I’m Jaden Orli, a marine ecologist from UCSB’s College of Creative Studies (Biology). I work at the seam of field programs, population models, and public-facing communication so decisions land with both policymakers and communities.

Professional

Fieldwork

~400 dives ~100 scientific AAUS 60 ft Seine Surveys Small-boat ops

AAUS scientific diver in kelp forests; in salt marsh I lead/assist seining and trap-based surveys. Comfortable with tide windows, low-viz, and team logistics.

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Current Program

SONGS Mitigation Monitoring Program (Lab Technician, 2025 – present)
Intensive salt-marsh surveys for fish and invertebrates using seines/traps; careful QA/QC in the lab; gear maintenance and field safety; coordination with project scientists on long-term restoration monitoring.

Rocky Intertidal

Kuris Lab and National Park Service (NPS): transect surveys; species ID; tide-window planning; data entry and QA.

Kelp and Coastal Programs

  • PISCO / Caselle Lab: underwater benthic and fish surveys (Northern Channel Islands)
  • CCFRP: hook-and-line surveys with volunteer anglers
  • SB Coastal LTER: kelp deployments/retrievals and site monitoring

Diving and Safety

Rescue, Nitrox, AAUS (60 ft), Reef Check certification; night/low-viz/strong-current experience; task-loaded work (slates, cameras, etc).

Modeling and Code

Stage-structured Slot limits × MPAs Sobol + GLUE R + Quarto GIS / leaflet

Two-sex, stage-structured lobster model; VBGF growth; size–fecundity; fishing applied after projection and only outside MPAs; scenario sweeps over slot width × MPA coverage.

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Framework

Female-first stage matrix; optional male coupling; exponential natural mortality; quarterly dt = 0.25. Clean harvest accounting via post-projection survival in non-MPA cells → harvest = raw − fished trajectories.

Uncertainty and Robustness

  • Sobol (Salt) global sensitivity to rank leverage parameters
  • GLUE ensembles to show plausible ranges, not just single fits
  • Reproducible Quarto reports; tidy pipelines; consistent figure styling

Geospatial and Other Projects

  • ArcGIS Pro / sf / terra / leaflet/tmap for decision-ready maps
  • Spatial analyses: IMTA aquaculture suitability (U.S. West Coast EEZ); Houston blackout recovery patterns (equity lens)
  • Prior research: Valentine Lab (microbial hydrocarbon cycling; Bash + Bridges-2 PSC); Novex Innovations (sterile cell culture, SOP training)

Policy and Community Engagement

Science Communication Interactive Maps Citizen Science

Outputs for agencies, fishers, educators, and the public — short explainers, interactive layers, and figures that surface uncertainty honestly.

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Policy-Ready Outputs

Metrics aligned with decisions: biomass, spawning output, size structure, yield, stability; transparent assumptions. Plain-language scenarios—what changing slot width or MPA coverage means for effort and outcome.

Community-Facing Communication

  • Science videography (60–120s): method explainers, field segments, and transparent communication with the public
  • Pacific Manta Research Group: citizen-science photo-ID submission site and diver education materials

Leadership and Media

  • Kuris Lab project lead: fieldwork, student mentorship, conference talks (ESA, EEMB URS), first-author manuscript in review
  • Environmental Media Production (Assoc. Producer): filmed/edited a nonprofit climate program promo; on-location directing with a Canon EOS C70
  • Aquarium Docent experience translating conservation for the public

ResearchGitHubResume (PDF)

Personal

Photography

Texture and Pattern Motion and Mood Wildlife and Coastlines

My photography lingers on details most people walk past — a kelp frond twisting in surge, coral polyps half-open, an alley washed in morning light. I look for textures, moods, and small dramas rather than single “perfect” shots. Marine photography becomes an exercise in noticing: subtle gradients in light, shadow, and texture that later make their way into my figures and color palettes.

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Themes — kelp forest canopies, coral lattices, sand ripples, tidepool reflections, wreckage, and the geometry of fish schools.

Style — high-contrast natural light, low-viz dives, and compositions that suggest movement or story — a shark’s turn, a crab emerging, a harbor just after rain.

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Painting

Wildlife Portraits Coastal Landscapes Mixed Media

I paint to capture place, memory, and personality — a bay I swam in, a dog who wouldn’t sit still, a fish frozen mid-leap. Some works are observational; others are imagined worlds built from layers of field impressions.

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Mediums — oil paint and mixed media

Subjects — coastal bays, trout streams, personal places, and animals with a story to tell — sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical.

Why it matters — painting slows me down and lets me notice how light, pattern, and atmosphere really work. Those habits feed directly back into my figure design and scientific visualization.

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Trails, Diving, and Travel

Coastal Hikes Night / Low-viz Working Harbors

Most weekends I’m on a coastal trail or underwater; travel tends to follow coastlines and working harbors.

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Hiking — coastal bluffs, estuary loops, and any trail that ends at a tidepool (with a pocket notebook for quick sketches).

Diving — kelp holdfasts, night dives, and low-viz marsh entries teach repeatable habits — useful in both field and code.

Travel — I gravitate to places where ecology, fisheries, and community sit close together — great training for policy conversations later.

What I Value

Clarity Reproducibility Field Reality

Clarity over cleverness; field reality over assumptions; teams that surface uncertainty rather than hide it.

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  • Make it legible: for managers, fishers, and the public
  • Respect the process: document assumptions, keep pipelines reproducible
  • Stay curious: bring field notes, photos, and sketches back into the model

Diving

Dive Map

All Dives Scientific Recreational

Dive Log

407 dives
12 countries
195 sites
40 m deepest
297 hr bottom time

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Honors and Awards

Regent Scholar • Coastal Fund Major Grants • Best Student Presentation (Int’l Conf. on Copepoda) • Best Student Poster (Southern Academy of Parasitologists) • Honorable Mention (WSN) • Published Manuscripts

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