We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Emma Yockman is a second year PhD student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is primarily interested in estuarine ecology, restoration, and ethics in science.
She is a graduate from the University of Maryland, where she received her B.S. in Biology. She hopes to pursue a career in federal or state government as a Coastal Ecologist. All photos on the site are by Emma unless otherwise specified!
UCSC x ESNERR
I am starting my 2nd year in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduate program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I am advised by Ingrid Parker and Kerstin Wasson. I’m currently monitoring an interspecific facilitation project with hopes to learn how interactions shape plant success in a restored marsh.
This is taking place at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (ESNERR), at the Hester Marsh Restoration Site. I’m looking forward to sharing more about the work I will do there! If you’re in Santa Cruz and interested in volunteering with my project, email me!
Photo by Kerstin Wasson.
Study Species Spotlight: Pickleweed
Latin name: Salicornia pacifica (sometimes Sarcocornia pacifica)
Common names: pickleweed, glasswort, Pacific swampfire, sea asparagus
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Reproduction: Hermaphroditic, flowers around July-November; seedlings typically seen germinating in Elkhorn Slough around March-May
It is the dominant species of the lower salt marsh. Has succulent tissue that eventually becomes “woody” as new tissue is added.
Fun fact: it is edible and tastes similar to pickles! Indigenous groups like the Amah Mutsun would cook and eat it as a meal. In recent years, pickleweed has been explored as a potential ‘new’ food source (since it doesn’t require freshwater) in the agricultural sectors of CA, Mexico, Korea, and Saudi Arabia.
Try cooking it with this recipe!
