Where are they now: Francine De Castro

By Francine De Castro

. . .

I worked in the Aquatic Research Collective (ARC) lab with Dr. John Durand from 2019–2021 as an undergrad student, and my duties mostly included zooplankton ID with the occasional foray into the field to assist with the long-term Suisun and Arc sampling projects.

My favorite memory as a member of the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) has to be the days that I spent on the water with the ARC lab crew. Field leads knew that some of the undergrads that came out on the water with their team had never done fieldwork in this capacity before. Thus, an unspoken goal of the lab was to enable novices to parse out and develop their feelings and preferences about fieldwork in a safe environment. The ARC lab’s no-nonsense, safety-first attitude set the standard for how I run my field work now, and it shaped the way that I approach my science. The one (and only) time I’ve caught a striped bass worth keeping was out on the water as a member of this crew, and I’ll probably ride that high into perpetuity.

Now, I’ve just finished my Master’s Program in the ToPEC Lab at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab, where I served as one of the lead scientists for the BML Chapter of the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program. This position requires organizing ~20 people from different backgrounds (anglers, undergrads, boat captains, etc.) to come together and sample groundfish species in Marine Protected Areas.

a person holds a large fish by the mouth while they stand on a boat. the fish is silvery and the person is dressed in black. — Figure 1. Fran De Castro holds a striped bass as part of ARC lab’s Suisun marsh sampling. Photo credit: ARC lab staff.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned during my time in the ARC lab was to understand and appreciate the fact that not all valuable knowledge is earned in the classroom – many of the anglers I work with now have learned everything they know about the ocean through practical experience. I can say with confidence that in their time on these waters, these anglers have forgotten more than I may ever learn about these systems and their fishes.

My time at CWS taught me the value of accountability, of collaboration, and of conducting person-first, people-centered science. If we properly take care of ourselves and our teams, we will have the increased ability and competency to do good science, which motivates us to better take care of our people, yielding a positive feedback loop of compassion in our science.

If I were to offer early career scientists a sliver of advice based on what I learned at CWS, it would be: If you want to do good science, go where people feel valued and cared for— where people are treated with the same amount of care and consideration that we aim to afford to our research.

It is a difficult standard to meet, but we owe it to ourselves to hold that line in the way we treat our colleagues and the way we do our science.

Thank you to my friends at the ‘Shed.

Best fishes always,

Fran

The image features a person holding an octopus with multiple arms visible, showcasing its unique, textured skin. The person's hands are positioned in a cupping gesture to support the octopus, emphasizing its round head and prominent eyes. The octopus is a reddish-brown color, which reflects shades of light. In the background, a clipboard and a sheet of paper with some markings can be seen, suggesting a context related to marine research or observation. The workspace is slightly cluttered, with part of a straw hat visible, adding an outdoor, casual feel to the scene. — Figure 2. Fran holds a young giant Pacific octopus during a CCFRP field sampling day. Photo credit: CCFRP – BML science crew.

“Where are they now:” is a new blog series on the California WaterBlog, written in the voices of our alumni. The series will celebrate the many alumni who got their start at the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) and have now gone on to bigger and better things. Blog posts from the “Where are they now:” series will be peppered throughout our regularly scheduled lineup of blogs, and they will highlight both former students and past employees of CWS. We hope you enjoy their stories in their own words!

About the Author

Fran De Castro (they/she) is a first-generation Filipino American, first-gen grad student, and in March 2026 finished their Master’s degree at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab (https://marinescience.ucdavis.edu/bml/about), in the Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology, and Conservation Lab (https://pasparakislab.sf.ucdavis.edu/). Throughout their fisheries career, Fran has run and/or conducted hook-and-line, beach seine, fyke trap, and rotary screw trap sampling across North-Central California. During their graduate program, Fran helped to run the Bodega Marine Lab’s chapter of the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (https://www.ccfrp.org/), a statewide program that evaluates groundfish populations across the state’s marine protected areas.

Get Involved

Check out CCFRP.org if you’re interested in joining the marine protected area sampling effort as a volunteer angler! There are six universities across the state of California that sample our MPAs, and you can come fish with us at any of them.

Support experiences like this

If this story resonated with you, consider making a gift to the Center to help us create more meaningful opportunities for students across our programs. Want to support the specific experience featured here? You can do that too, by supporting the CWS ARC Lab.