Rate My Professor Carrie Espasandin

Espasandin's master's thesis, titled "Movement behavior of the California halibut in a restored Southern California wetland," focused on the habitat utilization and movement patterns of California halibut (Paralichthys californicus), a conservation target species, in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. Using acoustic telemetry, the research tracked individual fish to assess preferences in restored tidal creek estuaries. She co-authored the peer-reviewed publication "Using Movements and Habitat Utilization as a Functional Metric of Restoration for Estuarine Juvenile Fish Habitat" in Marine and Coastal Fisheries in 2016. The study integrated point-of-capture monitoring with active tracking of 20 halibut (size range 26.6–60.5 cm total length). Findings showed large halibut (>25 cm) were captured more in main stream channels and exhibited small localized convex hull activity spaces in areas of high water flow, sandy substratum, and near eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds. Smaller halibut (<25 cm) were found in innermost marsh creeks. Translocation experiments demonstrated that fish moved from marshes to channels returned over long distances to channel habitats, while those translocated from channels to marshes remained in channels with smaller movements. These results indicate size-segregated habitat use driven by prey concentrations and optimal growth temperatures, emphasizing the value of diverse channel morphologies in estuarine restorations for supporting juvenile flatfish populations. Her contributions inform habitat restoration efforts for mobile marine predators.