top of page

Curriculum Vitae

Previous Experiences

Work and Research

  • Microbiome Consultant, Basecamp Research (2024) - see our published paper here.

  • Undergraduate Honor’s Research Program with Dr. Eric Allen Lab. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (2018 – 2019) - see the culmination of this research here.

  • Field Research Assistant with Dr. Micah Horwith. Washington Department of Natural Resources. Seattle, WA (2017 – 2018) - this is what I worked on!

  • Lab Research Assistant with Dr. Ryan Kelly. University of Washington (2017 – 2018) - find our research here.

 

Mentorship and Teaching Experience

  • Internship Mentor: High Tech High Mesa and San Diego MET High School

  • Mentor for Scripps Undergraduate Research Fellowship program (JT-SURF) (Summer 2023)

  • Associate in Teaching at UCSD for SIO 90 undergraduate seminar “Perspectives in Ocean Science” (Fall 2023)

  • Mentoring Catalyst Mentor Training Workshop hosted by EFRI-REM

  • Teaching Assistant for SIO undergraduate lab class “Microbiomes across Environments (Winter 2023)

  • Mentor for High School “Genes in Space Project” (2021)

  • UCSD Communicating Your Research Workshop (2020)

  • Sci-Ren San Diego: an educator-researcher lesson plan network (2020)

Education

PhD, Marine Biology. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. (2019 – 2024)

  • Advised by Dr. Jack Gilbert, Professor of Pediatrics and Marine Biology

  • Title: Microbiome Dynamics and Pathogen-Driven Impacts in Marine Mollusks: Insights from Oysters and White Abalone

BS, Marine Biology. University of California, San Diego (2019)

 

Current Position

Marine Aquaculture Postdoctoral Research Associate, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute.​​​

Awards

  • UC San Diego's California CARES Proof of Concept Grant ($8000, 2024)

  • ZoBell Fellowship Award ($1500, 2023)

  • GradSLAM Finalist 2023 (University of California public speaking competition)

  • Conchologists of America Academic Grant ($2025, 2022)

  • Western Society for Malacologists Student Research Grant ($1000, 2022)

  • Chateaubriand Fellowship (8684 Euros, 2021-2022)

  • Melbourne R. Carriker Student Research Award in Malacology ($1389, 2021)

  • Honorable Mention. National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship Program (2020)

  • Outstanding Marine Biology Undergraduate Award (2019)​​

Publications

  1. In prep: Emily Kunselman, Blythe Marshman, Chelsey Souza, James Moore, Colleen A. Burge, Sarah Allard, Jack A. Gilbert. Abalone Withering Syndrome: The cascading microbial impacts of one bacterial invader.

  2. Kunselman E, Manrique D, Burge C, Allard SM, Daniel Z, Mitta G, Petton B, Gilbert JA (2024) Temperature and microbe mediated impacts of the San Diego Bay ostreid herpesvirus (OsHV-1) microvariant on juvenile Pacific oysters. Sustainable Microbiology, qvae014, https://doi.org/10.1093/sumbio/qvae014.

  3. Kunselman E, Allard S, Burge C, Marshman B, Frederick A, Gilbert J. 2024. Metagenome-assembled genome of withering syndrome causative agent, "Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis," from endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni). Microbiol Resour Announc.11;13(6):e0008624. doi: 10.1128/mra.00086-24.

  4. Kunselman E, Wiggin K, Diner RE, Gilbert JA, Allard SM. 2024. Microbial threats and sustainable solutions for molluscan aquaculture. Sustainable Microbiology, qvae002, https://doi.org/10.1093/sumbio/qvae002

  5. Diner RE, Zimmer-Faust A, Cooksey E, Allard SM, Kodera SM, Kunselman E, Garodia Y, Verhougstraete MP, Allen AE, Griffith J, Gilbert JA. 2023. Host and Water Microbiota are Differentially Linked to Potential Human Pathogen Accumulation in Oysters. Appl Environ Microbiol. 89(7):e0031823.

