marine science • painting • scientific videography
I’m Jaden Orli, a marine ecologist trained in biology at the College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. I work where field programs, population models, and public-facing communication meet, so that decisions land with both policymakers and communities.
~ 450 Dives ~ 100 Scientific Certified to 60 Feet Seine Surveys Small-Boat Operations
I dive kelp forests as a scientific diver certified by the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), and in salt marsh I lead and assist seining and trap-based surveys. I’m comfortable with tide windows, low visibility, and team logistics.
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Mitigation Monitoring Program (Laboratory Technician, 2025 to 2026)
Intensive salt-marsh surveys for fish and invertebrates using seines and traps, careful quality assurance and quality control in the laboratory, gear maintenance and field safety, and coordination with project scientists on long-term restoration monitoring.
Kuris Lab and the National Park Service: transect surveys, species identification, tide-window planning, and data entry with quality assurance.
Rescue and Nitrox certifications, American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) certification to 60 feet, and Reef Check certification. Experience with night dives, low visibility, and strong current, and with task-loaded work carrying slates, cameras, and other equipment.
Stage-Structured Slot Limits and MPAs Sensitivity and Uncertainty Geospatial Mapping
A two-sex, stage-structured lobster model with von Bertalanffy growth and a size-to-fecundity relationship. Fishing is applied after projection and only outside marine protected areas (MPAs), with scenario sweeps across slot width and marine protected area coverage.
A female-first stage matrix with optional male coupling, exponential natural mortality, and quarterly time steps of dt = 0.25. Harvest is accounted for cleanly through post-projection survival in cells outside marine protected areas, so that harvest is the difference between the raw and the fished trajectories.
Science Communication Interactive Maps Citizen Science
Outputs for agencies, fishers, educators, and the public: short explainers, interactive layers, and figures that surface uncertainty honestly.
Metrics aligned with decisions: biomass, spawning output, size structure, yield, and stability, with transparent assumptions throughout. Plain-language scenarios showing what changing slot width or marine protected area coverage means for effort and outcome.
All Dives Scientific Recreational
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From an aquarium volunteer at fifteen to coral reefs and fisheries models: every role I’ve held, colored by the world it belongs to. Hover any bar for details.
Each color is a different world I worked in, and they overlap and double back more than you might expect. Click any group on the left to show or hide it.
58 undergraduate courses 190 units, plus 48 accepted from Advanced Placement 9 graduate courses (taken as an undergraduate) 8 quarters of independent research
2018-2019 8 units
AP BiologyBiologyYear-long class, exam scored 5 AP Calculus ABCalculus ABYear-long class, exam scored 5 AP English LanguageEnglish LanguageYear-long class, exam scored 4 AP Physics 1Physics 1Year-long class, exam scored 4
INT 93PPresentation Techniques in Research INT 93RIntroduction to Research Techniques
2019-2020 8 units
AP ChemistryChemistryYear-long class, exam scored 4 AP English LiteratureEnglish LiteratureYear-long class, exam scored 4 AP Environmental ScienceEnvironmental ScienceYear-long class, exam scored 5 AP Physics 2Physics 2Year-long class, exam scored 4 AP PsychologyPsychologyYear-long class, exam scored 5 AP StatisticsStatisticsYear-long class, exam scored 5
2021-2022 61 units
BIOL CS 10Biology Colloqium BIOL CS 12CCS Introduction to Biology 1 CHEM 1AGeneral Chemistry 1 CHEM 1ALGeneral Chemistry 1 Lab EARTH 4Introduction to Oceanography EEMB 190EEMB Colloqium EEMB 194TParasitology (Kuris Lab Meeting) MCDB 1AIntroduction to Biology 1
BIOL CS 20CCS Introduction to Biology 2 CHEM 1BGeneral Chemistry 2 CHEM 1BLGeneral Chemistry 2 Lab EEMB W 146Biometry EEMB 194TParasitology (Kuris Lab Meeting)
