Amber Briesach

Biography

I am originally from Pacifica, California. My interest in Marine Biology began  beach combing with my dog as a child, and shifted into surfing as a teenager and was solidified when I was able to go on a weeklong sail aboard the Californian, a beautiful wooden tall ship.  When I saw bioluminescence for the first time I was hooked. My graduate work at the Estuary and Ocean Science Center involved culturing marine diatoms for, focusing on the biogenic silica concentrations in their frustules when grown at various temperatures. After graduate school I spent five years teaching biology at San Francisco State University and Skyline Community College. From there I progressed into lab management where I managed the Undergraduate Teaching Labs at San Francisco State University.

Research

I am excited to start my new role in the Santoro Laboratory as both the Lab Manager and a Specialist. I will be culturing Ammonia-oxidizing archaea and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and designing experiments with these microbes to further our understanding of their evolution and their role in the ocean ecosystem.