.

Basic Training

Step 1: Log in to the UC Learning Center. Employees log in with UCNetID. Graduate students and volunteers use the Non-Employee login. Email ehstraining@ehs.ucsb.edu with your name, UCNetID, email, affiliation type, and PI name.

Step 2: Complete the following trainings:

• Cyber Security Awareness Training
• Fundamentals of Laboratory Safety (grad students: in-person during orientation, postdocs/undergrads: online LS60, technicians: live or online)
• UC Preventing Harassment & Discrimination (formerly UC Sexual Harassment Training)
• Gateway 101 (only if you will be ordering supplies)

LHAT (Laboratory Hazard Assessment Tool) Training

• Step 1: Remind me or the designated lab member to add you to the Stier Lab LHAT Group.
• Step 2: Schedule time with a senior lab member to review lab-specific procedures, hazards, and emergencies per the EHS Training Needs Assessment Form.
• Once complete, sign the form and give it to me for approval. Get personal protective equipment (PPE) from the stockroom in Chemistry (room 1432).

Animal Care Training

To work with animals at UCSB, email the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at iacuc@lifesci.ucsb.edu with your name, PI (Dr. Adrian Stier), and protocol information. Complete the IACUC Researcher Training Checklist, register at citiprogram.org (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) with UCSB, and complete the required modules.

Note: Even SCUBA surveys involving fish require IACUC approval in many cases. If your research involves fish at all, review IACUC requirements thoroughly before deciding you do not need a protocol. Creating a new IACUC protocol takes at least 2 months. Plan accordingly.

Research Permits and Compliance

Beyond training, many research activities require permits and institutional approvals. You cannot conduct research until these are in hand. Permit applications can take weeks to months, so start early and build the timeline into your project planning.

• IACUC: If your research involves vertebrates (including fish surveys by SCUBA), you need Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval. All IACUC applications go through me. See the Animal Care Training section above for the process. Creating a new protocol takes at least 2 months.
• International permits: Research at our Mo'orea field site requires a Protocole d'accueil and may require CITES permits for sample transport. See the Mo'orea Fieldwork section for details.
• Collecting permits: Depending on your field site, you may need state or federal collecting permits (e.g., California Department of Fish and Wildlife Scientific Collecting Permit, National Marine Sanctuary permits). Talk to me about what applies to your project.
• IRB: If your research involves human subjects (surveys, interviews, assessments), you need Institutional Review Board approval. This is rare in our lab but can apply to training grants or interdisciplinary work. Access the IRB portal through the UCSB Office of Research.

The general rule: if you are unsure whether you need a permit, ask. It is always better to check early than to discover midway through a project that you needed approval you do not have.

Chemical Health and Safety Plan

When you order a new chemical not already in the lab, print an SDS and add it to the Chemical Health and Safety Binder in Noble 2224. If the chemical is hazardous, check for extra training requirements and complete any needed SOPs.

For new, potentially dangerous protocols, fill out an SOP and add it to both the binder and the shared Drive folder (Admin > EH&S). Before training others, refer them to the documentation first.

Facilities

The lab operates across several buildings on campus and at the waterfront. Get your keys and access set up early. Start this process in your first week.

Getting Keys and Access

Physical Keys

• Noble Hall, Bio2: Get keys through the Bio Storeroom (Kurt Bellefeuille, bellefeu@lifesci.ucsb.edu). Andi Jorgensen or I can submit the key request form on the UCSB website on your behalf before you pick them up.
• Marine Science Research Building (MSRB): Contact the MSRB Maintenance Coordinator at msi-building@ucsb.edu or (805) 893-2249 for keys and door access codes.
• The Point: Get keys through Christoph Pierre in Building 465, Room 102.

Common Key IDs

Digital Keys (ID Card)

Your UCSB ID provides digital access to MSRB, LSB, and Bio 2. Email Andi Jorgensen (amjorgen@ucsb.edu) with an explanation and your ID number to get access. Report lost or deactivated ID cards to me first, then Andi or Christoph.

Conference Room Check-out

Reserve rooms via Google Calendar with your @ucsb.edu account. Contact Molly Brzezinski (lab manager) for room-specific booking details.

Lab Spaces and Daily Operations

Noble 2224 (Dry Lab)

This is the main lab space for computer work, meetings, and day-to-day operations. It has the shared iMac, a printer, and workspace. Treat it as a shared office. Keep the tables and counters clear of personal clutter so others can work. If you are using the space for a meeting or a committee exam, let the lab know in advance so there are no conflicts. For private meetings (oral exams, committee meetings), put a note on the door.

Noble Hall Offices

Graduate student offices are on the 2nd floor of Noble. Office assignments are coordinated through Andi Jorgensen. Request both WiFi and Ethernet in your office -- Ethernet makes a real difference for video calls and large file transfers. If your computer lacks an Ethernet port, get a USB-to-Ethernet adapter before your LSCG appointment.

Sample Storage

• Freezers: Label all samples clearly with your name, date, contents, and project. Unlabeled samples will eventually be discarded. Do not overfill freezers -- poor seals cause temperature loss and can ruin everyone's samples. Before you leave the lab (graduation, field season), remove or clearly label any samples you are leaving behind. Coordinate with Molly or another lab member if someone else will continue processing them.
• Refrigerator: The lab fridge is for food and drinks only. Do not store chemicals or biological samples in it.
• Chemical storage: Chemicals are stored in Noble 2224 per the Chemical Health and Safety Plan (see Required Trainings). When you bring in a new chemical, add the SDS to the binder. Hazardous waste goes in designated containers -- never down the drain.

Shared Equipment

Shared equipment (microscopes, balances, field gear, dive equipment) is everyone's responsibility. If you use something, return it clean and in working order. If something is broken or running low, report it to Molly or post in the lab Slack channel. Do not assume someone else will notice. Equipment for checkout (cameras, GPS units, etc.) should be signed out and returned promptly.

The Point and Waterfront Facilities

The Point houses our aquarium and wet lab space. Coordinate with Christoph Pierre for access. Be respectful of shared spaces and other labs that use this area. Keep the tank room and outdoor areas clean.

UCSB ID Card

Get your ID at the information desk at the University Center. Check with EEMB about reimbursement ($30). Have your Perm number ready.

Technology & Digital Tools

This section covers shared computing resources, network access, digital collaboration tools, and platforms you will use daily. If you run into technical issues, contact the Life Sciences Computing Group (LSCG) first. See the Valuable Contacts section for details.

Lab Computer

The lab has a high-power iMac in Noble 2224 with 40 GB RAM. Ask Molly or me for the guest account password. If you need a private account, talk to me. Log out when done. Do not leave personal accounts open.

Lab Server (Network Attached Storage / NAS)

The Stier Lab NAS is accessible at stier-nas1.eemb.ucsb.edu (on campus or via VPN).

• Mac: smb://stier-nas1.eemb.ucsb.edu
• Windows: \\stier-nas1.eemb.ucsb.edu

Authentication uses Active Directory Service (ADS) accounts (ADS\username). Contact the Life Sciences Computing Group for connection help: help@lscg.ucsb.edu (general) or help@lifesci.ucsb.edu (EEMB-specific IT support).

Internet Access

Connect to LifeSci[BuildingName] for computers and LifeSciGadget for phones. New devices require an LSCG appointment. Email help@lifesci.ucsb.edu (EEMB IT) or visit lscg.ucsb.edu to submit a request. WiFi can be spotty in Noble, so many people use ethernet. Use your ADS username (usually your last name), not your UCNetID.

Personal Computers

You will need your own laptop for research, writing, and analysis. If this is a financial hardship, talk to me — there may be options through the department or Graduate Division. The shared lab iMac in Noble 2224 is available for heavy computing tasks, but it is not a substitute for having your own machine.

If your laptop dies or needs repair, the Life Sciences Computing Group has loaner machines. The Graduate Division may also have a loaner program. Do not let a broken computer silently stall your progress for weeks.

Backing Up Your Computer

Back up your work regularly -- ideally daily. Hard drives fail, laptops get stolen, and coffee gets spilled. Do not keep the only copy of your dissertation on a single device.

• UCSB Box provides unlimited cloud storage and is the easiest first line of backup.
• External hard drives provide a local backup in case you lose internet access.
• The lab NAS is backed up regularly and is a good place to store research data (see the Data Management and Reproducible Science section).
• Use at least two of these. If your work exists in only one location, it is not backed up.

Software Licenses

The lab maintains licenses for specialized software used on shared and personal machines. License keys and installation records are stored in Google Drive (Admin > Lab computer information). If you need access to lab-licensed software, check this folder first before purchasing anything.

Current lab software (check the folder for the latest list):

UCSB site licenses: UCSB provides free or discounted access to many software packages through UCSB Software Licensing. Check here before buying anything. Common free options include Microsoft Office 365, MATLAB, Adobe Creative Cloud (varies by department), and antivirus software.

Important: When you install lab-purchased software on any machine, record the license key, installation date, and machine name in the Lab computer information folder. License keys are expensive and hard to replace if lost. Do not store them only on the machine where the software is installed — if that machine dies, the key is gone.

Vendor contacts: For equipment-specific software issues (microscope cameras, analytical instruments), vendor contact information is in the Lab computer information folder. Try the vendor before LSCG — LSCG supports general computing, not specialized scientific instruments.

Printing

The printer is on the 2nd floor of Noble next to my office. You must be connected to LifeSci Noble. For poster printing, ITST and CNSI charge $40 for a standard 48x36 poster.

VPN Connection

For off-campus access to UCSB resources, set up the Ivanti Secure Access VPN. This requires Duo multi-factor authentication enrollment. Find setup instructions at UCSB IT.

Google Group / Calendars

Lab email: stierlab@googlegroups.com. The lab has two calendars. "Stier Lab" tracks departmental events, conferences, and holidays. "Stier Lab Availability" shows personal schedules for coordinating meetings.

Slack

Lab workspace: stierlab.slack.com. Download the app for your phone. Create topic-specific channels as needed.

Zotero

This is our preferred citation manager. Create an account at zotero.org and ask me or labmates for access to the lab group library.

Google Drive

This is our shared repository for lab materials. Note that UCSB Google Drive storage is limited to 150 GB per account (shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos). For large datasets, use the lab NAS or UCSB Box instead. Familiarize yourself with the folder structure:

Do not edit files owned by others without permission.

Key Documents Quick Reference

If you're looking for a specific document, start here:

Purchasing and Reimbursement:

• Funding project codes: Admin > Purchasing > Funding Project Code List
• Expense tracker: Admin > Purchasing > Expenses > Working Stier Lab Expense Worksheet
• Lab inventory: Admin > Purchasing > Stier Lab Inventory 2024
• Reimbursement forms (misc, travel, entertainment, MSI): Admin > Purchasing
• Reimbursement tips: Admin > Purchasing > Tips to ensure reimbursement

Diving and Boating:

• Diver contact sheet: Admin > Scientific Diving and Boating > Dive Planning > Stier Lab Diver Contact Sheet
• Current Mo'orea dive plan: Admin > Scientific Diving and Boating > Dive Planning > Stier Lab Dive Plans
• Emergency action plan: Admin > Scientific Diving and Boating > Emergency Action Plan
• UCSB Diving Manual: Admin > Scientific Diving and Boating > Dive Planning > UCSB Diving Manual
• Mo'orea boat protocol: Admin > Scientific Diving and Boating > Boating > Moorea Small Boats Protocol

Permits and Compliance:

• CDFW Scientific Collecting Permit: Admin > Permits > CDFW Permit
• IACUC protocols and training: Admin > Permits > IACUC
• Mo'orea research permits: Admin > Permits > Gump Station Moorea > Protocole d'accueil
• Chemical inventory: Admin > EH&S > Noble 2224 > Chemicals in Nobel Hall Lab

Fieldwork Prep:

• GPS coordinates and site maps: Resources > Research Planning > Coordinates and Maps
• Species ID guides (Mo'orea): Resources > Identifications > Moorea
• Mesocosm setup: Resources > Moorea Mesos
• Tahitian language lessons: Resources > Tahitian_Lessons
• Conference tracker: Resources > Conferences > Conferences 2025-2026

Funding:

• Master funding list: Funding > Opportunities > Consolidated Funding List
• Grant deadlines: Funding > Opportunities > External Grants & Due Dates
• Postdoc fellowships: Funding > Opportunities > ecology & quantitative postdoc fellowship opportunities
• Example grants: Funding > Example Grants (NSF, NOAA, PADI)

Starting a New Project:

• Use the template: Lab Projects > Example Folder (Admin, Communications, Data, Figures, Notes, PDF Library, Writing)

Safety:

• Safety training record: Admin > Lab Forms and Documents > Stier Lab Safety Training Record
• New lab worker training form: Admin > EH&S > new_lab_worker_safety_training.pdf
• SOPs: Admin > EH&S > Chemical Data Sheets and SOPs > SOPs

For Visitors:

• Visitor checklist: Admin > Visiting Scholars and Students > Resources > To do list for visiting scholars
• Restaurant guide: Admin > Visiting Scholars and Students > Resources > Places to Eat and Drink in Santa Barbara and Goleta

Social Media and Professional Online Presence

The lab has Instagram and Twitter/X (@oceanrecoveries). Browse previous posts for the tone. You are welcome to post appropriate content. Ask if you have questions about a particular post.

Beyond the lab accounts, consider whether a professional social media presence makes sense for you. Platforms like Bluesky, Twitter/X, and Mastodon can be effective tools for science communication, networking, and building a professional reputation. Many researchers find their collaborators, hear about job openings, and share their work through these channels. If you are interested, go for it.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Anything you post publicly reflects on you, the lab, and UCSB. Be professional.
• Social media can also be a distraction and a source of stress. Use it intentionally, not compulsively. If it is affecting your mental health or productivity, step back.
• You are never required to have a social media presence. Plenty of successful scientists do not use it at all.

Annual Renewal Calendar

The lab has several certifications, permits, and plans that expire on different schedules. Missing a renewal can delay fieldwork. Use this calendar to stay ahead.

Purchasing & Shipping

You will need to order supplies regularly. The system has some quirks, but it becomes routine after a few times. Ask a senior lab member or me before placing an order if you are unsure.

Before You Order

Before placing any order, you need to know the funding source. Each purchase must be charged to a specific account (identified by a Financial Reporting Unit and Project code in the Oracle system). Molly Brzezinski (lab manager) or I will tell you which account to use. If you are not sure, ask before ordering — using the wrong account creates problems that are tedious to fix.

How to choose the right account: Most routine lab supplies (consumables, field gear, small equipment) are charged to the primary active research grant. If your purchase is for a specific project funded by a specific grant, use that grant's account. When in doubt, ask Molly or check the lab Funding Sheet (see below). Never guess — a wrong account charge is harder to fix than a quick Slack message.

Log all purchases using lab funds on the Expense Sheet in Google Drive (Stier Lab > Admin > Purchasing > Expenses > Working Stier Lab Expense Worksheet). Note the funding source, supplier, items, and relevant details. The Funding Project Code List (Stier Lab > Admin > Purchasing > Funding Project Code List) lists active grants and their account strings.

Gateway

Most lab purchases go through Gateway, UCSB's online ordering system. The typical process:

1. Log in with your UCSB NetID.
2. Search for items. For major scientific suppliers (Fisher Scientific, VWR), Gateway redirects you to the supplier's website where you shop at UC-negotiated prices, then return to Gateway to finalize.
3. Build your cart. Add your project code after your name in the Cart Name field.
4. Finalize the cart and attach any required quotes or documents.
5. Assign the correct funding source and commodity/object codes.
6. Submit for approval. The requisition routes through departmental approval, then PI approval, then to procurement.

I approve all orders. Have a senior lab member train you on your first order. Gateway orders ship to the Bio Storeroom (Bldg. 569, Rm. 1101). Wait for Kurt's email confirmation before picking up.

Common suppliers on Gateway: Fisher Scientific, VWR, Amazon Business, Airgas (compressed gases), Dell, Apple, and Office Depot. For suppliers not in Gateway, you can create a non-catalog requisition by entering item details manually.

Timing: Routine orders under $10,000 typically take 3-7 business days from submission to delivery. Orders over $10,000, or those containing restricted items (chemicals, controlled substances), route to Central Purchasing and can take 1-2 additional weeks. Plan ahead if I am traveling — the approval queue stalls without PI action.

When Gateway Is Not an Option

For suppliers that do not accept purchase orders, or for urgent purchases from non-catalog vendors, the lab FlexCard (purchasing card) may be used. The standard per-transaction limit is $10,000. Talk to Molly before using the FlexCard. It is the exception, not the default.

If you need to pay personally and seek reimbursement, do so only as a last resort. Reimbursement may be denied if the university determines a lower price was available through a contracted vendor. Always try Gateway or the FlexCard first.

When Gateway is down: Gateway has occasional outages or system issues that can prevent orders. If Gateway is unavailable and your purchase is time-sensitive (e.g., field season prep, conference travel), contact Molly about using the FlexCard as a temporary workaround. For non-urgent orders, wait for Gateway to come back up. Do not order through personal accounts unless you have explicit prior approval from me — unapproved personal purchases may not be reimbursable.

Equipment Purchases

Equipment costing $5,000 or more is classified as inventorial and has special procedures. It must be ordered through Gateway with the correct subaccount code, tagged by Equipment Management, and tracked in the university's inventory system. Purchases over $100,000 must be competitively bid. Talk to Molly or me before ordering any equipment.

Chemical and Hazardous Materials

Chemicals and hazardous materials follow the standard Gateway process with additional routing. Flag restricted items in the "Additional Order Details" dropdown on the Requisition Summary tab so the order routes to EH&S for review. Allow extra processing time.

When you order a new chemical not already in the lab, print an SDS and add it to the Chemical Health and Safety Binder in Noble 2224. See the Required Trainings section for the full Chemical Health and Safety Plan.

Reimbursements

• MSI-administered grants: Create a Concur expense report (log in with your UCSB NetID) and add Melia Cutcher as an expense delegate.
• EEMB-administered grants: Fill out the reimbursement form and submit to Andi Jorgensen within 30 days with an itemized receipt.

Submit reimbursements promptly. Claims submitted more than 45 days after the expense may be reported as taxable income.

