Who We Are

The California Kelp Forest Monitoring Consortium is a collaborative network of four research institutions dedicated to the long-term study of kelp forest ecosystems along the California coast.

Our members — UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly Humboldt, and the Vantuna Research Group at Occidental College — each based in a different region of California and each with deep experience in marine ecological monitoring. Together, we maintain a standardized, long-term dataset now covering more than 180 kelp forest sites statewide.

A Statewide Network, Built for the Long Term

Kelp forests are among California's most productive and ecologically significant marine ecosystems — and among the most vulnerable to human impacts and climate variability. Understanding how they change over time, and why, requires sustained, coordinated effort across the full length of the state.

Our work is organized around three interconnected areas:

• MPA Evaluation — We provide rigorous, independent scientific monitoring to assess the performance of California's Marine Protected Area network, helping managers and policymakers understand what's working and why.
• Climate Change — We track how warming seas, shifting currents, and extreme events like marine heat waves and El Niño are reshaping kelp forest communities over time.
• Fisheries — Our long-term data inform sustainable fisheries management by documenting trends in fish populations, invertebrate communities, and the habitats they depend on.

We collaborate with state and federal agencies, other research groups, and resource managers working on questions related to kelp forest ecology, MPA science, and coastal monitoring in California.

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