This research was conducted by Sonia Singhal during high school when she was exploring contemporary questions in biology, including antibiotic resistance in bacteria, the sense of touch, and the effect of global warming on marine ecology. She presented her research at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the California State Science Fair, and the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium during High School. In her spare time Sonia enjoys ballet, choreography and playing violin.  She also writes fiction and poetry.

Sonia graduated from Yale University where she worked in Paul Turner's Lab, and completed her PhD at the Univeristy of Washington, Seattle at the Kerr Lab. She is currently a professor at the San Jose State University.

John S Pearse is Professor Emeritus, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, at the University of California Santa Cruz. He has been working to develop a long-term monitoring program to document changes occurring in the intertidal and to expose high school students and others to marine ecology. See LiMPETS.