Do NOT place orders through third parties (non-UCSB personnel).

Shipping Addresses

Storeroom (Gateway/FedEx/UPS): Biological Sciences, Bldg. 569 Rm. 1101 University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620

USPS: Department of EEMB University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620

Vehicles

Lab Truck

Ford F-350. Any UCSB-affiliated staff or student can drive it. The lab is charged 70 cents per mile, so consolidate trips where possible. Two keys are stored in a secure, known location. Coordinate use via the lab truck Slack channel. Do NOT use diesel. Use unleaded gasoline only.

Driver Authorization

All university vehicle use is governed by UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-46. Before driving any university vehicle (including the lab truck), you must:

• Hold a valid driver's license appropriate for the vehicle type.
• Complete the UC Driver Safety Training Program (online, through the UC Learning Center).
• Complete a Defensive Driving Course, which must be renewed every three years.
• Be enrolled in the DMV Employer Pull Notice (EPN) program, which allows the university to monitor your driving record.

Check with Molly Brzezinski or me for the current process. If you do not have authorization, do not drive the truck. Drivers classified as negligent operators under the DMV's Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS) are prohibited from driving university vehicles.

Scheduling and Usage Log

Coordinate all truck use through the lab truck Slack channel. If someone else has it reserved, work out timing or consolidate trips. After each use, update the Truck Log Book on Google Drive (Admin > Vehicles > Lab Truck > Truck Log Book) with the date, driver, destination, mileage, and any issues. Keeping the log current helps us track costs and schedule maintenance.

Parking

You can park in any spaces except handicapped, metered, coastal access, and orange restricted. Faculty, Service, and non-orange restricted spots are OK. Update the lab on the truck's location if you park outside Lot 1.

Fueling

The UCSB campus fuel station is currently under construction. A purchase card sits in the center console of the truck for fueling at off-campus stations. The tank holds about 25 gallons. Do not let it fall below 1/4 tank.

Upkeep

Keep the truck clean. Remove trash, personal gear, and field equipment after each trip. If the truck has been used at the coast or in saltwater environments, wash it when you return to campus -- salt corrodes the undercarriage and shortens the truck's life. The UCSB garage area has hose access. The truck should also be driven at least once a month to maintain the battery.

Maintenance

Contact Molly Brzezinski (lab manager) for issues. If she is unavailable, contact Doug Hatt at the UCSB garage ((805) 893-3692). Before taking the truck on a long trip, check fluid levels, tire pressure, and general condition. Report any problems immediately -- do not leave them for the next person to discover. Update the Truck Maintenance Log on Google Drive after any service.

University Vehicle Policies

A few additional rules apply to all university vehicles under BUS-46:

• University business only. University vehicles may not be used for personal errands, even brief ones. If you are driving to a field site and want to stop for groceries on the way back, use your own car for that leg.
• Traffic violations are your responsibility. Parking tickets, moving violations, and any fines incurred while driving a university vehicle are the personal responsibility of the driver, not the lab or the university.
• Insurance. University Auto Insurance covers liability and physical damage to university-owned vehicles. There is a $500 deductible per occurrence. If you are in an accident, report it to Risk Management immediately and notify me.
• Accidents. Keep a copy of the university's accident reporting form in the truck's glove compartment. If you are in an accident, do not admit fault at the scene. Exchange information, document the scene with photos, and contact Risk Management and me as soon as possible.

UCSB Vehicle Rentals

Rentals are available for university business through TPS ((805) 893-2924). They offer sedans and larger vehicles, but these cannot be used for towing. Charges go to a university account.

Undergraduates

Undergraduates are a welcome and important part of our lab community. Most will work under the guidance of a graduate student or postdoc. I should know about all undergraduate projects. Let me know about any issues that come up.

Expectations for Mentors

• Do not treat undergraduates as free labor. Their experience should be educational.
• Make sure they understand the purpose of their work, not just the mechanics.
• Provide regular feedback and check-ins. Meet with your undergraduate mentee at least once per week.
• Help them develop skills over time. Do not assign the same repetitive task indefinitely.
• Create a progression: start with structured tasks, build toward greater independence, and work toward an independent project if the student is interested and committed.
• If a student is doing good work and asks for a letter of recommendation, tell them early what you look for. Strong letters come from specific examples of initiative, intellectual growth, and reliability. Help them build a track record you can write about honestly.

Expectations for Undergraduates

• Treat the lab, equipment, and shared spaces with care.
• Communicate proactively about scheduling, availability, and any issues. If you cannot make a scheduled shift or meeting, let your mentor know in advance.
• Attend lab meetings when possible. Even just observing is valuable.
• Ask questions. Everyone started where you are.
• Commit to a consistent schedule. Most undergraduate researchers work 8-12 hours per week. Whatever you agree to with your mentor, follow through reliably. Consistency matters more than total hours.

Getting Started

New undergraduates should plan on an onboarding period of 2-4 weeks where you learn lab protocols, safety procedures, and the basics of the project you will be contributing to. Your graduate mentor will guide this process. Complete all required safety trainings (see the Required Trainings section) before beginning any lab or fieldwork.

Research Opportunities

We encourage undergraduates to develop their own research projects, present at lab meetings, and present posters at events like URCA Week (the UCSB Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities poster colloquium). We also encourage students to apply for funding through programs like UCSB's URCA grants. Graduate mentors should help create these opportunities.

A typical trajectory for an engaged undergraduate might look like:

• Quarter 1: Learn protocols, assist with ongoing research, attend lab meetings.
• Quarter 2-3: Take on more independent responsibilities, begin developing your own research question with your mentor.
• Quarter 3-4+: Design and conduct an independent project, present results at lab meeting and/or URCA Week.

Not every undergraduate will follow this trajectory, and that is fine. Some students join the lab for a single quarter to explore whether research is for them. Others stay for two or three years and produce publishable work. Both are valuable.

Academic Credit

Undergraduates can enroll in EEMB 199 (Independent Studies) for academic credit. Talk to your graduate mentor and me about whether this makes sense for your situation. You and I will outline the scope of work and learning goals for the quarter. Credit typically requires a short written report or presentation at the end of the quarter.

Funding and Equity

Most undergraduates join as volunteers, for course credit, or with stipend support. We recognize that volunteering is not financially feasible for all students. We will work to provide equitable access to research experience regardless of financial situation. If the time commitment is a barrier, talk to me — there may be options for paid positions through grants, work-study, or URCA funding.

If Something Is Not Working

If the mentor-mentee relationship is not working — communication has broken down, expectations are unclear, or the experience is not what you hoped — talk to me. This is not a failure on anyone's part. Sometimes a better match or a different project structure makes all the difference.

Undergraduate researchers must complete the same basic safety trainings as other lab members. See the Required Trainings section for details.

If you are leaving the lab with a project in progress, the Completing Projects After Departure section includes specific expectations for undergraduates, including data handoff requirements and timelines for any manuscript work.

Graduate Funding

Funding is one of the most important parts of graduate school and one of the most stressful. I work to make sure every student is funded for the duration of their program. This section explains how funding works so you can plan ahead.

Stipend & Support

EEMB faculty aim to fully support their students in good standing for the duration of their studies. Support comes from a combination of Teaching Assistantships, Graduate Student Researcher positions, and fellowships. Unlike some UCSB departments, EEMB does not offer a formal multi-year guaranteed funding package. Funding depends on the admitting faculty member's grants and resources. The department has limited funds and tries to support students through their first year. After that, I work with each student to piece together support from TA lines, grants, and fellowships.

In practice, your support will come from a combination of:

• Teaching Assistantships (TA): All EEMB students are required to TA at least 2 quarters. Each faculty member can count on TA support for one student per year (3 quarters of total support). TA appointments at 25%+ provide partial fee remission (tuition, student service fee, campus-based fees, and UC Student Health Insurance Plan [UC-SHIP]). Standard appointments are 50% time.

• Graduate Student Researcher (GSR): Funded through my grants. GSR appointments at 35%+ provide full fee remission, including non-resident supplemental tuition (NRST). At 25-34%, only partial fee remission applies (no NRST coverage).

• Fellowships: Campus and external fellowships supplement TA/GSR support.

Discuss your funding picture with me and the Graduate Advisor (Mengshu Ye) at the start of each academic year.

Summer Funding

Summer support is not automatic, so plan ahead. The department's block grant funds can provide summer stipends, but these are competitive. You must apply with a statement of need and a faculty nomination. Other sources include GSR positions (if I have summer grant funding), summer TAships (limited, separate application), and external fellowships (e.g., NSF GRFP provides 12-month support including summer). It is wise to budget based on your 9-month salary and treat summer funding as a welcome supplement. Talk to me early each spring about summer plans.

Fee Remission & NRST

Understanding fee remission is important, especially for international and out-of-state students:

• TA (25%+): Partial fee remission covers tuition, student service fee, campus fees, and UC-SHIP. Does NOT cover NRST.
• GSR (35%+): Full fee remission covers everything above PLUS NRST.
• International students: The International Doctoral Recruitment Fellowship (IDRF) automatically covers NRST from your 4th quarter through advancement to candidacy. After advancing, NRST is waived for 3 years (9 quarters). Your first year's NRST (~$15,000) must come from other sources (GSR at 35%+, departmental fellowship, or similar).

Fellowships

Apply for external fellowships, especially the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). Note: as of the FY2026 solicitation, only first-year graduate students are eligible to apply (second-year students are no longer eligible). This means you should begin preparing your application before you arrive or very early in your first year. The application takes several months of serious writing and revision. Start early, get feedback from labmates and me, and plan multiple drafts. Fellowship funding benefits you directly (often higher stipend, more independence) and frees up lab resources for other students.

Other fellowships to consider:

• External: Ford Foundation Fellowship, Fulbright, NDSEG, Nancy Foster Scholarship (NOAA)
• UCSB campus (department-nominated): Chancellor's Fellowship, Regents Fellowship, Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
• EEMB-specific: Charles A. Storke Award ($2,500), Ellen Schamberg Burley Award (travel)
• Graduate Division: Dissertation Fellowship, Broida-Hirschfelder Fellowship ($5,000-$10,500)

New applicants are automatically considered for campus fellowship competitions. The department strongly encourages extramural pre-doctoral fellowship applications.

Research Expenses and Writing Your Own Grants

Part of becoming an independent scientist is learning to fund your own research. I will help you identify funding sources and support your work through my grants when your project aligns with them. But you should also write and submit small grants throughout your program. Design projects that are financially feasible. Talk to me before purchasing anything from my accounts. Always know the correct funding source/speed type for any purchase. See the Purchasing, Shipping, and Reimbursement section for logistics.

Why Write Grants as a Student?

Grant writing is a skill you will use for the rest of your scientific career. Starting early — even with small proposals — builds the muscle. Each proposal you write forces you to clarify your thinking, articulate significance, and plan a realistic budget and timeline. Funded grants also look good on your CV, demonstrate independence to future employers, and free up lab resources for other students.

Be strategic about which opportunities you pursue. Do not carpet-bomb every open solicitation. Target fellowships and grants where your work is a genuine fit for the funder's mission, where you meet the eligibility criteria cleanly, and where the investment of time is proportional to the potential payoff. A well-crafted proposal to the right program is worth more than five rushed applications to programs that do not match. We will discuss which opportunities make sense for you during IDP reviews and advising meetings.

Where to Apply

Start small and build up. Opportunities include:

• UCSB sources: Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship, Block Grant summer funding, departmental awards
• UC system: UC Natural Reserve System Mathias Grants (relevant if you work at a UC reserve, including Gump Station)
• Scientific societies: Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research, Ecology and Evolution of Communities grants from disciplinary societies (ESA, SICB, etc.)
• Federal pre-doctoral fellowships: NSF GRFP (see the Fellowships section above), NDSEG, Ford Foundation
• Conservation and marine-specific: Nancy Foster Scholarship (NOAA), Explorer's Club grants, National Geographic Early Career Grant, Myers Oceanographic Trust

The Consolidated Funding List in the shared Google Drive folder tracks opportunities and deadlines. Check it at the start of each quarter.

The Process

1. Identify the opportunity well before the deadline. Most proposals take 4-8 weeks of serious work. Major fellowships like NSF GRFP take several months.
2. Read the solicitation carefully. Understand what the funder values, what the review criteria are, and what they are not funding. Tailor your proposal to the specific program.
3. Draft a rough outline and discuss it with me before writing. This is where most proposals go wrong — not in the writing, but in the framing and feasibility.
4. Write the full draft. Budget enough time for multiple revisions. A first draft is never the final draft.
5. Get feedback. Share with me and at least one labmate. If possible, share with someone who has successfully applied to the same program.
6. Revise and submit. Leave time for the administrative side — institutional approvals, budget forms, and biosketches. UCSB's Office of Research requires lead time for proposals that go through the university.

I will review grant drafts and provide feedback. For larger proposals, expect multiple rounds of revision. For small grants, one round may be sufficient. Either way, do not wait until the last week to ask for feedback.

Conferences

You are responsible for conference costs. Available travel support:

• Ellen Schamberg Burley Award (EEMB): For advanced doctoral candidates presenting at scientific meetings
• Academic Senate Doctoral Student Travel Grant: $250 (virtual), $900 (domestic), $1,500 (international). You must be advanced to candidacy.
• GSA Conference Travel Grant: Up to $200 reimbursement, for students NOT yet advanced to candidacy
• My grants: If your presentation is related to an active grant, I may be able to help
• Some conferences offer registration fee waivers for student volunteers

See the Travel section for booking procedures, travel advances, and reimbursement logistics.

Your Union: UAW Local 4811

As a graduate student employee at UCSB (whether you hold a TA or GSR appointment), you are a member of UAW Local 4811 (United Auto Workers). This is the union that represents over 48,000 academic workers across all 10 UC campuses. Dues are automatically deducted from your paycheck.

UAW 4811 was formed through a 2024 merger of three earlier unions: UAW Local 2865 (Teaching Assistants, Readers, and Tutors), Student Researchers United / SRU-UAW (Graduate Student Researchers), and UAW Local 5810 (Postdocs and Academic Researchers). The merger brought all academic workers under one bargaining unit.

The 2022 strike. In November 2022, about 48,000 UC academic workers walked off the job in what became the largest higher education strike in U.S. history. The strike lasted roughly six weeks and produced major gains. Minimum salaries for graduate employees increased by about 46%. Parental leave expanded to 8 weeks of fully paid leave. Childcare reimbursements were established. New workplace protections against abusive conduct were written into the contract.

Where things stand now. The 2022 contracts were extended through late 2025, and new negotiations are ongoing. Labor relations at the UC are an evolving situation that will continue to change throughout your time here. I encourage you to stay informed about your contract and your rights, regardless of your personal feelings about unions. Understanding your contract helps you understand your pay, your workload limits (a 50% appointment means a maximum of 20 hours per week), your grievance rights, and the protections available to you.

Your rights. If you believe your contract rights have been violated -- workload exceeding your appointment percentage, pay issues, unsafe working conditions, or anything else covered by the contract -- you have the right to file a formal grievance through UAW Local 4811. Contact your campus steward for guidance. Retaliation for exercising your contract rights or participating in union activity (attending meetings, bargaining, informational actions) is prohibited under California labor law and the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act.

Parental leave and caregiving. The 2022 contract established 8 weeks of fully paid parental leave for graduate student employees and childcare reimbursements. If you are a parent or caregiver, these provisions apply to you. Contact your steward or the UAW 4811 website for current details, as specific provisions may change with new contracts. If caregiving responsibilities affect your schedule, talk to me -- we will work out flexible arrangements. Being a parent or caregiver will not be held against you in evaluations, opportunities, or recommendations. UCSB also offers childcare through the Orfalea Family Children's Center and maintains lactation rooms across campus.

Key resources:

• UAW 4811 website: uaw4811.org, with contract text, bargaining updates, and know-your-rights information
• Your campus steward: Contact info available on the UAW 4811 website. If you have a question about your contract or think something is not right with your appointment, your steward can help
• UC bargaining updates: universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/labor-negotiations

Program Guidance

Note: This section supplements the official EEMB Graduate Student Handbooks (PhD and MS), which are available on the EEMB website. Read the current handbook for your degree program. It contains the definitive requirements for committee formation, qualifying exams, and degree completion.

All Graduate Students

Weekly meetings: At the start of each quarter, I schedule weekly or biweekly one-on-one meetings with each student. This time is yours. You set the agenda. If you have nothing to discuss one week, cancel. But if you cancel several weeks in a row, expect me to check in.

Committee formation: Form your committee during your first year. Per EEMB requirements, you need a minimum of 3 members. At least 2 must be ladder faculty from EEMB (including the chair). The third can be from another department or UC campus. Think of your committee as a team with complementary expertise. I will offer suggestions, but the decision is yours.

Developing your research question: There is no single right way to find a research question. Some people arrive with a burning question they have been thinking about for years. Others start with a system they are drawn to (a reef, a species interaction, a place) and the question emerges from spending time in that system. In practice, most of us do a messy mix of both. We explore a system, read the literature, notice gaps or puzzles, and go back and forth between questions and observations until something clicks.

I encourage you to read broadly, including well outside your immediate subfield. Go to seminars in departments you would not normally visit. Talk to people in other labs about their work. You will not switch fields, but the most interesting questions often live at the boundaries between disciplines. The first research question you land on will almost certainly evolve, and that is normal and healthy.

My role in this process differs depending on where you are. For PhD students, developing an original research question is a core part of the training. I will push back, suggest readings, point you toward gaps I find exciting, and help you refine your thinking. But the question needs to be yours. For MS students, given the compressed timeline, I will be more hands-on in helping define the scope and I will sometimes suggest a question directly. Either way, we will talk about this a lot in our one-on-one meetings, especially in your first year.

Teaching Assistantships: All EEMB students are required to TA at least 2 quarters. TA support is a large part of most funding packages. Classes vary in their workload. Some are straightforward and leave you plenty of time for research. Others are intensive and require weekly prep. The best way to figure out which classes work for you is to ask other grad students who have TAed them recently. Your fellow students are the most honest and up-to-date source on what to expect. I am happy to weigh in too, but the student grapevine is your best bet for the real picture.

