The California Current Ecosystem LTER is part of the network of Long-Term Ecological Research sites funded by the National Science Foundation.
The California Current System is a coastal upwelling biome, as found along the eastern margins of all major ocean basins. These are among the most productive ecosystems in the world ocean. The California Current Ecosystem LTER (32.9°, -120.3°) is investigating nonlinear transitions in the California Current coastal pelagic ecosystem, with particular attention to long-term forcing by a secular warming trend, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and El Niño in altering the structure and dynamics of the pelagic ecosystem. The California Current sustains active fisheries for a variety of finfish and marine invertebrates, modulates weather patterns and the hydrologic cycle of much of the western United States, and plays a vital role in the economy of myriad coastal communities.
CCE News and Announcements
Latest Posts
New study links CCE zooplankton across the North Pacific Ocean
A recent CCE study discusses the genetic connectivity of zooplankton in different depth zones across the North Pacific basin. . See results from a Global Circulation Model here illustrating how CCE waters starting at 75 m depth travel around the ocean. Electronic supplements to the article by Stephanie Matthews et al (2025)Read more.
CCE Grad student shares his COP 30 experience via Instagram post
Third year CCE graduate student, Marley Weiss, attended COP 30 in Belém, Brazil (November 2025), along with 14 other PHD/MAS students from SIO. Marley was one of the speakers (Ocean Pavilion hub) at the Top Five Ocean Issues panel, and you can view his Instagram post here!
A successful 2025 CCE Process cruise (18 Oct – 17 Nov)!
CCE LTER recently returned from our latest process cruise (P2510) aboard the R/V Atlantis. We completed a variety of deployments – in situ arrays, sediment traps, CTD casts, net tows, GO Flo casts, McLane pump casts, and tows of a Deep Plankton Imaging system. Many experiments were also conducted aboardRead more.
CCE REU applications OPEN until 31 Jan 2026
Applications are now open for our 2026 summer REU program, a 10-12 week internship at SIO, scheduled to begin in June! Please see the application link on our Education page here.
CCE LTER attends COP 30 in Brazil
Six CCE LTER Graduate students will attend the COP 30 international climate conference for a week during November 10-21, 2025. They include M. Alksne, V. Boatwright, A. Stajner, M. Titcomb, M. Weiss, and A. Wilson. They are part of UCSD’s delegation “to contribute expertise on the central role of oceansRead more.