Ryan Scholarship led to better data for researcher

By Mark Muckenfuss

If you visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Mahlon Rosenberg may be the one taking your ticket. Or, you may find Rosenberg, who uses they/them pronouns, standing by the jellyfish tube near the entrance, explaining the life-cycle of these primitive creatures. They may usher you into the auditorium and give you a brief synopsis of the short film you’re about to see. 

If you’re really interested, they could tell you about the in-depth research they conducted at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories as a marine science student at Cal State Monterey Bay. They plan to do more such research, but after graduating last year, they’re in the middle of a gap year before pursuing a master’s degree. Working at the aquarium, where they volunteered as a CSUMB student, allows them to be surrounded by the environment they love and has helped inspire their future goals.

Rosenberg, who grew up in Costa Mesa, said they would not be looking at graduate school and planning a career in marine conservation if it hadn’t been for the kinds of support they found at CSUMB. And a good part of that support came in the form of scholarships. 

In addition to a USDA grant during their junior year, they received another important award.

“I applied for the Jim and Peggy Ryan Research Foundation Fund,” Rosenberg said. “I got that. I believe it was $1,500.”

The money, they said, allowed them to purchase additional testing materials, conduct more extensive research and eventually get more comprehensive results. 

“We had more usable data, so I would say the impact was very big,” they said. 

The work, led by CSUMB Professor Cheryl Logan, focused on how future ocean conditions caused by climate change may affect the growth of gopher rockfish. That experience, along with recently becoming a volunteer with the sea otter program at the aquarium, is helping to guide their future career path, they said. 

“I want to be a part of these conservation efforts,” Rosenberg said. “My ultimate goal, down the line, is to, if not spearhead one of these initiatives, then to be in a leading role.”

That desire, they said, goes back to childhood, when their parents would take them to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The animals, they said, fascinated them. But by the time they began taking classes at nearby Orange Coast College, studying the ocean wasn’t on their radar. They began as an art major, then switched for a while to astronomy.

“On a whim, I took an oceanography course,” Rosenberg said. “The instructor was so inspiring, it kind of reignited this whole love of the ocean that I had forgotten about.” 

When it came time to transfer, CSUMB seemed like a natural fit.

“When I realized that marine science was what I wanted to do for a career,” they said, “I felt like this was kind of the hub for a lot of research and conservation.”

Being a part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center, they said, is part of what has prepared them well for future graduate work. 

“UROC is a really amazing program,” Rosenberg said. “People come here from all over to participate in this program. I’ve gotten some really good hands-on research that I’m not sure I would have gotten at a really big college.”

They feel fortunate for both the research and scholarship opportunities they’ve enjoyed. And they encourage other students to take advantage of what CSUMB has to offer.

“Don’t be shy,” they said. “Reach out to professors and see what kinds of research they’re doing. If you’re interested in joining their lab, it never hurts to send that cold email and see what happens.”