Annual progress reports: EEMB requires an annual Progress Report and Study Plan, filed with your committee. This makes sure you and your committee agree on where you are and what comes next. Your committee will meet at least once per year to review progress. Between formal meetings, keep your committee in the loop with brief updates — a short email when you have a result, a question when you are stuck, or a heads-up when your direction shifts. Committee members who hear from you regularly give better advice and write stronger letters on your behalf.

Individual Development Plans: All students complete and review an IDP annually. The IDP sets milestones, tracks progress, and provides structure for conversations about your professional development. Quarterly check-ins supplement the annual review.

Practice talks: Practice your research presentations before every conference, in lab meeting or with labmates. The first practice talk usually reveals that a talk you thought was "almost done" needs to be restructured. This is normal. Give yourself time. Do not wait until the last minute.

Publications: Write and submit papers as you progress through your program. Do not wait until the end. Ideally, most of your publishable work will be in review or published by the time you defend. This makes your next career transition much easier. If you do leave with unfinished manuscripts, the Completing Projects After Departure section lays out the timelines, milestones, and authorship expectations that apply. Reading it early is better than reading it on your way out.

Committee review of manuscripts: Give each manuscript to your committee and incorporate feedback before submitting to a journal. See the Publishing and Peer Review section for the full internal review process.

Required coursework (Year 1): All EEMB graduate students must complete EEMB 500 (Campus Orientation), 507 (Introduction to Graduate Research), 508 and 509 (Levels of Biological Organization I & II), 290 (Introduction to Faculty Research), and 502 (Teaching Techniques).

MS Students

Target: file your thesis by the end of your second year. The maximum time allowed by EEMB is 4 years. This is fast, so there is little time to waste. I am more inclined to directly help MS students define or refine a research question than I am with PhD students, given the compressed timeline. Starting research the summer before you matriculate can give you a meaningful head start.

MS students can choose Plan I (thesis, minimum 30 units) or Plan II (comprehensive exam, minimum 36 units). Discuss with me which path makes sense for your goals.

PhD Students

Target: 6 years to completion (EEMB normative time). Key milestones per EEMB requirements:

• Year 1: Complete core coursework. Form your committee. Begin research. Complete at least one quarter of TA.

• Year 2: Complete both written qualifying exams (two fields chosen in consultation with your committee, one in ecology/evolution, one in a related field). This is a firm deadline set by the department. Students who fall behind on exams will receive a warning and must work with their committee and the Graduate Advisor to get back on track.

• Year 3: Complete the oral qualifying exam (present your dissertation proposal to your committee, followed by broad questioning). Advance to candidacy by filing Doctoral Form II with the Graduate Division ($50 fee). Advancement triggers the 3-year NRST waiver for international students.

• Years 3-6: Dissertation research, writing, and regular annual committee meetings with progress reports.

• Defense: Aim to defend in Fall or Spring, not Summer. Faculty are not paid in summer. Many are in the field, and fewer colleagues will be around to help you prepare and celebrate. Note: EEMB allows a public seminar of your dissertation research as an alternative to a traditional oral defense. Discuss with your committee.

• Beyond normative time: If you go beyond 6 years, you must take extra steps. At year 7, you must petition the Graduate Committee and Graduate Dean to continue. At year 8, you may need to retake written exams or show currency. The university maximum is 10 years, but the goal is to finish well before that. If you are approaching normative time, talk to me and your committee early about a realistic completion plan.

Escalation and Support Within EEMB

If you have questions or concerns beyond what I can address:

1. Staff Graduate Advisor (Mengshu Ye): Administrative and technical questions (timetables, forms, requirements, petitions).
2. Faculty Graduate Advisor (Hillary Young): Academic questions, issues with your studies or your relationship with your major professor.
3. Department Chair (Todd Oakley): If the Faculty Graduate Advisor cannot resolve the issue.

Mentoring & Advising

The lab uses several structured tools for transparent, consistent mentoring:

• Mentor/Mentee Agreement: Completed at the start of your program and revisited annually. See details below.

• Lab Working Agreement: The whole lab reviews and signs this yearly. It spells out shared values around communication, process, and collaboration.

• Individual Development Plans (IDPs): Annual review with quarterly check-ins. Covers research milestones, skills development, and career planning.

• Exit Plan Meeting: Required at least 8 weeks before departure. Covers project inventory, authorship agreements, completion timelines, and data handoff. See the Completing Projects After Departure section for the full process.

• Annual meetings with Graduate Advisor: All students meet with the Graduate Advisor (currently Mengshu Ye) yearly (for at least the first two years) to provide feedback on mentorship.

Mentor/Mentee Agreement

The UCSB Graduate Division recommends that faculty and graduate students complete a mentoring agreement to clarify roles, set expectations, and establish how they will communicate and resolve problems. We use this in the Stier Lab. You and I will each fill out the agreement during your first quarter and sign it together. It is revisited and updated at the start of each academic year.

The agreement is not a contract. It is a structured conversation. Its purpose is to make sure you and I are on the same page about things that often go unspoken — and that cause problems precisely because they were never discussed.

The agreement covers:

• Goals. What do you want your professional life to look like in five years? What do I hope to see you achieve? You also set specific goals for the current quarter and year — concrete, revisitable targets that give your meetings focus.

• Expectations. How do you each expect the mentoring relationship to work? What kinds of support do you need? What balance do you expect between your own independent projects and lab-directed work? How do you expect to work with other faculty?

• Communication and work style. How do you prefer to communicate (frequency, mode, formality)? What is your expected work/life balance? Are there periods when you will be less available? How many hours per week do you expect to work? How often will you meet, and where?

• Responsibilities. What specific ongoing responsibilities do I commit to? What responsibilities do you take on as a member of the research team?

• Problem solving. If problems or conflicts arise with any of the above, how will they be discussed and resolved? Having this conversation before a conflict exists makes it much easier to navigate when one does.

• Summer expectations. Summer is different from the academic year. Expectations for availability, productivity, and communication during the summer are worth discussing explicitly.

• Anything else. Is there anything about your life situation — health, family obligations, financial constraints, anything — that may be relevant to your work together? You are not required to share personal information, but the agreement creates a space to do so if you choose.

The Graduate Division's mentoring resources page and their guide to mentor and mentee responsibilities provide additional context. Their guidelines emphasize that mentoring relationships work best when both parties treat themselves as partners, that students should seek multiple mentors (one person cannot meet all your needs), and that either party can seek outside counsel from the Graduate Division, the Ombuds Office, or Title IX if the relationship is not working.

What I Commit To

• Feedback turnaround. The timeline depends on the task:

  What you send me	My turnaround
  Conference abstract, short form, recommendation letter request	1 week
  Grant or fellowship draft, proposal review	2 weeks
  Manuscript draft or chapter	3 weeks
  Multi-round revision (grants, job materials)	Give me as much lead time as you can; at minimum 3 weeks before the deadline

  If I am going to miss a deadline, I will tell you in advance so you can plan. If I take longer than promised, your next milestone deadline extends day-for-day (same rule as in the Completing Projects After Departure section).

• Quarterly milestone tracking aligned with your IDP.

• Meeting summaries with agreed-upon goals and next steps after advising meetings.

What Students Commit To

• Active participation in IDP development and quarterly reviews.
• Proactive communication about problems, delays, or concerns. Speak up early rather than late.
• Engaging constructively with feedback, even when it is uncomfortable.
• Contributing to lab community: attending lab meetings, helping maintain shared spaces, supporting labmates.

Giving and Receiving Feedback

Good advising depends on honest, two-way communication. I need your feedback to be an effective advisor, and you need feedback from me, your committee, and your labmates to grow as a scientist.

Give feedback to your advisor. If something in the advising relationship is not working — the pace of feedback, the frequency of meetings, the clarity of expectations, anything — say so. You can raise it directly or through the Graduate Advisor. I cannot fix problems I do not know about, and I would rather hear about a small issue now than a big one later. This is not a one-time conversation. It is an ongoing part of the relationship.

Communicate regularly with your committee. Your committee exists to support your development, not just to evaluate you at milestones. Do not wait until your annual meeting to reach out. Send brief updates between meetings. If you are stuck on a question that falls within a committee member's expertise, email them. If your research direction is shifting, let them know before the next formal meeting rather than surprising them. Committee members who are kept in the loop give better advice and are stronger advocates for you when it matters — for job references, fellowship letters, and your defense.

This applies to everyone in the lab. Whether you are a graduate student, postdoc, lab manager, or undergraduate researcher, you should feel that giving feedback — up, down, and sideways — is a normal and expected part of being in this lab. I am not the only person who benefits from hearing what is and is not working. Labmates mentoring undergraduates, collaborators sharing a project, and TAs working with an instructor all benefit from the same principle: say something early, say it directly, and assume the other person wants to hear it.

Letters of Recommendation

At some point you will need letters from me — for fellowships, jobs, graduate school applications, or awards. Strong letters require planning on both sides.

Give adequate notice. Ask at least three to four weeks before the deadline. I write careful, detailed letters, and doing that well takes time. Last-minute requests produce weaker letters.

Provide materials. When you ask for a letter, send me:

• The opportunity description (job posting, fellowship solicitation, etc.)
• Your current CV
• A short summary of what you want the letter to emphasize (your research, teaching, mentoring, specific skills)
• Any specific points that would strengthen your application (a connection to the funder's mission, a relevant skill, an experience the reader should know about)
• The deadline and submission instructions

Have a conversation. For important applications (faculty jobs, major fellowships), schedule a brief meeting to talk through your candidacy. This helps me tailor the letter to the specific opportunity and the specific review committee.

Follow up. If you have not received confirmation that the letter was submitted a few days before the deadline, send a reminder. This is not rude. It is responsible.

Be honest about fit. If you are not sure I am the best person to write a particular letter (for example, if you need someone who can speak to your teaching or to a subfield I do not work in), ask. I will tell you honestly whether I am the right choice, and I can suggest alternatives.

What makes a strong letter. The best letters I write are for people who give me concrete things to say. Here is what I am looking for when I sit down to write:

• Taking a project from end to end. Nothing is more convincing to a reviewer than evidence that you can conceive a question, design a study, collect the data, analyze it, write it up, and see it through publication. That full arc — from idea to finished product — is the single strongest thing I can put in a letter.
• Leadership. Leading a field team, organizing a lab initiative, mentoring an undergraduate through a project, coordinating across collaborators. I want to be able to describe moments where you stepped up and took responsibility for something beyond your own work.
• Independence and initiative. Did you identify a problem and solve it without being told to? Did you bring me an idea rather than waiting for one? Did you teach yourself a new method because your question demanded it? These are the stories that make letters memorable.
• Intellectual growth. I pay attention to how your thinking changes over time — how your questions get sharper, your scientific judgment matures, and your ability to evaluate evidence deepens. Showing that trajectory matters more than where you started.
• Reliability. When you say you will do something, you do it. You meet deadlines, show up prepared, follow through on commitments. This sounds basic, but it is rare, and reviewers trust letters that speak to it.
• Scientific rigor and integrity. Careful work, honest reporting, thoughtful analysis. I notice when someone catches their own mistakes, pushes back on a result that seems too clean, or redesigns an experiment because the first version was not good enough.
• Being a good colleague. Generosity with your time, willingness to help labmates, constructive presence in lab meetings, and the kind of collaborative spirit that makes everyone around you better. Search committees care about this more than most applicants realize.

You do not need all of these. But the more of them you can demonstrate over the course of your time here, the more specific and compelling the letter will be.

My commitment. If I agree to write you a letter, I will write a strong one. I do not write lukewarm letters. If I have concerns about writing a compelling letter for a particular opportunity, I will tell you directly so you can make an informed decision about who to ask.

Postdocs

Your Role in the Lab

Postdocs occupy a unique position. You are no longer a student, but you are not yet fully independent. The goal of a postdoc in this lab is to help you make that transition. You should leave here with publications, an independent research identity, a professional network, and the skills to run your own program.

Your level of independence will be higher than that of a graduate student. I expect you to drive your own projects, manage your time without much oversight, and bring ideas to me rather than waiting for direction. That said, you are not on your own. I am here to provide feedback, open doors, co-develop ideas, and help you navigate the job market. The balance between independence and mentorship will shift over the course of your appointment, and we should talk about where it is and where you want it to be.

Expectations

Research output. The postdoc years are when you build the publication record that defines the next stage of your career. I expect you to be writing and submitting papers throughout your appointment — not saving everything for the end. We will set specific manuscript targets in your mentoring agreement and revisit them quarterly. The Completing Projects After Departure section describes what happens if manuscripts are still in progress when your appointment ends, including compressed timelines that reflect the independence expected at this career stage.

Mentoring. I expect postdocs to help mentor graduate students and undergraduates in the lab. This is not free labor. Mentoring is a skill you need for your career, and doing it well here gives you concrete evidence for job applications. But it should not consume your research time. If mentoring responsibilities are becoming too heavy, tell me.

Lab citizenship. Attend lab meetings, contribute to discussions, and be a constructive presence. You bring experience and perspective that students benefit from enormously. Your engagement with the lab community matters, even when your own work feels all-consuming.

Professional development. Actively build skills you will need as a PI: grant writing, project management, hiring and supervising people, teaching (if relevant to your goals), and navigating the job market. I am happy to help with any of these.

What I Provide

• Regular one-on-one meetings (weekly or biweekly, your preference).
• Feedback on manuscripts, grant proposals, and job applications.
• Honest career advice, including about non-academic paths if that is where your interests lead.
• Introductions to collaborators and colleagues at conferences and through my network.
• Support for independent funding applications (K99, Smith Fellows, NOAA, etc.). I will review drafts and write strong letters.
• A clear understanding of authorship expectations on shared projects. We will discuss this at the start and revisit as projects develop.

Funding and Logistics

Postdoc positions are typically funded through specific grants with defined terms. Make sure you understand your appointment length, salary, benefits eligibility, and what happens if the grant ends before your planned departure. Ask these questions before you start, not after.

UCSB postdocs are represented by UAW Local 4811 (the same union as graduate student employees). Know your contract, your benefits, and your rights. The union website at uaw4811.org has the current contract and resources.

The Job Market

Start preparing earlier than you think. If you are on a two-year postdoc, the job market cycle means you may be applying during your first year. We will talk about your timeline early and adjust expectations accordingly. I will help with application materials, practice job talks in lab meeting, and make calls on your behalf. But you need to drive the process. Set up job alerts, track deadlines, and keep a running list of target positions.

If your career goals change during the postdoc — toward industry, government, NGOs, or something else — that is completely fine. Tell me so I can help you prepare for the path you actually want.

Authorship Policy

Authorship is one of the primary currencies of academic science. Getting it right matters for careers and relationships. Most labs do not talk about it enough, and the confusion that results can damage relationships.

There is no hard and fast rule. The norms vary across disciplines, across labs, and even across projects. Your own authorship philosophy will evolve over your career. Here is where I have landed. I am always willing to talk it through.

Who Qualifies as an Author?

Authorship should reflect genuine intellectual contribution to the work. At minimum, an author should have contributed to one or more of the following: conception of the idea, study design, data collection, data analysis/interpretation, or writing the manuscript. Simply providing funding, published data (already credited elsewhere), or minor editorial comments does not typically warrant authorship. Those contributions belong in the Acknowledgements.

The line between "acknowledgement" and "authorship" is hard. I do not think anyone has a clean formula for it. Lab meetings improve everyone's science, but participating in lab meeting does not make you a co-author on every paper discussed there. Writing suggestions are a judgment call. A few comments on phrasing are different from restructuring an argument. Funding alone does not qualify either, even if I wrote the grant that supported the work. These cases require judgment and conversation, not rules. When in doubt, err toward inclusion early in your career. But do not offer authorship so freely that it devalues the substantive contributions of others.

One practical suggestion: keep a running list of who contributed what as a project develops. It is much easier to have an authorship conversation when you can point to a concrete record of contributions. Relying on memory after the paper is written is much harder.

Authorship Order

I use the "PI is last" convention that is standard in ecology. For papers led by students or postdocs, the first author is the person who led the project and the writing effort. Other authors are listed in decreasing order of contribution, with me typically in the last position as the senior or supervising author. For papers I lead, authors are listed in order of decreasing contribution.

The first author, in consultation with the rest of the team, decides on author order. If there are disagreements, bring them to me and we will work it out together. If the disagreement involves me, the Conflict Resolution section describes your options for raising it with the Graduate Advisor, the Department Chair, or the Ombuds Office.

Corresponding and Contact Author

My default is that the first author serves as both the corresponding author and the contact author. It is your project. Own it. You handle the journal correspondence, the reviewer responses, and any post-publication inquiries. This is good practice for your career, and it signals to the field that the work is yours.

There are exceptions. If you are leaving academia and will not maintain an active email, or if you will be unreachable for an extended period (say, a long field season without internet), we can designate someone else. But the default is that the person who led the work is the person the world contacts about it.

When I Expect to Be a Co-Author

I do not expect to be on every paper that comes out of this lab. I want to be clear about that. If the work is closely tied to one of my grants (using funding I secured, building on questions central to the grant), co-authorship is typical. If your research has grown into something quite distinct from my own program, it does not need to include me. That is fine. I prefer a healthy mentoring relationship over an inflated publication list.

I want to co-author at least one chapter of your dissertation, but it is not required. Here is what I want you to understand: the editorial guidance I give you (reading drafts, suggesting analyses, helping you sharpen arguments) is free. That is part of the job, and it is a part I genuinely love. You never need to worry that asking for feedback creates an obligation. If I am a co-author, I will invest even more energy in the manuscript. But the baseline level of support does not change either way.

When to Discuss Authorship

• Early. Discuss expected authorship when a project is being planned. This is not binding, because contributions change over the life of a project. But it sets expectations and motivates engagement.

• As the project develops. Revisit the authorship list as new people contribute or as roles shift. A conversation halfway through is much less awkward than a surprise at the end.

• Before submission. Revisit and confirm authorship and order with all co-authors before you hit "submit." This includes conference abstracts, not just journal papers.

• When things change. If you are considering adding or removing an author, communicate the rationale to all existing co-authors first.

