As an Assistant Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara, Erika Eliason and her Lab team study ecological and evolutionary physiology in fish and the factors that allow them to thrive in their specific environmental ecosystems.

Her 2018 Hellman Fellowship allowed her to pursue a novel and exciting area a bit outside her established research expertise. The project studies how diet impacts the environmental tolerance of animals, particularly how temperature affects performance on a specific fish species called the opaleye. Findings could have important implications for understanding how animals are able to respond to climate change. Her doctoral student has already presented preliminary work at a conference and is preparing two publications for submission. A number of follow-up experiments are planned creating a new line of inquiry for the Lab.