  6. Minich, JJ, Härer, A, Vechinski, J, Frable BW, Skelton ZR, Kunselman E, Shane MA, Perry DS,  Gonzalez A, McDonald D, Knight R, Michael TP, Allen EE. 2022. Host biology, ecology and the environment influence microbial biomass and diversity in 101 marine fish species. Nature Communications 13, 6978.

  7. Kunselman E, Minich JJ, Horwith M, Gilbert JA, and Allen EE. 2022. Survival of Hatchery Grown Native Oysters Is Associated with Specific Gut-Associated Bacteria at Various Locations within the Puget Sound. Microbiology Spectrum 10:e0198221. 

  8. Jacobs-Palmer E, Gallego R, Ramón-Laca A, Kunselman E, Cribari K, Horwith M, Kelly RP. 2020. A halo of reduced dinoflagellate abundances in and around eelgrass beds. PeerJ 8:e8869 

  9. Petras D, Minich JJ, Cancelada LB, Torres RR, Kunselman E, Wang M, White ME, Allen EE, Prather KA, Aluwihare LI, Dorrestein PC. 2021. Non-targeted Tandem Mass Spectrometry Enables the Visualization of Organic Matter Chemotype Shifts in Coastal Seawater. Chemosphere, 129450. 

Presentations

  • Poster Presentation, World Aquaculture Society Meeting. Emily Kunselman, Kevin Stuart, Alex Primus, Mariana Kawakami, Andrew Jarrett, Seth Hendershot, Kaycie Lindland, Mark Drawbridge and shoutout to Sofia Spagaraino. How Probiotic Supplementation Impacts Microbial Diversity and Larval Performance in Cultured White Seabasss Atractoscion nobilis. March 2025.

  • Oral Presentation and Panel, COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. Emily Kunselman, Kara Wiggin. Climate Change and Disease: Marine Diseases Affecting Marine Organisms. 2023. Watch it here.

  • Oral Presentation, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association Annual MeetingEmily Kunselman, Daysi Manrique, Colleen Burge, Sarah Allard, Zachary Daniel, Guillaume Mitta, Bruno Petton, Jack A. Gilbert. Temperature Dependence of OsHV-1 San Diego Bay Microvariant. September 2023.

  • Oral Presentation, National Shellfisheries Association Annual MeetingEmily Kunselman, Blythe Marshman, Chelsey Souza, James Moore, Kristin Aquilino, Sarah Allard, Jack Gilbert. Abalone Withering Syndrome: The cascading impacts of one bacterial invader. March 2023.

  • Poster Presentation, CMI International Microbiome Meeting. Emily Kunselman, Blythe Marshman, Chelsey Souza, James Moore, Kristin Aquilino, Sarah Allard, Jack Gilbert. Abalone Withering Syndrome: The cascading impacts of one bacterial invader. March 2023.

  • Poster presentation, Genomics in Aquaculture. Emily Kunselman, Leo Duperret. Is Microbiota Composition Correlated to Changes of Permissiveness in Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome? May 2022.

  • Poster Presentation, American Malacological Society Annual Meeting. Emily Kunselman. Comparison of Microbial Communities in the Pacific Oyster Gut Across the Puget Sound to Define Resident Bacteria and Explore Potential Dysbiosis. June 2021. 

  • Poster Presentation, National Shellfisheries Association Annual Meeting. Emily Kunselman. San Diego Bay, CA summer assessment of wild Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) pathogens and other microbial constituents. March 2021. 

  • Poster Presentation, Annual Ocean Sciences Meeting. Emily Kunselman. Characterization and variation of the Olympia Oyster (Ostrea lurida) Gut Microbiome. February 2020. 

  • Poster Presentation, Annual American Society of Microbiology Meeting. Emily Kunselman. Influence of Eelgrass Habitat on Ostrea lurida Gut Microbiome. June 2019. 

Professional Activities

Applied Microbiology International Member (2022-Present)

American Society for Microbiology Member (2021-Present)

National Shellfisheries Association Member (2020 – 2021, 2023)

Bioinformatics Users Group, SIO (2019 – 2021)

Women and Minorities in Science Member, SIO (2021- Present)

Western Society of Malacologists Member (2021)

American Malacological Society (2021) 

© 2025 by Emily Kunselman. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page