If Another Group Publishes Your Question

Getting scooped is painful but not fatal. If another group publishes on your question:

1. Do not panic. Your data, site, species, and approach are almost certainly different enough to contribute something new.
2. Meet with me within one week to assess the overlap and discuss options.
3. Options include: reframe your paper as replication or extension, emphasize what is unique about your system or approach, pivot the analysis angle, or (rarely) redirect the project.
4. I commit to helping you publish regardless. We do not abandon projects because of overlap. A well-executed study on an important question has value even if someone else asked it first.

The worst response to a scoop is silence and paralysis. The best response is a quick conversation and a revised plan.

After Departure

If you leave the lab with unfinished projects, a separate set of expectations governs how those projects get completed, including timelines, milestone checkpoints, and what happens to authorship if progress stalls. This applies to all roles — graduate students, postdocs, undergraduates, technicians, and external collaborators. See the Completing Projects After Departure section for the full details.

Data & Reproducibility

Why This Matters

I was fortunate to train with Craig Osenberg, who instilled in me the importance of transparency and rigor in how we handle data and report results. Good data management protects your work, supports reproducibility, and keeps publicly funded data accessible to other researchers. It also protects you. Years from now, you will be glad you documented what you did.

Data Storage & Backup

• All research data should be backed up in at least two locations (e.g., UCSB Box + external hard drive, or NAS + UCSB Box). Note: Google Drive is limited to 150 GB per account, so use the lab NAS or UCSB Box (unlimited) for large datasets.
• Do not rely solely on a personal laptop. Hard drives fail.
• The lab NAS (stier-nas1) is backed up regularly. You can maintain a personal folder there for your project data.
• UCSB Box provides unlimited cloud storage as an added backup option.

File and Folder Naming Conventions

Consistent naming is not glamorous, but it is one of the highest-leverage habits in research. Named well, files sort themselves, searches work, and a labmate can find your data without asking you. Named poorly, nothing is findable six months later.

Date format: Always use YYYYMMDD (e.g., 20260315). This sorts correctly on every operating system and avoids ambiguity between US (MM/DD) and international (DD/MM) conventions. Use it in filenames, folder names, and notebook entries.

File names: Use the pattern YYYYMMDD_project_description.ext. Separate words with underscores. Avoid spaces, special characters, and accented letters. Keep names descriptive but concise.

Examples:

• 20260315_moorea_coral_growth_raw.csv
• 20260401_pocillopora_thermal_stress_analysis.R
• 20260315_fieldnotes_backreef_site3.md

Folder structure: Every project should follow the standard lab template (see Lab Projects > Example Folder in Google Drive):

project-name/
├── admin/          # permits, agreements, budgets
├── data/
│   ├── raw/        # untouched original data — never edit these files
│   └── processed/  # cleaned, transformed data ready for analysis
├── code/           # analysis scripts, numbered in execution order
├── figures/        # output figures
├── notes/          # field notes, meeting notes, planning docs
└── writing/        # manuscript drafts

Each data/ directory must include a README.md explaining variables, units, collection methods, and any known issues.

Version control for code: Use Git and push to the lab GitHub organization. For manuscripts, use descriptive filenames with dates rather than "final_v2_FINAL.docx."

Data Formatting & Documentation

• Store data in CSV format as the primary archival format. Excel is fine for data entry, but CSV provides long-term readability.
• Use simple, flat structure: rows and columns, no embedded subtables or summary calculations within data files.
• Include a metadata file (README) with every dataset explaining variables, units, collection methods, and any known issues.

Column Naming Conventions

Use fish_case for all column headers: lowercase, words separated by underscores, no spaces or special characters. (Yes, other labs call this snake_case. We are a marine lab.) Keep names short but unambiguous. Include units in the column name or document them in the README — do not embed units in data cells.

Good:

site_id, date, species, colony_id, depth_m, temp_c, growth_rate_cm_yr, treatment

Bad:

Site ID, Date Collected, Species Name, Colony #, Depth (m), Temperature, Growth Rate, Treat.

The bad version has spaces, parentheses, abbreviations without context, and ambiguous names. The good version is machine-readable, self-documenting, and will not break in R or Python.

Example: A Well-Formatted Data File

20260601_moorea_coral_growth_raw.csv:

site_id,date,species,colony_id,depth_m,temp_c,growth_rate_cm_yr,treatment
LTER1,2026-06-01,pocillopora_meandrina,PM001,3.2,27.4,1.83,control
LTER1,2026-06-01,pocillopora_meandrina,PM002,3.5,27.3,2.01,control
LTER2,2026-06-01,pocillopora_meandrina,PM003,5.1,26.8,1.45,shaded
LTER2,2026-06-01,pocillopora_meandrina,PM004,4.8,26.9,1.62,shaded

Key points:

• Dates in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD) within data cells
• Species names in lowercase with underscores (matches taxonomic databases)
• One observation per row, one variable per column
• No merged cells, no color-coding, no summary rows
• Colony IDs use a consistent prefix + number scheme

README Template for Datasets

Every data/ directory must include a README.md. At minimum:

# Dataset: [Project Name]

## Description
Brief description of what this dataset contains and why it was collected.

## Collection
- **Dates:** 2026-06-01 to 2026-08-15
- **Location:** Mo'orea, French Polynesia (LTER1: -17.4732, -149.8018)
- **Method:** SCUBA surveys at 3-5m depth along permanent transects
- **Collected by:** [Names]

## Variables

| Column | Description | Units | Notes |
|--------|-------------|-------|-------|
| site_id | LTER site identifier | — | LTER1 = Haapiti, LTER2 = Tiahura |
| date | Date of observation | YYYY-MM-DD | |
| species | Coral species | — | Genus_species, lowercase |
| colony_id | Unique colony tag | — | Prefix = species abbreviation |
| depth_m | Depth at colony | meters | Measured with dive computer |
| temp_c | Water temperature at colony | degrees Celsius | HOBO logger, ± 0.2°C |
| growth_rate_cm_yr | Linear extension rate | cm per year | Measured from stained reference |
| treatment | Experimental treatment | — | control, shaded |

## Known Issues
- PM003 tag was replaced on 2026-07-12 after original was lost
- Temperature logger at LTER2 had a 3-day gap (2026-07-04 to 2026-07-06)

## Related Files
- Analysis code: `../../code/01_coral_growth_analysis.R`
- Field notebook: `../../notes/20260601_fieldnotes_coral_survey.md`

Adapt this template to your project. The goal is that a labmate — or future you — can understand the data without asking anyone.

Organizing a Multi-Project Research Program

Most graduate students and postdocs end up with multiple related projects under one research theme. When a single Drive folder grows from 3 experiments to 15, it needs structure beyond the single-project template above. Here is how we handle it.

Number your projects chronologically. Give each experiment or study a sequential number and a descriptive name with the year it started:

Projects/
├── 01_wound_intensity_growth_2022/
├── 02_wound_type_airbrush_dremel_2022/
├── 03_island_size_healing_rate_2022/
├── 04_wound_respiration_2023/
├── 05_gene_expression_near_far_2023/
└── ...

Each project folder follows the standard template (data/, code/, notes/, figures/). The numbering gives you and your collaborators an instant sense of chronology and scale.

Create a Drive Map. When your research folder has more than about 5 projects, write a top-level README or Drive Map document explaining the structure: what each project is, how they relate to each other, and where to find key resources. This is the single most useful thing you can do for a new collaborator (or for yourself after a summer away). Keep it updated.

Separate methods from projects. Protocols that are used across multiple projects belong in a shared Methods/ folder at the top level, not buried inside individual project folders. One subfolder per protocol:

Methods/
├── buoyant_weight/
├── chlorophyll_assay/
├── histology/
├── PAM_fluorometry/
└── wounding_protocol/

This prevents the same protocol from drifting into five slightly different versions across five project folders.

Letter your manuscripts. When you have multiple papers in preparation, letter them (A, B, C, D) in priority order. Each manuscript folder should contain the working draft, figures, analysis code, and previous versions in an old/ subfolder.

Track project status. For large research programs, maintain a simple tracking sheet (Google Sheet or similar) with one row per project: current status, lead person, next milestone, and target date. Review it quarterly during IDP meetings.

This structure works for dissertations too. A dissertation is a multi-project research program. If you set up your Drive folder this way from the start — numbered projects mapping to chapters, lettered manuscripts tracking your publication pipeline, shared methods, and a Drive Map — you will not have to reorganize anything when it is time to write up. Your chapter folders are already your project folders. Your lettered manuscripts are already your chapters. The students who finish fastest are the ones whose dissertation was organized before they knew it was.

Lab and Field Notebooks

Document your methods as you go, not after the fact. You will forget details faster than you think. By the time you sit down to write a paper, the specifics of how you set up an experiment, calibrated an instrument, or processed a sample will be fuzzy at best.

• Keep a lab/field notebook. The format is up to you: a physical notebook, a digital document, or a dedicated app. What matters is that you use it consistently and that it is backed up. Physical notebooks should be photographed or scanned regularly. Digital entries should follow the same YYYYMMDD naming convention used for data files (e.g., 20260315_fieldnotes_backreef_thermal.md).
• Update your notebook within 48 hours. Notes taken in the field or at the bench should be cleaned up and backed up within two days, while the details are still fresh. Waiting until the end of the week — or worse, the end of the field season — guarantees lost information.
• Record enough detail that someone else could reproduce your work. Include dates, locations, equipment used, settings, deviations from protocol, and anything unexpected. If you modified a standard procedure, note what you changed and why.
• For fieldwork (especially Mo'orea): Record site coordinates, environmental conditions, water temperature, depth, tide state, weather, and anything that might affect your data. Take photos of your setup. These details are invaluable when interpreting results months later.
• Videos of methods can be extremely useful, especially for complex field or lab procedures. A short video of your sampling technique or experimental setup is worth pages of written description.
• Store your notebook entries alongside your project data on the lab NAS or Google Drive so they are accessible to the lab after you leave.

Post-Fieldwork Data Processing

After returning from fieldwork (especially Mo'orea), prioritize data organization while everything is still fresh. Do this within the first two weeks back.

Post-Fieldwork Checklist

• Organize and back up all field data. Upload raw data files to the lab NAS and at least one cloud backup (UCSB Box or Google Drive). Do not leave data only on field laptops or SD cards.
• Annotate field notes. Review your field notebook entries and add any clarifying details while you still remember them. Scan or photograph physical notebooks and store digital copies alongside your data.
• Create or update README files. Every dataset directory should have a README explaining: what the data are, when and where they were collected, collection methods, variable definitions and units, any known issues or deviations from protocol.
• Inventory unprocessed samples. Create a list of all samples, images, and specimens that still need processing. Include storage location, priority, and estimated processing time.
• QA/QC your data. Review datasets for obvious errors: impossible values, missing entries, duplicate records, and inconsistencies between field sheets and digital entries. Flag suspicious values and verify against original field sheets while the field context is fresh.
• Log collection totals. For Mo'orea: record species collected, quantities, and sites in the shared collection tracking sheet. This is required for the annual bilan des prelevements report to DIREN.
• File organization. Follow the lab naming conventions: include project name, date, and descriptive content in filenames. Use the established Google Drive folder structure (see the Technology and Digital Tools section).

What Belongs Where

Code & Analysis

• Write code so that someone else (or future you) can understand it. Comment your code. Use consistent style.
• Make your analysis reproducible: someone should be able to run your code on your raw data and reproduce your results.
• Archive your code alongside your data in a repository (e.g., GitHub, Dryad, Zenodo) when you publish.

Coding and Analysis Tools

• R is the primary language in the lab. Most analyses, figures, and data processing are done in R.
• We use RStudio as our development environment and RStudio Projects to organize work. Using projects keeps your file paths relative and your work portable. Do not use setwd() in scripts.
• Tidyverse packages (dplyr, ggplot2, tidyr, etc.) are widely used in the lab. The Tidyverse style guide is a good starting point for learning clean, readable coding habits.
• R Markdown and Quarto are valuable for creating reproducible analyses that combine code, results, and narrative in a single document. Consider using them for analysis reports and supplementary materials.
• GitHub is used for version control and collaboration on code. All analysis code for published papers should live in a lab GitHub repository.
• If you are new to R, talk to labmates. There is always someone willing to help you get started. Learning to code is a normal part of joining the lab, and no one expects you to arrive as an expert.

Lab Policy on Data After Departure

When you leave the lab, archive your research data and code on the lab NAS and/or Google Drive with appropriate metadata. This applies to research conducted primarily within the Stier Lab. For work conducted under other PIs or external funding with separate data requirements, follow those policies.

The lab has a detailed policy covering post-departure project completion, including milestone timelines, authorship expectations, and what happens if progress stalls. The strong expectation is that you publish your own work, and the policy is designed to support that outcome with clear deadlines and continued access to lab resources. See the Completing Projects After Departure section for the full details, including the Exit Plan Meeting process and role-specific timelines.

For work funded by external grants, data archiving requirements from the funding agency (e.g., NSF, NOAA) apply. These requirements can mandate public data availability on a specific timeline.

Research Data Ownership

Under the UC Research Data Policy (effective July 2022), the University of California — not individual researchers — owns research data generated during university research. The PI serves as data steward on behalf of the university and funder, not as personal owner.

What this means in practice:

• Your right to use your data: Lab members retain the right to use data from their own projects for dissertations, publications, and career development. The PI's stewardship role is to ensure data integrity, proper attribution, and compliance with funding requirements — not to restrict reasonable academic use.
• Taking data when you leave: You may take copies of data you generated. Email the PI describing your planned use. Absent a response within 30 days, approval is assumed. For grant-funded data, a Data Transfer and Use Agreement through UCSB TIA may be required.
• Grant-funded data: Data archiving requirements from the funding agency (e.g., NSF, NOAA) apply and can mandate public availability on a specific timeline.

This does not change the lab's practical data management policies above. It means your data practices must meet both lab and university standards.

For the lab's AI use policy, see the separate AI Use Policy section.

Publishing & Peer Review

The Publishing Process

Publishing is how our work reaches the field. It is also how you build a career. This section walks through the process so you know what to expect, especially if you have not published before.

Writing the Paper

Start writing earlier than you think you should. You do not need a complete dataset or a final analysis to begin drafting an introduction, sketching out methods, or outlining the argument. Writing clarifies thinking. Many of the best insights about a project come during the writing, not before it. This habit also matters practically — the lab members who finish papers fastest are the ones who started writing early. If you leave with unfinished manuscripts, specific completion timelines apply (see the Completing Projects After Departure section).

A few practical notes:

• Write in stages. A rough draft does not need to be good. It needs to exist. Get something on paper, then improve it. Perfectionism at the drafting stage is the single biggest obstacle to productivity.
• Use a reference manager. Zotero is the lab standard. Insert citations as you write, not after. Retrofitting citations into a finished draft is miserable work.
• Write for your reader, not for yourself. Your methods section should be reproducible. Your results should be interpretable without reading the methods. Your discussion should connect back to the questions you posed in the introduction. This sounds obvious, but most first drafts fail at it.
• Circulate drafts to labmates before giving them to me. Fresh eyes catch things you cannot see. Labmates are also faster than me at turning around feedback on a draft. Use this to your advantage.

Internal Review

Before any manuscript goes to a journal, it goes through internal review:

1. Labmate feedback. Share with one or two labmates and incorporate their suggestions.
2. My review. Give me a clean draft (not a rough first pass). I will return substantive feedback, usually within the timeline we agreed on in your mentoring agreement. If I am slow, remind me.
3. Committee review. For dissertation chapters, circulate to your committee and incorporate their feedback before journal submission. This avoids the painful scenario where a committee member raises concerns about published work at your defense.
4. Co-author review. All co-authors must see and approve the final version before submission. No exceptions. This includes the abstract.

Choosing a Journal

Pick a journal before you finish writing. The journal's scope and audience should shape how you frame the paper. Consider impact factor, audience, open access options, turnaround time, and cost. I will have opinions. So will your co-authors. Discuss this as a group.

Submission and Revision

• Cover letters matter. Write a clear, concise cover letter that explains why the paper fits the journal and what makes it significant. Do not just summarize the abstract.
• Suggested reviewers. Most journals ask for suggested reviewers. Choose people who are qualified, do not have conflicts of interest, and are likely to engage constructively with your work. I can help you identify appropriate reviewers.
• Rejection happens. Most papers are rejected at least once. It stings, but it is normal. Read the reviews carefully, decide what is useful, revise the paper, and resubmit elsewhere. Do not let a rejection sit on your desk for months. Process it, improve the paper, and move on.
• Responding to reviewers. Write a detailed, point-by-point response to every comment. Be respectful and thorough, even when you disagree. When you disagree with a reviewer, explain your reasoning clearly and provide evidence. Never be dismissive.
• Turnaround. Aim to resubmit a revision within 4-8 weeks of receiving reviews. Journals notice when revisions take months, and the editors may send it back out for re-review.

Preprints

I encourage posting preprints (e.g., on bioRxiv or EcoEvoRxiv) when you submit to a journal. Preprints make your work available immediately, establish priority, and invite early feedback. Most ecology journals accept papers that have been posted as preprints. Check the journal's policy before posting, and discuss timing with your co-authors.

Peer Review

Reviewing for Journals

At some point during your graduate career or postdoc, you will be asked to review a manuscript for a journal. This is a core professional responsibility. The system works because scientists review each other's work.

When to say yes:

• The paper is in your area of expertise
• You can complete the review in the requested timeframe (usually 2-4 weeks)
• You do not have a conflict of interest with the authors

When to say no:

• You are overcommitted (it is better to decline than to agree and be late)
• The paper is outside your expertise
• You have a conflict of interest

How we handle reviews in the lab:

• If you are a student and want to co-review with me, ask. This is a great learning opportunity. I will submit the review under my name and acknowledge your contribution to the editor.
• Once you have co-reviewed a few papers, you are ready to review independently. When you accept your first solo review invitation, let me know — it is a milestone worth noting.
• Write reviews you would want to receive: specific, constructive, and focused on improving the science. Identify genuine problems, but do not nitpick for the sake of it. Recommend clearly: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject. Do not hedge.
• Keep reviews confidential. Do not share the manuscript or discuss its contents with anyone other than me (if co-reviewing).

