Lab Group


Luke Miller, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Curriculum vitae

I label myself as a marine ecophysiologist, biomechanic, intertidal ecologist, or just gadget guy, all depending on the day and my mood. I am primarily interested in how marine organisms deal with the physical environment including the weather and waves, as well as how organisms deal with each other via competition and predation. Much of my research has focused on northeastern Pacific rocky intertidal habitats from California to Alaska, but I have also worked on New England rocky shore communities, on Antarctic scallops, and in kelp forests and estuary habitats. I am interested in how individual organisms and communities might cope with the effects of climate change, but also how they cope with day-to-day variation in their environment. I employ a variety of methods and approaches that draw from the fields of biomechanics and physiology, and do work both in the field and lab.


Ph.D. students

Lily McIntire

Lily McIntire is a student in the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology with UC Davis. She joined the Miller Lab after she finished her master’s degree at Cal Poly Humboldt. She is interested in studying the thermal ecology of intertidal organisms to understand how elevated temperatures like those caused by climate change will affect these animals. 


M.Sc. students

Bailey McKernan

Bailey graduated from UC Santa Barbara and joined the lab in Fall 2024.

Monica Klopp

Monica graduated from the University of Washington in Spring 2022 with a BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology.

Gabriella Kalbach

Gabriella graduated from CSU Monterey Bay, and joined the Miller Lab in Fall 2019.


Undergraduate students

Miles Ghannadian

Undergraduate research assistant. 2/2023-present

  • Neenah Mendez
  • Alani Black
  • Arianna Dial
  • Zainab Al-Jasim
  • Andrew Chau
  • Dorian Marquez
  • Jasmine Pooni
  • Simone Parsons
  • Elisabeth Rotschedl

Alumni

Past Undergraduate Research Assistants

Grace Addleman

Karla Alcaraz

Angel Sanchez

Malea Arriola

Caileen Baldwin

Ismail Siham

Ka Mwee Paw

Aya Kareem

Maia Little

Erin McClure

Aranza Maldonado

Nature Currey

Sebastian Penalosa

Richard Villareal

Trevor Tompkins

Kristen Waterford

McKenna Purdy

Rio Case

Paula Crespo