She and her students conduct wet lab, field, and genetic experiments to understand how evolutionary forces shape the adaption of local populations under varying conditions or, alternatively, how evolutionary change may be constrained. Sea stars, copepods, seagrasses, fish, and mice are among the organisms used in her lab to study the interaction of organism and environment in evolutionary processes. In 2009, she initiated university mentoring into the CSU summer teacher researcher program (CeSAME STAR). Teachers and middle and secondary students participate in her projects in California and Alaska including basic research and citizen's science monitoring.