Responding When Your Work Is Reviewed

Read reviews when you are calm. Your first reaction to critical feedback is almost never your best reaction. Give yourself a day before drafting a response. Then address every point systematically. The goal is not to win an argument with an anonymous reviewer. The goal is to make the paper better.

Collaboration

Working with People Outside the Lab

Some of your best work will involve people who are not in this lab. Collaborations with other labs, other departments, other institutions, and non-academic partners are a normal and encouraged part of how we do science. Coral reef ecology is inherently interdisciplinary, and the questions we ask often require expertise we do not have in-house.

That said, collaborations work best when expectations are clear from the start. Most collaboration problems stem from unspoken assumptions — about who does what, who gets credit, and who owns the data.

Setting Up a Collaboration

When starting a new collaboration, have an explicit conversation (ideally in writing) about:

• Roles and responsibilities. Who is doing what? Who is leading the project? Who is providing data, analysis, field support, or other resources?
• Authorship. Discuss expected authorship early, using the principles in the Authorship Policy section. Revisit as the project develops. Do not wait until the paper is written.
• Data sharing. Who collects the data? Who has access to it during the project? What happens to the data after the project ends? If you are using someone else's data, clarify the terms before you start analyzing it.
• Timeline. What is the expected timeline for the project? What happens if one party falls behind? For external collaborators working on lab projects, the Completing Projects After Departure section includes specific response timelines.
• Communication. How often will you check in? What is the preferred mode of communication? Who is the point of contact on each side?

For large or multi-institutional collaborations, consider putting this in a written agreement or memo of understanding. It does not need to be formal or legal. A shared document that everyone has signed off on is enough. The point is to have something to refer back to if memories diverge.

Using Shared Data

If a collaborator shares data with you, treat it with respect:

• Do not share it further without explicit permission.
• Do not use it for purposes beyond what was agreed. If you see an interesting pattern that could become a separate paper, ask before pursuing it.
• Acknowledge the source appropriately — through authorship, acknowledgements, or data citations depending on the contribution.
• Return the favor. If you generate data that might be useful to your collaborators, offer to share it.

When to Loop Me In

You do not need my permission to collaborate with other scientists. I encourage it. But there are a few situations where you should loop me in:

• New collaborations that use lab resources (equipment, boat time, grant funding, field site access).
• Collaborations that overlap with other projects in the lab. If someone else in the lab is already working with the same group or on a closely related question, we need to coordinate.
• Anything involving a formal agreement (data sharing agreements, MOUs, permits under the lab's name).
• Collaborations with industry or government that might involve intellectual property, conflicts of interest, or political sensitivities.

Beyond those cases, go ahead. Meeting people at conferences and starting conversations about shared interests is one of the best things you can do for your career. If a conversation turns into a potential project, let me know so I can help if needed — or just stay out of the way.

Being a Good Collaborator

A few things that go a long way:

• Do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it. Reliability is the most important trait in a collaborator. Your reputation is built on whether people can count on you.
• Communicate when things change. If you are going to be late on a deliverable, say so early. People can adjust. What they cannot handle is silence followed by a missed deadline.
• Be generous with credit. When in doubt, include someone rather than exclude them. A generous authorship policy builds goodwill and future collaborations.
• Respond to emails. Collaborators who go silent are collaborators who do not get invited back. Even a quick "I saw this, will get to it next week" keeps the relationship healthy.

Gender Equity & Climate

Why This Matters

A lab where some people feel overlooked or overburdened does worse science. I take equity and lab climate seriously because the alternative — assuming things are fine without checking — is how imbalances persist. Here is what we actually do about it.

Annual Task and Opportunity Audit

I conduct an annual review of task distribution, authorship opportunities, conference invitations, and mentoring loads across the lab. The audit examines:

• Speaking time in lab meetings and group discussions (tracked periodically by a rotating lab member)
• First-author rates by gender and career stage
• Conference funding distribution
• Service and mentoring loads — who is mentoring undergrads, maintaining equipment, and organizing events
• Committee service requests accepted and declined
• Letter of recommendation requests and outcomes

What happens when problems are found: I review the results with an external advisor (the Faculty Graduate Advisor, a departmental DEI committee member, or the UCSB Title IX office as appropriate). We identify specific corrective actions — for example, redistributing mentoring loads, adjusting conference funding, or changing how lab meeting facilitation rotates — and implement them within one quarter. Results and actions are shared with the lab in aggregate at the next lab meeting.

Annual Anonymous Climate Survey

Each year, the lab conducts an anonymous survey covering workload clarity, sense of belonging, mentoring quality, and whether all lab members feel supported. Results are shared with the lab in aggregate and used to guide concrete changes. If the survey reveals a problem, I commit to presenting an action plan within 4 weeks.

Concrete Commitments

• Structured turn-taking in lab meetings: rotating facilitation, explicit invitations to speak for quieter members, and periodic self-checks on who is dominating discussion.
• Blind review of internal award nominations and conference funding requests where feasible — names removed before ranking.
• Explicit invitation to negotiate. Do not assume people will self-advocate for resources, opportunities, or schedule accommodations. When opportunities arise (conference travel, authorship, equipment access), offer them directly rather than waiting for requests.
• Inclusive mentoring. Graduate students mentoring undergraduates should be mindful of the added barriers that first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students face. The lab is committed to providing equitable access to research opportunities regardless of a student's ability to volunteer unpaid time.

Raising Concerns

If you notice inequitable patterns in task assignments, speaking time, credit for ideas, access to resources, or anything else, raise it. You can do so:

• Directly with me
• Through the annual anonymous survey
• Through the Graduate Advisor (Mengshu Ye) or Faculty Graduate Advisor (Hillary Young)
• Through UCSB's Office of Equal Opportunity & Discrimination Prevention

You should never feel that raising an equity concern will affect your standing in the lab. See the Conflict Resolution section for formal reporting channels and the Safety section for confidential resources.

AI Use Policy

University Policy Context

UCSB does not have a blanket university-wide AI policy. Under current guidance from the Office of Teaching and Learning (May 2023), AI-assistive technology for writing is not allowed in courses, theses, dissertations, or research articles unless the instructor or supervisor permits it. The UCSB Student Conduct Code classifies unauthorized use of AI programs to complete coursework as academic dishonesty.

For research (as opposed to coursework), AI use is governed by your supervisor's policies. The rest of this section covers the Stier Lab policy.

EEMB does not have a department-level AI policy. This lab policy fills that gap.

Lab Policy on AI Tools

The Stier Lab uses AI tools extensively — the PI included. The same rules apply to everyone in the lab, regardless of role. Used well, AI accelerates literature discovery, improves code quality, and helps with brainstorming and writing. Used carelessly, it introduces errors, fabricates citations, and undermines scientific integrity.

Tools We Use

The lab actively uses the following AI tools:

• Claude / Claude Code: For code generation, debugging, data analysis assistance, and writing feedback
• NotebookLM: For synthesizing and querying collections of research papers and notes
• Research Rabbit: For literature discovery, citation mapping, and finding related papers
• Other tools as they emerge: AI tools change rapidly. New tools will be adopted as they prove useful. Discuss with me before integrating a new tool into a published workflow.

Permitted Uses

• Literature search and discovery: Using AI tools to find relevant papers, map citation networks, and summarize bodies of literature
• Code generation and debugging: Using AI to write, debug, and improve R, Python, or other analysis code
• Brainstorming: Using AI to generate hypotheses, explore experimental designs, or think through analytical approaches
• Writing assistance: Using AI for feedback on drafts, improving clarity, restructuring arguments, or overcoming writer's block
• Data exploration: Using AI to help visualize data, identify patterns, or suggest appropriate statistical approaches

Requirements

• Verify everything. AI tools hallucinate. They generate plausible-sounding but incorrect information, including fabricated citations. Every factual claim, citation, statistical method, and code output must be independently verified before use.
• Never use unverified AI output as final text or data. AI-generated text is a starting point or a tool for revision, not a finished product. AI-generated code must be tested and understood before being incorporated into an analysis pipeline.
• Cite AI use in publications. When AI tools contributed to a manuscript (for example, code generation, analysis design, or text revision), disclose this in the Methods or Acknowledgements section following the journal's guidelines. Many journals now have explicit AI disclosure requirements.
• Understand your code. If AI generates analysis code for you, you must understand what every line does. You are responsible for the correctness of your analysis, not the AI.
• Do not input unpublished data into public AI tools without permission. Some AI tools (particularly web-based ones) retain or train on user inputs. Do not paste unpublished data, manuscripts in preparation, or grant proposals into tools unless you are confident about their data handling policies. When in doubt, use local/private instances or ask me.
• Coursework rules are separate. For courses you are taking or TAing, follow the instructor's AI policy. It is often more restrictive than this lab policy. When in doubt, ask the instructor.
• Theses and dissertations. Your thesis or dissertation is your scholarly work. AI tools can help with revision, code, and analysis (following the requirements above), but the ideas, arguments, and writing must be substantively yours. The Graduate Division's current guidance treats theses and dissertations like other academic work — unauthorized AI use constitutes academic dishonesty. If you use AI tools in your thesis work, disclose it and discuss the scope with me.

What AI Cannot Replace

• Your scientific judgment and critical thinking
• Your understanding of the biological system you study
• Your responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of your work
• Peer review, committee feedback, and collegial discussion
• The process of learning to write, analyze, and think independently

Staying Current

AI capabilities and university policies are evolving rapidly. This policy will be reviewed and updated annually. If you encounter a situation not covered here, ask me.

Completing Projects After Departure

Research in ecology takes years. Data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation routinely span longer than any single lab member's tenure. This creates a predictable problem: people leave with unfinished work. When that work stalls indefinitely, everyone loses — you lose publications, the lab loses return on mentoring investment, collaborators lose momentum, and the scientific community loses knowledge.

I wrote this section to prevent that outcome. I want to be direct about something: this exists not because I expect conflict, but because I have seen what happens in other labs when these conversations do not happen until it is too late. Having clear expectations from the start is kinder than having difficult conversations after the fact.

Core Commitments

1. Projects should be finished and published. Unpublished data helps no one. The default expectation is that every project with publishable results reaches a journal.
2. The person who did the work gets first crack at finishing it. You retain first-authorship rights for a defined period, with clear milestones.
3. If progress stalls, the project moves forward anyway. After reasonable deadlines, I have the obligation to reassign the project so it gets completed.
4. Clarity prevents conflict. Ambiguity about expectations is the root cause of most authorship disputes (Brown University Guidelines). This section eliminates ambiguity by specifying timelines, milestones, and consequences in advance.

This approach aligns with the ICMJE principle that everyone who meets the first authorship criterion must be given the opportunity to fulfill the remaining criteria — but that opportunity is not open-ended. It is also consistent with the ESA Code of Ethics, which holds that researchers should "claim authorship of a paper only if they have made a substantial contribution," and the SCB Code of Ethics, which requires that authors have "contributed substantially" and "approve of the published version." See the Authorship Policy section for more on our general authorship philosophy.

Scope

This section covers any research project where a contributing lab member departs before the work is published. "Departure" includes graduation (MS or PhD), end of a postdoc appointment, end of an undergraduate research position or technician contract, or a collaborator becoming unresponsive.

Definitions

A few terms that come up throughout and have specific meanings here.

Complete draft: A manuscript with all major sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion), all figures and tables in near-final form, and a reference list. It does not need to be polished, but it must be substantively complete — something a co-author could meaningfully review and that I could revise toward submission. A partial draft (e.g., Methods and Results only, or figures without text) does not meet this threshold.

Active progress: Demonstrated forward movement on the manuscript within any 8-week window. Evidence includes submitting new text or revised sections to me, responding substantively to my feedback, completing agreed-upon analyses, or communicating a specific revised timeline with concrete next steps. Silence for 8 weeks without prior arrangement counts as inactive.

Project stages: Not all unfinished projects are alike. At the Exit Plan Meeting, we classify each project into one of three stages:

• Stage A — Near-complete. Draft exists or is mostly written; primarily needs revision and feedback. You are expected to finish this. Full timeline applies.
• Stage B — Analysis done, writing not started. Data are collected and analyzed, but no draft exists. You get first right to write it up, but timelines are compressed because the longer writing sits, the harder it gets.
• Stage C — Data collected, analysis incomplete. Raw data exist but substantial analytical work remains. This is realistically a handoff. You receive co-authorship and CRediT credit for data collection, but first authorship defaults to whoever completes the analysis and writes the paper — unless you commit to a Stage B timeline for the analytical work at the Exit Plan Meeting.

This staging system acknowledges what most policies ignore: the difference between finishing a draft and building a paper from scratch. The same 12-month timeline cannot apply to both.

The Exit Plan Meeting

Every departing lab member must complete an Exit Plan Meeting with me at least 8 weeks before departure. This is not optional.

The meeting produces a written Exit Plan (see the Exit Plan Template in the appendix). The Exit Plan covers:

1. Project inventory and staging. List every project you are involved in, classify each as Stage A, B, or C, and document current status.
2. Authorship agreements. For each project, confirm the author list, author order, and each person's remaining responsibilities using CRediT contributor roles (Brand et al. 2015, Learned Publishing 28:151–155).
3. Milestone timeline. For each project, set specific deadlines appropriate to its stage (see Completion Timelines below).
4. Triage decisions. If you have multiple projects, explicitly rank them by priority. Identify which are realistic to complete after departure and which should be handed off now. Not every project needs to be a first-author paper.
5. Data and code handoff. Confirm that all data, code, metadata, and samples are archived, documented, and accessible to the lab. See the Data Management and Reproducible Science section for our standards.
6. Funding. Identify any costs associated with completing the work after you leave (computing, page charges, additional analyses) and confirm that lab funds will cover them. See Funding After Departure below.
7. Communication plan. Agree on how and how often you will check in.

The Exit Plan is signed by both of us and kept in the lab's shared drive. This is consistent with UCSB Graduate Division guidance that students "inform the mentor immediately if they are unable to complete a project."

Data and Code Requirements

Before departure, you must ensure:

• All datasets and metadata are archived in the lab's shared repository (consistent with the UC Research Data Policy, which vests data ownership in the UC Regents)
• All analysis code is documented, version-controlled (GitHub), and runnable by another lab member
• A README file explains the project structure, file naming, and how to reproduce key results
• Any physical samples or specimens are labeled and cataloged

See the Data Management and Reproducible Science section for full details on formats, backup, and documentation standards. These requirements follow best practices from Tendler et al. (2023, eLife 12:e88853), the Bahlai Lab's Project Completion Checklist, and the BES data archiving policy.

Completion Timelines

The following deadlines apply from the date of departure (your last day in the lab). All deadlines can be extended once by mutual written agreement, for a maximum of 3 additional months. The University of Alberta's authorship guidelines recommend a 1-year default limit for students; this section adopts that standard with intermediate checkpoints.

Graduate Students (MS and PhD)

Stage A projects (draft exists or mostly written):

Stage B projects (analysis done, writing not started):

Stage C projects: First authorship defaults to whoever completes the analysis and writes the paper. You receive co-authorship and CRediT credit for data collection. If you want to retain first-authorship rights, you must commit to a Stage B timeline for the analytical work at the Exit Plan Meeting.

Postdocs

Stage A: 4 months (draft to me) → 7 months (co-author review) → 10 months (submission). Same escalation as graduate students.

Stage B: 3 months (draft to me) → 7 months (submission).

Stage C: Same as graduate students.

Postdocs have more writing experience and are expected to work more independently, which is why the timelines are shorter.

Undergraduates and Technicians

Stage B and C projects from undergraduates and technicians are treated as handoffs by default. You receive co-authorship for your contributions.

External Collaborators

The reasoning here: listing someone as a co-author when they cannot approve the final version or agree to accountability violates ICMJE criteria 3 and 4. The Carey Lab at Virginia Tech and the SCB Code of Ethics take the same position.

What Authorship Reassignment Looks Like

I want to be clear about this because it is the part most likely to cause anxiety. Reassignment is not punishment. It is the recognition that authorship requires ongoing intellectual contribution, not just past effort. The ICMJE is explicit: all four criteria must be met, including drafting or critically revising the work, approving the final version, and agreeing to be accountable.

When first authorship is reassigned:

1. You retain co-authorship commensurate with your contribution. You do not lose credit for the work you did.
2. CRediT roles are updated to accurately reflect who did what. The BES requires Author Contributions statements for all multi-author papers; CRediT roles serve this function.
3. I notify you in writing before reassignment occurs, giving you a final 30-day window to resume active work.
4. The new first author is the person who completes the analysis and writing necessary for submission.

Your Position After Reassignment

Your co-author position depends on the scope of your contribution relative to the completed paper:

• Designed study + collected all data + completed analysis: Second author at minimum, regardless of who writes the paper. Your CRediT roles (Conceptualization, Data Curation, Investigation, Formal Analysis) are substantial and independently sufficient for prominent authorship.
• Collected data only (Stage C): Middle authorship, with CRediT roles reflecting Investigation and Data Curation.
• Contributed analysis or methods only: Position negotiated based on scope.

This mirrors the Lowe-Power Lab approach and is consistent with the SCB principle that data collectors should be considered for authorship even if they are not writing the paper.

Funding After Departure

A common barrier to finishing papers after leaving is losing access to lab resources. I want to remove that barrier.

• Computing and software. I will maintain your access to shared computing resources (lab server, HPC allocations) for the duration of the completion timeline, or provide equivalent access.
• Page charges and open access fees. The lab covers publication costs for papers originating from lab-funded research, regardless of whether you are still in the lab.
• Additional analyses. If reviewers or I identify analyses that require resources you no longer have (software licenses, cluster time), the lab will either run those analyses or provide access.
• Travel. The lab does not cover travel for post-departure members to attend conferences, but I will support remote presentation where possible.

These are part of my obligation to ensure projects can actually be completed, not just that timelines exist on paper.

My Commitments

This section is not one-sided. Here is what I commit to:

1. Timely feedback. When you submit a draft, I will return substantive comments within 3 weeks. If I take longer, your next deadline extends day-for-day. If I take 5 weeks instead of 3, your deadline extends by 2 weeks.
2. Active mentoring during the exit period. I will check in at agreed intervals and help problem-solve barriers to completion. This implements the UCSB Graduate Division expectation that faculty provide "timely feedback on research" and "constructive criticism if the student's progress does not meet expectations."
3. Fair reassignment. I will not reassign projects prematurely or use reassignment as leverage. The timelines above are the standard; they apply equally to everyone.
4. Transparent communication. All authorship decisions are documented in writing and shared with all co-authors.

