Dr. Richard Ambrose, Director and Professor, joined UCLA in 1992. He received his B.S. in Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (1975) and his Ph.D. in Marine Ecology at UCLA (1982). After postdoctoral research at Simon Fraser University in Canada, he joined the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.

Current research

Professor Ambrose's research focuses on ways to protect and maintain the ecology of coastal areas; much of his work is conducted at the interface between environmental biology and resource management policy. Current research focuses on (1) restoration of degraded habitats, especially for coastal marine environments, and (2) assessment of the health of coastal ecosystems. Professor Ambrose's restoration research has included a major restoration project incorporating large-scale field experiments to assess the feasibility of restoring an abandoned sewage oxidation pond back to a salt marsh. He has also assessed the success of wetland mitigation projects completed in California under the Clean Water Act. The results of this project, the largest evaluation ever completed of mitigation in a single state, is being used to improve wetland regulations in California.

A second general area of research focuses on assessment of the health of ecosystems. Professor Ambrose has established a network of monitoring stations at intertidal sites from Orange County to San Luis Obispo County in order to be able to detect any large ecological impacts that might occur to this section of coast, including short-term impacts such as an oil spill and long-term effects from global climate change. He is also assessing the impacts of anthropogenic inputs (especially metals and excess nutrients) on the health of coastal wetlands. His work in coastal watersheds includes studies determine the link between land use and aquatic community health. He is also evaluating the degree to which coastal wetlands influence the delivery of fecal indicator bacteria and human pathogens to coastal waters. All of these projects provide information on the status of important coastal ecological communities, including the nature and extent of anthropogenic impacts to them, which serves as the foundation for their management and protection.

Selected Publications

Rothenberg, S.E., R.F. Ambrose and J.A. Jay. 2008. “Evaluating the potential efficacy of mercury Total Maximum Daily Loads on aqueous methylmercury levels in four coastal watersheds.” Environmental Science and Technology 42: 5400-5406.