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Scientific Research

Star Thrower Educational Multimedia conducts research in several areas of marine and terrestrial ecology. Primary areas include the application of GIS (geographic information systems) and satellite remote sensing technology to the study of the distribution and persistence of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) around Santa Catalina Island; marine "no take" reserves and their design; the role of drifting kelp (various species) in dispersing marine invertebrates, especially those that lack pelagic larval forms; and conservation-related research on the terrestrial ecosystems of the California Channel Islands.


Dr. Bushing's research has been read and reviewed by a number of prominent biologists and GIS specialists from six of the seven continents (Africa being the lone exception). Examples of their feedback on this research are included below:
  • "I can see why the GIS paper would be of general interest, soliciting reprint reprint requests from afar. It contains a great deal of useful information such as the influence of depth and bottom slope on Hs [significant wave heighth]. The paper on rafting by invertebrates via drift kelp ploughs new ground. Well done!" -- Dr. Wheeler North, California Institute of Technology

  • "When I said that your talk was unusual, I was referring to the use of GIS in a shallow marine system such as a kelp forest-- I have never heard someone else do this. Is yours the first such application? Your data were convincing..." -- Dr. Mia Tegner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  • "The strength of your work is that I don't know if anyone has ever considered the effects of hillside shading on subtidal plant communities. I think your work is the first in this regard." -- Dr. Dan Reed, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara

  • "I think that you have a great talk and it is unusual in the sense that it stands out from what else we are doing." -- Dr. Kevin Lafferty, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of California at Santa Barbara

  • "I just reviewed your Macrocystis piece on the Catalina Island Conservancy's web page. What a spectacular piece of work, ecologically and graphically. Congratulations! This is the best presentation of ecological science data I have personally seen on the web" -- Deborah Elliott-Fisk, Director, Natural Reserve System, University of California

  • Estimado Dr Bushing He leido atentamente su trabajo sobre distribucisn y persistencia en Macrocystis pyrifera en Santa Catalina. Lo felicito sinceramente por el gran aporte al estudio de esta alga que significa el trabajar con sistemas de monitoreo remoto. Nosotros estamos trabajando actualmente sobre los patrones de distribucisn de este recurso y como son afectados por transtornos ambientales de magnitud, en este caso el presente fenomeno El Nino 1997- 1998. En nuestro pams existe muy poca informacion acerca de esta especie, contando tan solo, con estudios basicamente de caracter taxonomico por lo que le agradeceriamos infinitamente si pudiera enviarnos toda la informacion que le fuera posible sobre este tema, asi como tambien sus invalorables opiniones y sugerencias derivadas de su experiencia. Agradeciendole anticipadamente - Blgo. Miguel Lleellish J. Direccion de Estudios taxonomicos y Evaluacion de Recursos Potencialess Instituto del Mar del Peru Esquina. Gamarra y Gral. Valle s/n. Chucuito- Callao

  • Cordial saludo Soy Alvaro Hernandez investigador de l Universidad nacional de Colombia y estoy adelantando un trabajo de caracterizacion morfologica de 4 especies de lupinus (albus, mutabilis, luteus y angustifolius). Quisiera saber si ustedes pueden enviarme información reciente sobre este tema o en general sobre las investigaciones ultimas realizadas con el lupinus. Thank you very much!

  • "I saw your lecture at the DEP [invited speaker at the State of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection] Workshop, and I have to say it was amongst my favorites. We were simply amazed at the fact that you seemed to use almost every possible means of GIS to do your study. That is great. We really enjoyed seeing all the outputs." -- Holli Brandt, Florida Division of Emergency Management

  • "... congratulate the author on an extraordinary paper. It is well organized, informative and a pleasure to read." -- Mike Livingstone, Environmental Systems Research Institute, 1995 ESRI User Conference coordinator

  • "I read your conference paper on ESRI's home page. I was very impressed, and it was clearly one of the best papers I've seen. I was intrigued by the analysis and thought the illustration about the storm effects on the Channel Islands was interesting." -- Michael Zeiler, Environmental Systems Research Institute, author of Using GIS the ARC/Info Way


For examples of this research, please select one of the following published papers:
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