As the Office of Research Integrity notes, faculty mentors bear significant responsibility for modeling ethical authorship practices. I take that seriously.

Dispute Resolution

If a disagreement arises about authorship, timelines, or reassignment:

1. First step: Direct conversation between us.
2. Second step: Mediation by a mutually agreed-upon faculty member in the department (e.g., the graduate advisor, a committee member).
3. Third step: Formal review through UCSB institutional channels:
   • Graduate students: The UCSB Graduate Division can facilitate resolution.
   • All lab members: The UCSB Office of the Ombuds provides confidential, impartial, and informal conflict resolution.
   • Research misconduct concerns: The UCSB Office of Research handles formal allegations.

See the Conflict Resolution section for the lab's broader approach to disagreements. The ESA Professional Ethics Committee can also provide guidance on discipline-specific norms.

Retroactivity and Effective Date

This section applies to projects initiated after March 2026, when this policy was added to the handbook. Lab members who joined before this date are not retroactively bound by timelines they never agreed to.

For current lab members at the time of adoption: this policy applies to new projects going forward. For ongoing projects, we will discuss at your next IDP review whether to opt in. Opting in is encouraged but voluntary.

For projects already in progress where the contributing member has departed before this policy existed:

• Within 6 months of departure: I will contact you to establish an Exit Plan by mutual agreement, using these timelines starting from the date of contact (not the original departure date). You are free to propose alternative timelines.
• More than 6 months post-departure with no progress: I will contact you, offer a 3-month window to submit a complete draft, and proceed with reassignment if no draft is received. You retain co-authorship per the guidelines above.
• More than 12 months post-departure with no progress: I may proceed with completing and submitting the work. You are credited with co-authorship commensurate with your contribution and notified before submission.

In all cases, I will make good-faith efforts to reach you through your last known email, institutional email, and professional networking profiles. A minimum of 3 contact attempts over 6 weeks is required before any unilateral action.

Setting Projects Up to Finish

The best version of this section is one that rarely gets invoked. To that end:

During the Project

• Discuss authorship early and revisit it regularly. Brown University recommends discussing authorship "as early as practical and frequently during the course of their work." The University of Oregon recommends revisiting agreements whenever "relative contributions change." See the Authorship Policy section for our approach.
• Write as you go. Methods sections can be drafted during data collection. Introduction literature reviews can begin before analysis is complete. Figures should be iterated throughout. The lab members who finish papers fastest are the ones who started writing early.
• Maintain reproducible workflows. Documented code and organized data make handoffs possible. Undocumented analyses are effectively lost. See the Data Management and Reproducible Science section.

In the Final Year Before Departure

• Prioritize ruthlessly. Not every project needs to be a first-author paper. Some contributions are best as co-authorships or acknowledged datasets.
• Set a realistic publication plan. At least 6 months before departure, we should agree on which manuscripts are feasible to submit before you leave and which will follow the post-departure timeline.
• Begin the Exit Plan early. Do not wait until 8 weeks out. Start the conversation a semester ahead.

UC System and UCSB Institutional Context

This section operates within University of California and UCSB institutional policies. A few key frameworks to be aware of:

• Data ownership. Under the UC Research Data Policy (effective July 2022), research data generated during university research are owned by the UC Regents, not by individual researchers. The PI serves as data steward on behalf of the university. Lab members retain the right to use data from their own projects for dissertations, publications, and career development. If you want to take copies of data when you leave, email the PI with your planned use (approval assumed within 30 days). A Data Transfer and Use Agreement through UCSB TIA may be needed for grant-funded data.
• Coauthorship and theses. The UCSB Graduate Division permits theses to include co-authored chapters, provided the committee certifies the student's individual contributions are sufficient.
• Mentoring responsibilities. The UCSB Mentoring Guidelines establish reciprocal expectations: I must provide timely feedback and clearly communicate expectations; you must inform me immediately if you are unable to complete a project.
• Research ethics. UCSB's RCR training covers authorship, data management, and research misconduct. All lab members are expected to complete RCR training (see the Required Trainings section).
• Data retention. Federal funding agencies require a minimum 3-year retention period; UC's internal standard for IRB-related records is 10 years (UCOP Records Retention). I ensure data is retained for the most stringent applicable period.

Acknowledgment

All lab members review and acknowledge this section when joining the lab and again at the Exit Plan Meeting. This ensures everyone understands the expectations before they become relevant.

References and Resources

Ecology and Conservation Society Standards

• Ecological Society of America Code of Ethics (amended May 2021)
• ESA Professional Ethics Committee
• Society for Conservation Biology Code of Ethics
• British Ecological Society Editorial Policies
• British Ecological Society Data Archiving Policy

National and Professional Standards

• ICMJE Recommendations on Authorship
• CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy — Brand et al. (2015), Learned Publishing 28:151–155
• Office of Research Integrity: Authorship in Faculty-Student Collaborations

UC and UCSB Policies

• UC Research Data Policy FAQs
• UCSB Research Data Guidance
• UCSB TIA Forms & Policies (Data Transfer)
• UCSB Graduate Division: Copyright, Coauthorship, and Reprint Permissions
• UCSB Graduate Division: Responsibilities for Mentors & Students
• UCSB Mentoring Best Practices & Guidelines
• UCSB Office of Research: Responsible Conduct of Research
• UCOP Research Record Retention and Disposition

Other University Policies

• Brown University: Guidelines on Authorship
• University of Alberta: Guidelines for Authorship, Section 10.2
• University of Oregon: Authorship Guidance
• Harvard Medical School: Data Management Offboarding
• Harvard Medical School: Authorship Guidelines

Published Lab Policies and Handbooks

• Tendler, B.C., et al. (2023). Research Culture: Why every lab needs a handbook. eLife, 12, e88853
• Carey Lab, Virginia Tech: Authorship Guidelines
• Lowe-Power Lab, UC Davis: Lab Handbook
• Bahlai Lab, Kent State: Project Completion Checklist
• UCSF Decision Lab: Authorship

Mental Health

Why This Is in the Manual

Graduate school is hard. Not in the vague, "everyone says it's tough" sense, but in ways that are well-documented and measurable. Studies consistently find that around 40% of graduate students experience clinically significant anxiety or depression — roughly six times the rate in the general population. Imposter syndrome is pervasive. Burnout is common. These are not signs of personal weakness. They are structural features of the graduate school experience that need to be actively managed.

I include this section because these problems are common enough that ignoring them would be negligent. If you are struggling, the resources below exist and they work. Use them.

Recognizing Burnout

Burnout builds gradually. By the time you recognize it, it has usually been developing for months. The three core dimensions are:

• Exhaustion: Physical, mental, and emotional depletion that is not resolved by a weekend off. Feeling drained at the end of every day, not just the end of a hard week.
• Cynicism: Losing the sense of purpose or meaning in your research. Feeling resentful about tasks you used to find engaging. Distancing yourself from your work and your labmates.
• Inefficacy: A sense that nothing you do matters or is good enough. Declining confidence in your ability to succeed.

Other warning signs include persistent procrastination, withdrawing from lab activities or social interactions, difficulty concentrating, chronic fatigue, making more frequent mistakes, and avoiding meetings with your advisor. If several of these feel familiar, please talk to someone — me, a labmate, CAPS, or any of the resources below.

What I Commit To

• If you are struggling, I want to know — not to judge, but to help.
• I will not hold it against you if you need time away for your mental health. Treat it the same as physical illness: let me know, take the time you need, and we will figure out the rest.
• I try to model healthy boundaries. When I send an email or Slack message outside business hours, I do not expect a response until the next business day.
• If you come to me with a concern, I will listen and connect you with appropriate resources. I am not a therapist, and I will not pretend to be one. But I will take your concerns seriously and do what I can.

Work-Life Balance

A few things I believe about sustainability in graduate school:

• Rest is productive. Stepping away from a problem often leads to the insight that hours of grinding did not.
• Vacation is real vacation, not "work from home with a nicer view." Take your time off fully. The lab will still be here when you get back.
• There is no prize for being the last person to leave the building. Consistent, focused work during reasonable hours produces better science than chronic overwork.
• Hobbies, exercise, friendships, and time outdoors are not distractions from your academic career. They sustain it.

Campus Resources

UCSB Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

CAPS offers one-time consultations, individual counseling, group therapy, and crisis support. Through UC health insurance, you can also access off-campus mental health appointments.

• Location: Building 599, Annex building 434 (next to Storke Tower)
• Phone: (805) 893-4411 (24/7)

UCSB Mental Health Peer Program

This CAPS-affiliated program trains student counselors who offer mental health resources, workshops, and programs.

• Location: Building 434, next to Storke Tower

Hosford Counseling Clinic

The Education department (Gevirtz Hall) runs this low-cost therapy clinic. Sessions cost $25 for UCSB students, with a sliding scale of $25 to $100.

• Location: Education Building #275, Room #1151
• Phone: (805) 893-8064

Live Health Online

On-demand video appointments, including behavioral services. The copay is $0 with UC SHIP, and no referral is needed.

Graduate Student Wellness Program

UCSB runs grad-specific wellness events covering stress reduction, mindfulness, art therapy, and healthy eating. Includes a weekly Drop-In Wellness Center at the Graduate Student Lounge. Details at wellness.ucsb.edu/graduates.

Academic & Staff Assistance Program (ASAP)

Confidential short-term therapy, consultation, and wellness workshops available to employees (relevant if you hold a TA or GSR appointment).

Ryan Sims, Graduate Division Academic Counselor

Ryan Sims is available for discussions about academic progress and related behavioral health.

• Phone: (805) 893-2068
• Email: ryan.sims@graddiv.ucsb.edu

Student Mental Health Coordination Services (SMHCS)

A single point of contact for reporting concerns about a student in distress. If you are worried about a labmate, this is a resource.

Additional Resources

• CARE (Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education): Confidential advocacy for students affected by sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, and stalking. Offers healing groups.
• Office of the Ombuds: Confidential mediation for disputes with the university.
• UCSB Recreation Center: Two pools, gymnasia, weight rooms, group fitness classes. Access with your student ID.
• Mindful Mondays: Quarterly guided meditation, yoga, and tai chi events through UCSB Recreation.

Travel

UCSB has specific procedures for booking, advances, and reimbursement. These apply to conferences, field sites, and any other university-related travel. Start the process early. Travel paperwork takes longer than you expect. See the Graduate Student Funding section for available travel grants.

Before You Travel

All university travel requires pre-trip approval. Get written authorization from me (or the appropriate PI for the funding source) before making any arrangements. The approval should include the purpose, dates, destination, estimated cost, and the funding source (FRU/project number) that will be charged. Travelers who fail to obtain prior authorization may be personally liable for expenses.

For grant-funded travel, check whether the sponsor has specific approval requirements. Federal grants often require prior written approval for foreign travel.

Booking Through Connexxus

Connexxus is UCSB's travel booking portal. Use it for flights, hotels, and rental cars. It automatically applies UC-negotiated discounts and has several practical advantages:

• Your trip is automatically registered with UC's travel insurance (no separate UC Away registration needed).
• Airfare can be direct-billed to the department.
• Rental cars booked through Connexxus include full CDW/LDW insurance coverage.
• UC-negotiated rates are applied automatically.

Access Connexxus through the BFS website or through the Travel section of Concur. You must be an active UCSB employee. If you book outside Connexxus, you must separately register your trip at UC Away to activate travel insurance.

Rental Cars

Rental cars require prior department approval and will not be reimbursed without it. When booking, use the UC contract IDs: Hertz (72130), Enterprise (XZ32A01), or National (through Connexxus). These contracts include full insurance coverage — decline all additional insurance at the counter. UC will not reimburse purchased additional insurance.

If using a personal vehicle instead, mileage reimbursement is $0.725/mile (as of January 2026). Total mileage cost should not exceed the cost of a rental car or airfare.

Meals and Lodging

For domestic travel, UCSB reimburses actual meal costs (not a flat per diem) up to a daily maximum. Current maximum meal rates (as of September 2025, including tax and service):

• Breakfast: $34
• Lunch: $59
• Dinner: $103

Receipts are required for individual meals exceeding $75. Itemized receipts are always required for lodging. The domestic lodging cap is $333/night (excluding taxes and mandatory hotel fees).

For international travel, you may claim a flat per diem for meals and lodging. Look up foreign per diem rates at the U.S. Department of State website. For domestic rates by city, check the GSA per diem rate tables.

Travel Advances

If you do not have a UC Travel & Entertainment card, you can request a cash advance for trip expenses. Submit the request through Concur between 10 and 30 days before your trip (check with your department — MSI requires 15 business days, some departments require 30 days). Only one advance per trip is allowed.

After your trip, you must clear the advance within 14 days by submitting a Concur expense report, even if you have no additional expenses. If your expenses were less than the advance, reimburse the university for the difference. Advances not settled within 120 days are treated as taxable income.

Reimbursement

Submit your expense report through Concur within 45 days of your return. Some departments have shorter internal deadlines (EEMB uses 30 days — submit to Andi Jorgensen with an itemized receipt). Reimbursements submitted after 45 days may be reported as taxable income.

Keep itemized receipts for everything. Processing typically takes 1-3 weeks once a fully approved report reaches BFS, but this varies.

International Travel

Beyond standard booking and reimbursement, international travel requires additional steps:

• Travel insurance: Book through Connexxus (auto-registers) or register manually at UC Away. This activates UC's global travel insurance, which covers emergency medical evacuation, out-of-country medical expenses, and security extraction.
• Export controls: If traveling to a sanctioned country (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, etc.) or carrying research equipment or data that may be subject to export controls, contact UCSB's Export Control Officer (exportcontrol@research.ucsb.edu) before traveling.
• International students (F-1/J-1): Submit a travel signature request via UCSBGlobal at least 5-10 business days before travel. Ensure your I-20 or DS-2019 has a valid travel signature from OISS.

If Plans Change

Cancel reservations in compliance with the vendor's cancellation terms. Refundable deposits must be returned to the university. Connexxus bookings on UC-negotiated contracts generally include more flexible change and cancellation terms. Contact your departmental travel coordinator for guidance on specific rebooking situations.

Travel Emergencies

If you have an emergency while traveling on university business, call the 24/7 assistance hotline:

• From the US/Canada: 1-855-327-1420
• International (collect): 1-630-694-9804

Coverage includes emergency medical evacuation, out-of-country medical care, security extraction, and lost document replacement. Coverage applies when you are 100+ miles from home on UC-affiliated business. Make sure your trip is registered before departure.

Useful Contacts

• EEMB travel: Andi Jorgensen
• MSI travel: Kim Taylor (travel@msi.ucsb.edu)
• Connexxus and Concur help: concur@bfs.ucsb.edu
• Travel training: financialtraining.ucsb.edu
• UC Away registration: UC Away

Departure & Offboarding

When to Start

Begin the offboarding process 2-3 months before your departure date. Some of these steps take time, and rushing them at the end leads to things falling through the cracks. Use the checklist below as a guide, and check items off with me and Molly as you go.

Offboarding Checklist

• Archive your data. Archive all datasets, code, and metadata on the lab NAS and/or Google Drive. Deposit published data in Dryad, Zenodo, or another appropriate repository. See the Data Management and Reproducible Science section for details on formats, metadata requirements, and the lab's data-after-departure policy.

• Clean out your samples. Remove or properly dispose of samples from freezers, the wet lab, and any shared spaces. If another student will continue processing them, coordinate the handoff directly and label everything clearly with the new point of contact.

• Return keys and equipment. Return all lab keys, equipment, and shared items. Notify Andi Jorgensen (amjorgen@ucsb.edu) about building access removal.

• Update documentation. If you maintained any protocols, equipment logs, or shared documents, make sure they are current. Confirm that another lab member knows where to find them.

• Transfer institutional knowledge. Spend time with the student(s) who will carry on related work. Walk them through your systems, your data, your code, and your equipment workarounds. This is one of the most valuable things you can do for the lab on your way out. The things in your head that feel obvious to you are not obvious to anyone else.

• Return the truck keys. If you had a set, make sure they are back in the designated location.

• Clean your desk and lab bench. Leave your workspace ready for the next person. Remove personal items, recycle old printouts, and wipe down surfaces.

• Settle any outstanding purchases or reimbursements. Submit final expense reports and clear any open purchase orders. Coordinate with Molly on any pending financial items.

Manuscripts in Progress

If you have manuscripts in progress when you leave, we will address them formally through the Exit Plan Meeting, which happens at least 8 weeks before your departure. At that meeting, we classify each project by stage, set specific milestones and deadlines, and document authorship agreements. The goal is simple: make sure your work gets published and that you get credit for it.

The full details — including timelines by role, what happens if progress stalls, authorship reassignment, and my commitments to you — are in the Completing Projects After Departure section. Please read it before the Exit Plan Meeting. It is long because I want everything to be transparent, not because I expect problems.

Exit Conversation

Before you leave, schedule a final meeting with me to discuss:

• How the mentoring and advising relationship worked for you — what helped, what could have been better.
• Any feedback on the lab that might benefit current and future students.
• Your plans and how I can support your next steps (letters of recommendation, introductions, ongoing collaborations).

This conversation is valuable in both directions. Honest feedback from departing lab members has shaped many of the policies in this manual.

If the PI Leaves UCSB

If I take a position at another institution, here is what happens:

1. You will have at least 6 months' notice. I will not spring a move on you. Faculty transitions take time, and you will know well before anything is final.
2. Graduate students choose. You will be given the choice to transfer with the lab or remain at UCSB. If you stay, I will work with the department to ensure a transition plan: a new advisor or co-advisor, continued funding through current grants for their remaining terms, and committee continuity.
3. Ongoing grants are honored. Funding committed to your support continues through its term regardless of where I am based. If a grant moves with me, your funding moves with it (or equivalent support is arranged at UCSB).
4. Data and samples remain accessible. All lab members who contributed to datasets or sample collections retain access, regardless of where I or the data physically end up.
5. Postdocs and staff will receive comparable notice and transition support, including help with job searches if their positions cannot transfer.

