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

Gabriella Kalbach

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

Lauren Strope

Lauren joined the Miller Lab in Fall 2020 after receiving a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is studying the physiology of restored oysters in Newport Bay by measuring their heart rates and valve gaping rates.

lstrope@sdsu.edu

Monica Klopp

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


Undergraduate students