However insurmountable a project may seem, with the help of great mentorship and an amazing team, anything is possible. I have been blessed with one of the best mentors and advisors a student could wish for. Dr. Scott Hamilton has been essential in making me believe that I too can be a real Scientist. I have struggled and overcome many academic challenges in the past four years, but Scott has always been there to support me. Henry Ford once said: "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals." Well, Scott, thank you for always getting me refocused on my goals! I will always remain grateful for your advisorship. I would like to thank my committee member Jon Geller for accepting me into the MLML program and his expertise in Invertebrate Zoology. Words cannot describe my gratitude to my committee member Brent Vadopalas. Brent, you have encouraged me to present my research at conferences and taught me so much about geoducks. My thesis project took on new dimensions, literally, because of your encouragement. Prior to my commencing my academic career at MLML I was under the impression that geoducks were waterfowl. I would like to thank Kai Lampson for introducing me to this long-lived burrowing clam and the need for understanding population dynamics in California. I would also like to thank Ignacio Leyva-Valencia, Chris Klingenberg, and Dave Sheets for opening my eyes to the world of geometric morphometrics and shape analysis. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife sponsored me to learn their aging vi techniques, and I will always cherish my time there. Thank you Bob Sizemore and Bethany Stevick for allowing me to spend three weeks in your aging lab in Olympia. Fieldwork was a large portion of my thesis, which was accomplished with the help of many hard-working and fearless colleagues at MLML and the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife. I will always appreciate and remember fondly the early mornings and seemingly endless hours of sampling and processing that