BIOL CS 30CCS Introduction to Biology 3 CH ST 1BIntroduction to Chicano/a Studies CHEM 1CGeneral Chemistry 3 CHEM 1CLGeneral Chemistry 3 Lab EEMB 199Independent Studies (Kuris Lab)Third quarter in the Kuris Lab EEMB 198Independent Studies (Kuris Lab)
2022-2023 107 units
CHEM 109AOrganic Chemistry 1 EEMB 179Ecological Modeling MCDB 101AMolecular Genetics 1 EEMB 199Independent Studies (Kuris Lab)
EEMB 142BProecesses in Oceans EEMB 247Quantitative Methods in Biology EEMB 595RR Seminar EEMB 199Independent Studies (Kuris Lab)
MATH 3BCalculus 2 MCDB 110Principles of Biochemistry EARTH 182BMarine BiogeochemistryThe course behind the Earth 182B Group authorship on Wu et al. 2025 EARTH 199Independent Studies (Valentine Lab) EEMB 199Independent Studies (Kuris Lab) EEMB 595TParasitology (Kuris Lab Meeting)
2023-2024 165 units
ANTH EAP 105Culinary History of Italy ARTH EAP 113Genius Renaissance Art COMM EAP 104Made in Italy ITAL EAP 55Exploring Florence
BIOL CS 101Model and Experiments (CCS Grad) EEMB 150AMicrobial Diversity 1 EEMB 242Marine Ecology and Conservation MATH 4ALinear Algebra EEMB 194RR Seminar EEMB 183Teaching Assistance (EEMB 179 LA)Taught the course I had taken in Fall 2022 EEMB 199Independent Studies (Kuris Lab)
PHIL 4Introduction to Ethics EEMB 192Special Topics (bioinformatics) EARTH 199Independent Studies (Valentine Lab)
COMM W 146Understanding and Detecting Human Deception HIST W 2AWorld History
2024-2025 190 units
EEMB 106Biology of Fishes EEMB 194TETheoretical Ecology and Evolution EDS 223Geospatial Analysis and Remote Sensing
ESM 263Geographic Information Systems ESM 260Applied Marine Ecology
ESM 232Environmental Modeling ESM 441Environmental Media Production
Each bar is one course, coloured by subject. Hollow bars are Advanced Placement, which transferred in as credit rather than being taken at the university. Click a quarter to open it. A ring on a course marks graduate level.
Underwater Microscopy Coast and Portraits
Most of my photography happens either on a dive or down a microscope. The range is wider than it sounds: the same interest in structure that makes a kelp canopy worth shooting is what makes a copepod worth shooting, just at a different working distance.
Underwater: kelp forest canopies, reef structure, and the animals that hold still long enough on a low-visibility dive.
Microscopy: copepods, parasites, and the fine anatomy behind the figures in my papers. Several of these started as working images and turned out to be worth printing.
Above water: coastlines, working harbors, and portraits of the people doing the work.
Wildlife Portraits Coastal Landscapes Mixed Media
I paint in oil and mixed media, mostly places I have been in the water and animals I have spent time around. It is the only part of my practice with no data in it, which is most of the appeal.
Subjects: coastal bays, trout streams, places I know well, and animals with a story attached, sometimes literal and sometimes not.
How it works: some paintings are observational and some are assembled from field impressions months after the fact. The assembled ones usually turn out better.
Why it matters: painting is slow in a way that fieldwork and code are not, and it is where I actually learned how light, pattern, and atmosphere behave. That reading carries straight into figure design.
Coastal Hikes Night and Low Visibility Working Harbors
Most weekends I’m on a coastal trail or underwater, and travel tends to follow coastlines and working harbors rather than cities.
Hiking: coastal bluffs, estuary loops, and any trail that ends at a tidepool. A pocket notebook usually comes along for sketches.
Diving: roughly three quarters of my logged dives are recreational rather than scientific, and the habits transfer in both directions. Kelp holdfasts, night entries, and low-visibility marsh work all reward the same discipline.
Travel: I gravitate to places where ecology, fisheries, and community sit close together. It is good preparation for the conversations that fisheries work eventually turns into.
Degree • Bachelor of Arts in Biology with High Honors, College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Scholarships and Grants • Regents Scholar, University of California, Santa Barbara • Coastal Fund Major Grants
Conference Awards • Best Student Presentation, International Conference on Copepoda • Best Student Poster, Southern Academy of Parasitologists • Honorable Mention, Western Society of Naturalists