This is not a scenario I am planning for, but it happens in academia. Having a policy before it matters is better than scrambling after.

Staying Connected

Former lab members are always welcome at lab meetings, lab events, and Mo'orea field seasons if logistics allow. Many continue to collaborate, co-author papers, and support current students long after they move on.

Before you go, update your mailing address, personal email, and phone number so I can reach you for reference letters and questions about your data. Stay on the lab Slack if you want. There is no expiration date.

Library & Suggestions

Your Subject Librarian

Kristen Labonte is the EEMB subject librarian. Set up your Library account at the front desk. Checkout periods vary by position. You can also schedule a one-on-one research consultation with a librarian through LibCal — they can help with literature search strategies, navigating citation databases, and locating specialized resources.

Off-Campus Journal Access

You will need to access journal articles from off-campus regularly. There are three ways to do this:

• VPN (recommended): Install the Ivanti VPN client. Once connected, your computer behaves as if on-campus and all publisher sites recognize your access automatically. This is the most reliable method. See the Technology section for VPN setup.
• Library proxy: When you navigate through the UCSB Library website or UC Library Search, links are automatically proxied. If you land on an unproxied publisher page, use the library's Off-Campus Access Bookmark Tool (a browser bookmarklet) to re-route through the proxy.
• UC Library Search: Searching through UC Library Search authenticates you automatically for article PDFs.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

If UCSB does not have a journal article or book you need, request it through Interlibrary Loan. The fastest way is to search UC Library Search and select "Request through Interlibrary Loan" under "How to get it." Articles are delivered electronically as PDFs. Books are sent physically to the Library Services Desk. For book chapters, use the article request form and enter the chapter title under "Article Title." Contact: library-ill@ucsb.edu or (805) 893-3436.

Key Databases for Marine Ecology

The EEMB LibGuide is your best starting point for discipline-specific resources. Databases you should know:

• Web of Science: Essential for citation tracking, h-index metrics, and comprehensive literature searching across all sciences.
• Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA): Covers aquaculture, marine biology, fisheries, oceanography, and conservation. Especially relevant for our work.
• BIOSIS Citation Index: Comprehensive life sciences indexing including ecology, marine biology, and conservation biology.
• Google Scholar: Configure it to recognize UCSB access by going to Settings > Library links and searching for "UC Santa Barbara."

Data Management Services

The library's Research Data Services (RDS) team offers free consultations on data management plans for grant proposals (NSF, NIH), data organization and documentation, choosing repositories for data publication, and making data FAIR-compliant. They also run workshops on data tools and reproducible workflows. Contact: rds@library.ucsb.edu.

GIS and Geospatial Resources

The DREAM Lab (formerly the Interdisciplinary Research Collaboratory) houses one of the largest academic map and geospatial data collections in the country. They provide workstations with ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, and access to historical aerial photographs, government datasets, and spatial data. One-on-one GIS consultations are available. Contact: dreamlab@library.ucsb.edu. The library also maintains a Geospatial Data LibGuide.

Open Access and eScholarship

Under UC's Presidential Open Access Policy, graduate students can deposit published work into eScholarship, UC's institutional repository. You retain copyright and grant UC a non-exclusive right to publish. All UCSB theses and dissertations are deposited into eScholarship and made openly available (with optional embargo of 6 months to 2 years). Contact: openaccess@library.ucsb.edu.

Suggestions?

If you have comments, questions, or items that belong in this document or any other lab document, please let me or Molly (lab manager) know. This manual is a living document. It improves when people flag what is missing or unclear.

Mo'orea Fieldwork

Overview

Much of the lab's research takes place on the island of Mo'orea in French Polynesia. Field seasons are a defining part of the graduate experience in this lab. They are also logistically complex, physically demanding, and culturally rich. This section covers what you need to know.

The Gump Station

We are based at the UC Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station, located on Cook's Bay, Mo'orea. The station provides:

• Housing: On-station housing is available for researchers. Coordinate with me and the station manager well in advance, as space fills up during peak season.
• Lab space: Wet and dry lab facilities are available at the station. Discuss your specific needs with me before arriving so space and equipment can be arranged.
• Meals: Meals are self-cooked. There is a shared kitchen at the station, and grocery stores are accessible on the island. Budget and plan accordingly.

Timing and Duration

A typical field season runs about 3 months during the summer, often starting in May. Not every student goes every year. Timing depends on your research stage and project needs. Discuss field season plans with me well before the start of the calendar year so that travel, permits, and funding can be arranged.

Workload and Appointment During Field Seasons

Field seasons in Mo'orea require full-time effort — long days in the water, sample processing, data entry, and equipment maintenance. This reality needs to be squared with your appointment percentage.

If your appointment is 50% GSR (20 hours/week), we will address the gap in one of the following ways before the field season begins:

• Increase your appointment to 100% GSR for the duration of the field period.
• Formally designate field time as dissertation research, not GSR duties, so that your GSR hours remain within your appointment.
• Provide compensatory time after the field season — reduced lab obligations for a defined period.

We will not ask you to work full-time hours on a half-time appointment without addressing the mismatch. Discuss this with me during field season planning so we can document the arrangement in advance. If your workload during fieldwork exceeds what you believe is appropriate for your appointment, raise it — with me, with the Graduate Advisor, or through your union (UAW 4811 Article 2 covers GSR workload limits).

Travel and Funding

Mo'orea trips are typically funded through my grants. Book all travel through Connexxus (UCSB's travel booking portal). For international travel, you must also register at UC Away for UC travel insurance coverage.

Start the booking and paperwork process early. International travel through university systems takes longer than you expect.

Research Permits

Research in French Polynesia requires permits. These are one of the least exciting but most critical parts of international fieldwork. You cannot conduct research without them. Failing to obtain proper permits puts the lab's long-term access to the site at risk.

• Protocole d'accueil: You need a research permit (Protocole d'accueil) to travel to Mo'orea and conduct research at the Gump Station. The Gump Station staff can help with this process, but you need to plan well ahead. Applications can take weeks to months.
• CITES permits: If your research involves returning coral samples (or other CITES-listed organisms) to the United States, you will need a CITES export permit from French Polynesia and a CITES import permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Start this process at least 4 months before departure. It is one of the most time-consuming pieces of international fieldwork logistics.
• Declaration APA: All biodiversity sampling requires filing a declaration with DIREN (Direction de l'Environnement) under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. This is mandatory.
• Fisheries permits: Collection of marine animals, especially using SCUBA, requires permits from the French Polynesian fisheries department.
• Housing reservations: Book housing at the Gump Station through the UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) reservation system at RAMS. Submit your application at least 2 months before your first visit to allow time for immigration paperwork.
• General advice: Start the permit process as early as possible and keep me informed of your progress. Build in extra time for delays, especially if this is your first trip.

Permit Details and Workflow

CPCC (Collection Permit): The Comite de la Peche et de la Culture en Collectivite controls collection permits for French Polynesia. The application requires:

1. Map your collection sites using Google Earth. Include GPS coordinates for each site.
2. Verify that none of your sites fall within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
3. Specify species and quantities (e.g., 500 Porites, 500 Pocillopora, 50 Favia). Be generous in your estimates — you cannot collect more than permitted, but unused quota is fine.
4. Submit through Maheata (our primary contact at DIREN). I will review before submission.
5. Allow 4-8 weeks for processing.

Bilan des prelevements (Annual Collection Report): After each field season, we must file an annual collection report with DIREN documenting what was actually collected. This requires accurate records of species and quantities taken at each site. Track your collections in real time during fieldwork (see the Data Management and Reproducible Science section). The lab manager compiles the final report.

Research permit sharing: The lab can use a single research permit for multiple researchers. Each person attaches it to their individual fiche de synthese (summary sheet). Coordinate with the lab manager on this.

North Shore moratorium: As of 2026, the North Shore of Mo'orea remains under a collection moratorium. Do not plan collection activities on the North Shore without checking the current status of this restriction with me.

Permit storage: All current and historical permits are stored in Google Drive (Stier Lab > Admin > Permits). File new permits there immediately upon receipt.

Dive and Boat Readiness

Before each field season, every diver and boat operator must confirm their certifications and equipment are current. These items expire on different schedules, so start checking 2-3 months before departure.

Pre-Season Checklist

• CPR/First Aid certification: Must be current through the end of your field season. Trainings are offered monthly through Marine Operations. Sign up early — sessions fill up. Check your expiration date now and schedule a refresher if needed.
• SCUBA gear inspection: Contact Eric Hessell at Marine Operations to schedule an equipment inspection. Drop off your gear at least 1-2 weeks before departure. Eric will update your Webdiver profile once the inspection passes.
• Webdiver profile: Your scientific diving authorization, medical clearance, and logged dives must be current in the Webdiver system. Review your profile annually and update dive logs. Marine Operations uses this to verify your authorization.
• Boating and diving plan: The lab's boating and diving plan must be current and approved before fieldwork. Check the expiration date and work with Molly to update and resubmit if needed. The plan is filed through Webdiver.
• Tiller boat training: If you will be operating small boats, you need tiller boat certification through Marine Operations. Contact Carly at the boatyard to schedule training. This is separate from your general boating certification.
• DAN insurance: Divers Alert Network insurance must be active for the duration of your fieldwork. Renew annually.
• Trailer and boat maintenance: Before Mo'orea trips that involve trailering the boat, coordinate with Tony at Marine Operations to verify the trailer is road-worthy and the boat is serviced.

Contacts

• Eric Hessell — Dive Safety Officer, gear inspections, Webdiver
• Carly — Boatyard, tiller boat training
• Tony — Trailer and boat maintenance
• Marine Operations — marineops.ucsb.edu

Equipment and Shipping

• Large equipment is typically shipped to the station in advance. Work with me and Molly Brzezinski (lab manager) on shipping logistics, customs requirements, and timing.
• Smaller gear and personal equipment is often brought in duffel bags. Pack thoughtfully. Replacement parts and specialty items are not easy to find on the island.
• We maintain shared equipment at the Gump Station, including field supplies (transect tapes, zip-locks, vials), lab equipment (balances, microscopes), and dive gear. These are available to all lab members working in Mo'orea. Replace items as they are used, lost, or destroyed. Please help maintain a current inventory.
• Make an equipment list and review it with me and experienced lab members before your first trip.

Packing for Mo'orea

Field seasons are typically 2-3 months. You are packing for a working research trip in a tropical environment with limited shopping options. Think practically.

Essentials to Bring

• Reef shoes (hard-soled, closed-toe) — mandatory for lagoon work. Stonefish are real.
• Wetsuit — a 3mm full suit is standard. Bring your own if possible; loaner gear is limited.
• Rashguards/lycra suits — for sun protection and coral cut prevention during long dive days.
• Reef-safe sunscreen (SPF 50+) — bring a large supply. UV index is extreme (10-12+) and local options are expensive. Check that it is oxybenzone-free and octinoxate-free.
• DEET insect repellent (20%+) — for dengue prevention. Mosquitoes are worst at dawn and dusk.
• Rain jacket — it rains even in the dry season.
• Headlamp — essential for early morning and evening work, and for power outages.
• Dry bags — for protecting electronics on the boat and during transport.
• Personal medications — bring your full supply in original packaging. The island pharmacy is limited.
• Laptop and charger — bring a power strip with a European adapter (French outlets, Type C/E). Gump Station has some adapters, but bring your own.

What Is Available on the Island

• Groceries — multiple grocery stores on Mo'orea (Champion, Chez Daniel). Prices are roughly 2x mainland France. Budget $400-600/month for self-catering.
• Basic supplies — hardware stores, pharmacies, and general stores exist but selection is limited.
• Dive gear rental — available through the station for some items, but do not rely on this for critical personal gear.
• Laundry — the station has washing machines. Bring enough clothes for about a week between loads.

Luggage

Airlines to Papeete typically allow 2 checked bags (23 kg each) on international flights and 1 bag (23 kg) on the Air Tahiti inter-island flight. Overweight fees add up fast. Ship heavy or bulky research equipment in advance through the lab (coordinate with Molly). Pack personal gear light and focus on what you cannot buy on the island.

Being a Guest in Mo'orea

Mo'orea is not just a field site. It is home to a Polynesian community with a deep cultural history, including a colonial history that shapes daily life. As visiting researchers, you are guests. Keep this in mind:

• Learn some French and Tahitian. French is the administrative language and what you will use in stores, restaurants, and with many community members. Even basic Tahitian greetings and phrases go a long way toward building goodwill and showing respect. Make the effort.
• Be respectful of local customs, spaces, and relationships. You are representing UCSB, the Gump Station, and this lab. How you conduct yourself affects the community's willingness to host future researchers.
• Engage with the community. The relationships between the station and local residents matter. Be a thoughtful neighbor, not just a visiting scientist.

Health Preparations

Visit a travel medicine clinic at least 4-6 weeks before departure. Mo'orea has no malaria, but there are other health considerations.

Recommended vaccinations (confirm with your travel clinic):

• Hepatitis A and B
• Typhoid (especially if eating outside tourist establishments)
• Routine vaccines up to date (Tdap, MMR, COVID-19)
• Rabies pre-exposure vaccination (consider if doing extensive outdoor/animal work)

Medications to carry:

• Ciprofloxacin or azithromycin for traveler's diarrhea (get a prescription from your travel clinic)
• Topical antibiotic ointment (bacitracin or mupirocin) for coral cuts — these are your most common injury
• Oral antibiotics (e.g., cephalexin) for wound infections, since coral cuts embed calcareous fragments and marine bacteria that make tropical wound infections aggressive
• Hydrocortisone cream for stings and rashes
• DEET-based insect repellent (20%+ concentration) — dengue is mosquito-borne and outbreaks occur in French Polynesia
• Reef-safe sunscreen (SPF 50+). The UV index in Mo'orea is extreme (10-12+). You will burn in under 15 minutes without protection
• Any personal prescriptions in original labeled packaging

Insurance:

• Confirm your UC health insurance covers international travel and emergency medical evacuation
• All SCUBA diving researchers should carry DAN (Divers Alert Network) insurance
• Register at UC Away for UC travel insurance

Phone and Communication

Local SIM cards: Vini is the main carrier in French Polynesia with 4G coverage on Mo'orea. Buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM at the airport in Papeete before taking the ferry. A 20-40 GB tourist plan costs roughly $35-75 USD for 30 days. This is far cheaper than US carrier roaming.

WiFi: The Gump Station provides WiFi, but bandwidth is limited. Do not plan on large data transfers over station internet.

Emergency numbers (save these in your phone before fieldwork begins):

• SAMU (emergency medical): 15
• Police: 17
• Fire: 18
• Hospital of Mo'orea (Afareaitu): +689 40 55 22 22
• U.S. Consular Agent in Papeete: +689 40 42 65 35

Pre-Trip Checklist

Documents and permits (start 2-4 months before departure):

• Passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your return date, with at least one blank page
• Convention d'accueil (host agreement) arranged through the Gump Station
• Work permit (Carte de Travail) — the Gump Station assists with this
• CITES export/import permits if transporting specimens (start 4+ months ahead)
• Declaration APA filed with DIREN if sampling biodiversity (required under the Nagoya Protocol)
• Fisheries permits if collecting marine animals
• UC travel insurance registration (UC Away)
• DAN dive insurance (if diving)
• Gump Station housing reservation through RAMS

Health and safety:

• Travel clinic visit (4-6 weeks before departure)
• Vaccinations current
• Prescription medications and first aid supplies packed
• SCUBA certifications and UC scientific diving authorization confirmed
• Emergency contact card completed

Logistics:

• Flights booked through Connexxus
• Equipment list reviewed with me and experienced lab members
• Shipping arranged for large equipment (coordinate with Molly Brzezinski)
• Local SIM card or eSIM plan selected
• Copies of passport, permits, and insurance stored digitally and with a labmate at home
• Budget for self-catering meals (grocery stores are available on the island, but plan ahead)

Before leaving:

• Notify labmates and relevant contacts of your travel dates and return
• Set up out-of-office email if appropriate
• Confirm lab responsibilities are covered while you are away

Safety

General lab and field safety protocols apply (see the Safety section). Mo'orea-specific hazards are covered below. All first-time travelers will attend a pre-departure safety briefing with me and experienced lab members.

Medical Facilities

The Hospital of Mo'orea in Afareaitu provides basic emergency care. For serious injuries, surgical emergencies, or critical care, patients must be transferred to Centre Hospitalier de la Polynesie Francaise (CHPF/Taaone Hospital) in Papeete, Tahiti. Transport options include helicopter (dispatched by SAMU, call 15), the high-speed ferry (30 minutes), or Air Tahiti (7 minutes).

The nearest hyperbaric (recompression) chamber is at CHPF in Papeete. There is no chamber on Mo'orea. All dive planning must account for this transfer time.

Ocean Hazards

Venomous marine life:

• Stonefish are the most dangerous hazard. They are perfectly camouflaged on the reef and in sand. Stepping on one causes extreme pain and requires emergency medical attention. First aid: immerse in hot water (above 45C/113F) for at least 20 minutes. Seek medical care immediately. Always wear hard-soled reef shoes in the lagoon. Never walk barefoot on the reef or sandy bottom.
• Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS): Venomous spines cause intense pain, swelling, and nausea. Mo'orea has experienced major COTS outbreaks. Wear puncture-resistant gloves when working on the reef.
• Cone snails can fire venomous barbed darts. Some species are potentially lethal. Never pick up or handle cone shells.
• Fire coral (Millepora spp.) causes immediate burning pain on contact. Rinse with vinegar and apply hydrocortisone.
• Lionfish and scorpionfish have venomous spines. First aid: hot water immersion.
• Sea urchins (especially Diadema): maintain buoyancy control while diving. Wear booties in the lagoon.

Sharks: Mo'orea's waters support healthy shark populations, including blacktip reef sharks (common in the lagoon), grey reef sharks (passes and fore reef), and lemon sharks. They are generally not aggressive toward divers, but follow standard protocols: do not carry bleeding fish, avoid diving passes at dusk or dawn, do not corner or block sharks, and avoid erratic movements.

Currents: Tidal currents through reef passes can be very strong and unpredictable. Only experienced divers should work in passes. Always check tide tables and current conditions. Carry surface marker buoys. Never dive passes alone.

