Becca Selden
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Links
Marine ecologist seeking to understand past, present, and future changes to marine ecosystems and the human communities that rely on them.
My research focuses on how fishing and climate change are altering marine ecosystems. In turn, I examine how food web structure mediates resilience to the cumulative impact of these stressors and the potential for ecosystem recovery. Finally, I investigate how social-ecological systems respond to global change. To do this, I use a combination of field, observational, and quantitative approaches to examine historical and future ecosystem changes and evaluate the outcome of management interventions.
I aim to equip the students of my courses with the skills needed to tackle the multi-faceted nature of complex environmental problems. To accomplish this, I facilitate student-driven learning in applying scientific concepts to find solutions for conservation and management issues. The marine ecosystems in New England provide an ideal focal point for course content and field laboratories. Further, I look forward to incorporating innovative active learning approaches, such as the interactive Shifting Fishes game I developed with NPR’s Science Friday, to help bridge the gap between students who enter college interested in STEM and those who ultimately pursue science careers. At Wellesley, I teach a lecture section of introductory Organismal Biology (BISC 111), Statistics in the Biosciences (BISC 198), Marine Biology (BISC 210), and Issues in Marine Biology seminar (BISC 310).
I strive for my research to be relevant for policy. To that end, I have sought out opportunities to present my research to decision-makers. I testified about my research on climate and fisheries in front of the House Sub-committee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife in May 2019. I was invited to discuss the implications of climate change for marine restoration in a panel for congressional staff during Capitol Hill Ocean Week in June 2019. Finally, I presented my views on the power of interdisciplinarity in achieving ocean solutions in a side panel at the United Nations in June 2019.
I enjoy playing ice hockey and soccer, cooking and eating good food, and exploring with my husband and son.
Education
- B.A., Bowdoin College
- Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara
Current and upcoming courses
This course applies statistical theory to problems in ecology and experimental biology to illustrate some of the more common techniques of experimental design and data analysis. Students will learn how to plan an experiment and consider the observations, measurements, and potential statistical tests before data are collected and analyzed. The course will enable students to work with complex datasets and distill them into meaningful information from which they can draw reasoned conclusions and communicate their findings. Specific topics include best practices in data visualization, probability distributions and their applications, one- and two-way ANOVA and t-tests, regression and correlation, goodness-of-fit tests, and nonparametric alternatives. The course will be run as a studio with combined lecture and hands-on data analysis using the open-source computing software R.
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Biology of Fishes
EXTD225
This upper-level survey course covers the evolution, systematics, anatomy, physiology, and behavior of freshwater, marine, and anadromous fishes from temperate to tropical environments. The course also examines the diversity of fish interactions in aquatic communities: predator/prey relationships, host/symbiont interactions, and the various roles of fishes as herbivores. Study of inter- and intra-specific predator-prey relationships among fish populations in aquatic communities integrates principles of ecology. Offered by the Marine Studies Consortium.. Further details about the course, including past syllabi can be found under the Courses tab at https://www.marinestudiesconsortium.org/ -
Coastal Zone Management & Policy
EXTD128
This course presents a survey of the coastal environment and its physical characteristics, natural systems, economic uses, and development pressures. Lectures examine strategies formulated in the United States for land and water-resource management in the coastal zone. The roles of federal, state, and local governments, environmental groups, and resource users are also explored. Finally, by comparing coastal-zone management problems in the United States to those elsewhere in the world, students gain a global perspective. Offered by the Marine Studies Consortium.. Further details about the course, including past syllabi can be found under the Courses tab at https://www.marinestudiesconsortium.org/ -
Marine Biology with Laboratory
BISC210
Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and are our planet’s primary life support system. This course examines adaptations and interactions of plants and animals in a variety of marine habitats. Focal habitats include the photic zone of the open ocean, the deep-sea, subtidal and intertidal zones, estuaries, and coral reefs. Emphasis is placed on the dominant organisms, food webs, and experimental studies conducted within each habitat. Laboratories will emphasize diversity of species in marine habitats and will highlight local coastal ecosystems. Partnerships with other marine scientists around the country and globe will be leveraged for comparative study. The course will include projects on phase shifts and alternative stable states, harmful algae blooms, coral reef resilience, seabird foraging, deep sea biodiversity, sea level rise, and local seafood markets.. This course has a required co-requisite laboratory - BISC 210L.