Hi there!
I’m a PhD candidate in the Beltran Lab at UC Santa Cruz.
I’m interested in how long-term studies can accelerate discovery in the deep ocean while also training the next generation of scientists. Read more about my research interests, or explore my projects.
Selected work
Reproductive success and offspring survival decline for female elephant seals past prime age. Payne, Czapanskiy, Kilpatrick, Robinson, … & Beltran. 2024. Journal of Animal Ecology.
Elephant seals as ecosystem sentinels for the northeast Pacific Ocean twilight zone. Beltran, Payne, Kilpatrick, Hale, … & Costa. 2025. Science.
Long-term research on elephant seals offers opportunities for undergraduates. Payne. 2024. Animal Ecology in Focus.
Education
University of California, Santa Cruz
PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | present
San Francisco State University
MS in Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Science
University of California, Berkeley
BA in Cognitive Science