Coral cuts: The most common field injury. Coral embeds calcareous fragments and marine bacteria (including Vibrio species) into wounds, and tropical infections can escalate quickly. Treatment: flush with diluted hydrogen peroxide to remove debris, rinse with fresh water, apply topical antibiotic 3-4 times daily, and monitor closely. Begin oral antibiotics at the first sign of infection (expanding redness, warmth, pus). Rapidly spreading redness with blisters is a medical emergency. Prevention: wear full wetsuits or lycra suits, maintain buoyancy control, wear gloves.

Ciguatera

Ciguatera fish poisoning is a real risk on Mo'orea. The toxin originates from dinoflagellates on reef algae and bioaccumulates in reef fish. It cannot be detected by appearance, smell, or taste, and cooking does not destroy it. Symptoms include gastrointestinal distress followed by neurological effects (tingling, cold-hot reversal, joint pain) that can persist for weeks.

Avoid eating large reef predators (barracuda, grouper, snapper, moray eel). Pelagic fish caught in open water (tuna, mahi-mahi) are generally safe. Follow local advice about which areas and species to avoid.

Heat, Sun, and Mosquitoes

The UV index is extreme year-round. Wear sun-protective clothing, hats, and reef-safe sunscreen. Reapply frequently, especially after diving.

Dengue fever is the most significant mosquito-borne disease risk in French Polynesia. Protect against mosquito bites during daytime hours with DEET repellent and long sleeves at dawn and dusk. Symptoms of dengue include sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and joint pain. Seek medical attention if you develop these symptoms.

Climate During Field Season (May-August)

The typical field season falls during the austral dry season. Air temperatures average 28-29C (82-84F) with lows around 21-23C (70-73F). Water temperatures range from 25-28C (77-82F). A 3mm wetsuit is adequate; some researchers prefer a full suit for extended dives in July-August. Southeast trade winds are common (15-25 knots) and can create rough conditions on the windward side of the island. This period is well outside cyclone season (November-April).

Lab Meetings

Overview

We hold lab meetings weekly during the academic year. They typically run about an hour to ninety minutes. During the summer, we pause. Most of the lab is in Mo'orea or otherwise deep in fieldwork, and the rhythm of the quarter does not apply. When we are back on campus in the fall, lab meetings pick up again.

Lab meeting is the one time each week when the whole group is in the same room thinking together.

Format

We use a rotating sign-up system. At the start of each quarter, everyone claims one or two weeks. The person who signs up for a given week sets the agenda and leads the meeting. You decide what you need from the group that day. It is your time to use well.

Some common formats:

• Project workshopping. Walk us through a study design, a confusing result, or an analysis you are stuck on. Bring the messy version. We will help you think through it.

• Manuscript or proposal feedback. Circulate a draft (or a section of one) at least a few days in advance so people can read it carefully. Use the meeting to discuss framing, logic, and structure rather than line edits.

• Practice talks. Before a conference, defense, or job talk, use lab meeting for a full run-through. We will give you honest feedback on content, pacing, and clarity.

• Paper discussion. Pick a paper, book chapter, or essay that is shaping your thinking. It does not have to be in our subfield. Some of the best discussions come from work that challenges how we see our own questions.

• Brainstorming sessions. Got a half-formed idea for a new project or collaboration? Bring it. The group is good at pressure-testing ideas and finding angles you have not considered.

• Visitors. When a job candidate or seminar speaker visits, we sometimes use lab meeting for an informal conversation with them.

• Lab values check-in. Periodically, we use lab meeting to check in on how we are doing as a group — what is working well, what could be better, and whether anything needs attention.

There is no single "right" way to lead a lab meeting. Some people use slides. Some draw on the whiteboard. Some just talk. The only requirement is that you come prepared and give the rest of us enough context to be useful.

Attendance

Lab meeting attendance is expected for all graduate students and postdocs. If you have a conflict (a TA section, a medical appointment, fieldwork), that is fine. Just let us know. But treat it as a real commitment, not an optional event.

Undergraduates are welcome and encouraged to attend, even if you are just observing. You will learn a lot about how scientific thinking works by watching people wrestle with ideas in real time.

Presenting Unfinished Work

Leading a lab meeting can feel intimidating, especially early in your career. You are standing in front of people you respect, presenting work that is not finished. That is the point. The best lab meetings happen when someone is honest about where the gaps are and what is not working. If you only ever present polished work, you are not getting what you need from the group.

In return, we ask questions to understand, not to perform. We challenge ideas to make the work stronger. And we take seriously the questions that feel too basic to ask — those are often the ones that matter most.

Departmental Seminars

Beyond our own lab meetings, EEMB departmental seminars are an important part of intellectual life at UCSB. I encourage everyone to attend when your schedule permits. The talks expose you to ideas and systems well outside your own work. That breadth matters. Some of the most interesting questions in ecology emerge at the boundaries between subfields. When you do attend a seminar, talk about it with labmates afterward. Even a quick conversation over coffee can sharpen your thinking about your own research.

Science Communication

Why It Matters

We study ecosystems that people care about — coral reefs, marine communities, the ocean. The public funds our work and is affected by what we discover. Communicating our science beyond academic journals is not optional or extracurricular. It is part of the job.

That said, communicating well to non-specialist audiences is a skill, and like any skill it requires practice and thought. This section covers expectations and some practical guidance.

Representing the Lab

When you give a public talk, post on social media about your research, talk to a journalist, or write for a general audience, you are representing yourself, the lab, and UCSB.

A few principles:

• Be accurate. Do not overstate your findings. Resist the temptation to make results sound more dramatic or certain than they are. Uncertainty is part of science, and the public respects honesty more than hype.
• Stay in your lane. Speak with authority about your own work and your area of expertise. When asked about topics outside your expertise, say so. "That is not my area, but here is someone who would know" is a perfectly good answer.
• Credit your collaborators. Science is collaborative. When discussing work publicly, acknowledge the team.
• Distinguish your views from the lab's. If you are expressing a personal opinion (about policy, management, or anything controversial), make clear that you are speaking for yourself and not for the lab or UCSB.

Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for sharing your work, building your professional network, and engaging with the public and other scientists. Many ecology careers have benefited from a thoughtful social media presence. I encourage you to use it if it fits your style.

Some guidance:

• Share your science. Post about your publications, fieldwork, conference talks, and scientific interests. Photos and short videos from the field do well and help people connect with what we do.
• Engage constructively. Academic social media can be contentious. You do not need to participate in every debate. When you do engage, be professional and assume good faith.
• Think before posting. The internet is permanent. A quick reaction to a controversy can follow you for years. If you are unsure about something, sleep on it or ask a labmate.
• Protect unpublished work. Sharing fieldwork photos and general project updates is fine. Sharing unpublished results, figures, or data is not — unless you and your co-authors have agreed to it.

Talking to Journalists and Media

If a reporter contacts you about your work, great. A few things to know:

• You can say yes. You do not need my permission or UCSB's to talk to a reporter, though giving me a heads-up is appreciated.
• You can ask for questions in advance. Most reporters will share their questions or topic beforehand if you ask.
• You can review quotes. It is reasonable to ask to see your quotes before publication. Not all reporters will agree, but many will.
• UCSB Public Affairs can help. If a media request feels big or sensitive, the UCSB Office of Public Affairs and Communication can provide media training and help you prepare. They are at news.ucsb.edu.
• Talk to me if a media inquiry involves anything politically sensitive, controversial, or related to a grant funder. Not because you need permission, but because it helps to think through framing together.

Outreach and Broader Impacts

Many grants (especially NSF) require broader impacts activities. More importantly, outreach connects our work to the communities affected by it. Opportunities include:

• UCSB's Research Experience and Education Facility (REEF) and the campus aquarium
• Local school visits and classroom presentations
• Science nights and community events in Santa Barbara
• Outreach tied to fieldwork in Mo'orea (working with local schools and communities)
• Writing for general-audience outlets (blogs, The Conversation, popular science magazines)

If outreach is important to you, include it in your IDP and we will make space for it. It counts as real, valuable work in this lab.

Onboarding Checklist

We are excited to welcome you to our community. We want your transition into the research group to go smoothly. This checklist and the activities below will help you get started in your first quarter. Ask me any questions you have!

Web Services & Accounts

Slack (Primary Communication)

Slack is my primary communication tool and the fastest way to reach me. The lab uses it for day-to-day communication, quick questions, coordination, and sharing updates. It is available as a web platform, desktop app, and phone app.

• Download at slack.com
• Request access to the Stier Lab workspace: stierlab.slack.com
• Create or join topic-specific channels for projects you're involved with

Email & Google Calendar

Email works well for longer-form communication and anything that needs a paper trail. Be aware that emails can get lost in my inbox. If something is time-sensitive and you have not heard back, follow up on Slack.

Once you have your UCSB email and Connect account:

• We'll add you to the Stier Lab Google Group (stierlab@googlegroups.com) for lab-wide emails
• We'll share the Stier Lab calendar (departmental events, conferences, holidays) and the Stier Lab Availability calendar (personal schedules for coordinating meetings)
• Populate the calendar with your vacation dates, seminars, meetings, or anything else the lab should know about

Google Drive

Our shared repository for lab materials.

• Log in with your @ucsb.edu account and request an invitation to the Stier Lab shared folder
• Note: UCSB Google Drive storage is limited to 150 GB per account (shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos). For large datasets, use the lab NAS or UCSB Box (unlimited storage) instead
• The desktop app for Google Drive is often easier to work with than the web interface

UCSB Box

UCSB provides unlimited Box cloud storage. This is your best option for large file backup alongside the lab NAS.

Zotero

Our preferred citation manager.

• Create an account at zotero.org
• Send your username to me or a labmate, and we'll invite you to the lab's shared citation groups
• You can also create personal libraries and share them with collaborators

VPN (Ivanti Secure Access)

For off-campus access to UCSB library resources, the lab NAS, and other campus services. Requires Duo multi-factor authentication.

• Setup instructions at it.ucsb.edu/ivanti-secure-access-campus-vpn

Files to Review

Once you're connected to the Stier Lab shared folder, familiarize yourself with the following files and folders (these are linked directly in the shared Google Drive folder):

• Academic Advice folder: Tips and resources for various stages of your academic career
• Admin folder: Important forms and administrative information
• Consolidated Funding List (in Funding folder): Fellowships and funding opportunities with deadlines
• Resources folder: Helpful documents on a range of topics, plus materials for creating figures and presentations
• Stier Lab Inventory: Current lab inventory, useful for identifying available equipment
• Stier Lab Working Agreement: General principles for interpersonal interaction and workplace culture. Reviewed and updated at the first lab meeting of each academic year
• Stier Lab Manual: This document. Logistics, information, and policies for UCSB and the lab
• Stier Lab SCUBA Manual: Guidelines and resources for local fieldwork and diving at UCSB

Arriving in Santa Barbara

Housing

UCSB does not guarantee housing for graduate students, so start looking early. Common options:

• UCSB Graduate Housing: Apply through housing.ucsb.edu. San Clemente Villages and Sierra Madre Villages are popular with grad students. Waitlists can be long — apply as soon as you accept your offer.
• Isla Vista: The neighborhood adjacent to campus. Walking/biking distance. Affordable by SB standards. Most leases start in September. Check Craigslist, Facebook groups ("UCSB Housing"), and local property managers (Wolfe & Associates, SN Management, Embarcadero Company).
• Goleta / Santa Barbara: More options but may require a car or bus commute. The MTD bus line 11 and 24x serve campus well.

Parking

If you drive to campus, purchase a parking permit through tps.ucsb.edu. Annual permits sell out early (July-August). Remote lots are cheaper and have shuttle service. Many lab members bike or take the bus — UCSB students ride MTD buses free with their Access Card.

Getting Around

• Bike: The most common mode of transport on campus and in IV. Register your bike with UCSB CSO to deter theft. Invest in a good U-lock.
• Bus: MTD buses are free for UCSB students. Route info at sbmtd.gov.
• Car: Useful for grocery runs and fieldwork logistics, but not necessary for daily campus life.

Keys and Building Access

• Noble Hall, Bio2 keys: Pick up from Kurt Bellefeuille in the Bio Storeroom (Bldg 569, Rm 1101). Andi Jorgensen or I can submit the key request form on the UCSB website on your behalf. Allow at least 24 hours before pickup.
• Digital access (ID card): Email Andi Jorgensen (amjorgen@ucsb.edu) with your UCSB ID number and which buildings you need access to (MSRB, LSB, Bio 2).
• The Point / boatyard / aquarium: Coordinate with Christoph Pierre (pierre@lifesci.ucsb.edu) for keys and access codes.

See the Facilities section of the Lab Manual for the full key list.

WiFi and Network

• Connect to LifeSci[BuildingName] for computers and LifeSciGadget for phones
• You'll need a Life Sciences Computing Group (LSCG) appointment for new devices. Visit lscg.ucsb.edu/help or email help@lscg.ucsb.edu to submit a request
• Request connection to both WiFi and Ethernet in your office. Ethernet helps a lot with upload speed for video calls
• If your computer doesn't have an Ethernet port, purchase a USB-to-Ethernet adapter before your LSCG appointment
• Your LSCG/ADS username is typically your last name (not your UCNetID)

Required Trainings

Complete these as soon as possible. See the Required Trainings section of the Lab Manual for full details:

• UC Learning Center account setup (learningcenter.ucsb.edu)
• Cyber Security Awareness Training
• Fundamentals of Laboratory Safety
• UC Preventing Harassment & Discrimination
• Gateway 101 (if you will be ordering supplies)
• LHAT Group training (I will add you to the Stier Lab LHAT Group)
• IACUC training (if your research involves animals, start early because this takes time)

UCSB ID Card

Get your ID at the information desk at the University Center. Have your Perm number ready. Check with EEMB about the $30 reimbursement.

Individual Development Plan (IDP)

All lab members complete and review an IDP each year. The IDP sets milestones, tracks progress, and gives structure to conversations about your professional development with me.

Getting Started

Begin with a self-assessment. Complete the assessments at:

• ChemIDP (ACS): chemidp.acs.org (Skills, Interests, and Values assessments — works for all STEM fields, not just chemistry)
• University of Wisconsin IDP guide: grad.wisc.edu/professional-development/individual-development-plan
• Rutgers IDP guide: grad.rutgers.edu/academics/individual-development-plans

Save your results for future comparison.

Self-Assessment Questions

Use the information from these assessments to reflect on the following. These are starting points for your IDP conversations with me, not a to-do list. Your answers will change as your circumstances evolve.

Strengths and growth areas:

• What are your biggest strengths coming into this position? (List at least 3)
• In which areas do you most want to improve during your time in the lab? (List at least 3)

Past accomplishments (if applicable):

• What are the biggest improvements you've made or skills you've learned in the past year?
• How did your progress compare to what you had planned?
• What goals did you not make adequate progress on, and what steps can you take this year?
• List your tangible outcomes from the previous year (publications, presentations, certifications, etc.)

Present goals:

• What skills, techniques, or approaches do you most need to succeed in your current position? Do you already have them, or do you need to develop them?
• What steps can you take on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis to maintain good habits and make progress toward your goals?

Future goals:

• What is your "next step" career goal? What skills will be most important, and do you already have them?
• What is your longer-term career goal? How do the skills differ from those needed for your next step?

Goal-Setting

Here is a tool for short and long-term goal-setting: ChemIDP Career Planning

Use the SMART framework when setting goals:

Track your goals using a simple table:

Additional IDP Resources

• ACS ChemIDP: chemidp.acs.org
• Rutgers IDP: grad.rutgers.edu/academics/individual-development-plans
• FSU IDP: gradschool.fsu.edu/current-students/individual-development-plan-idp
• UC Berkeley IDP: career.berkeley.edu/grad-students-postdocs
• Stanford IDP (year-specific forms): oge.stanford.edu/academics/idp

First-Quarter Priorities

• Complete all required trainings
• Get keys and building access set up
• Connect to WiFi, Ethernet, Slack, Google Drive, and Zotero
• Read the Lab Manual, Working Agreement, and SCUBA Manual
• Complete your first IDP draft and schedule an initial meeting with me
• Complete the Mentor/Mentee Agreement with me (see the Mentoring and Advising Structure section)
• Review and sign the Lab Working Agreement at the first lab meeting of the year
• Set up at least two backup locations for your research data (see the Data Management and Reproducible Science section)
• Meet the people in the Valuable Contacts section, especially Andi Jorgensen, Mengshu Ye, and the marine operations staff if you'll be doing fieldwork
• If eligible for NSF GRFP, begin preparing your application immediately (see the Graduate Student Funding section)

Lab Working Agreement

This agreement is reviewed and signed by all lab members at the first lab meeting of each academic year. It captures the shared principles we hold ourselves to as a group. It is a living document — if something needs to change, raise it and we will update it together.

Values

• Be nice and work hard
• Collaborate and share
• Be open-minded
• Give power to others
• Respect other people's time
• Normalize "I don't know yet"
• Give credit, take responsibility
• Celebrate success
• Respect unique work habits
• Leave things better than you found them
• Facilitate a diverse environment
• Build consensus
• Take calculated risks

Communication

• All ideas are valid
• Amplify diverse viewpoints
• Be present
• Make time even when you are busy
• Ask for help
• Acknowledge communications
• Be brief — share air time
• Provide rigorous and sympathetic criticism
• Respect deep work
• Listen first, speak second, do not interrupt

Process

Meetings

• Come prepared
• Set an agenda
• Start on time, end on time
• Take notes, send notes
• Identify a facilitator

Project Management

• Set realistic deadlines and adjust when needed
• Break down projects into manageable steps

Mode of Contact

• Slack (primary, day-to-day)
• Email (longer-form, external collaborators, paper trails)

This agreement was developed collaboratively by the Stier Lab. Each member signs it at the start of the academic year. If you have suggestions for changes, bring them to a lab meeting or raise them with Adrian.

Exit Plan Template

Use this template at the Exit Plan Meeting (see the Completing Projects After Departure section). One copy is signed and kept in the lab shared drive.

Header

Project Inventory

Copy this table for each project.

Data and Code Checklist

Communication Plan

Signatures