Professor Pondella's research interests include the ecology of California marine fishes, with an emphasis on the Southern California bight; the evolution of marine fishes in the tropical eastern Pacific; and the life history of fishes, including species from the Gulf of California.
Pondella's research has been funded by the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Navy, the Port of Los Angeles, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Pondella has been published in journals such as the Bulletin of Marine Science, the ICES Journal of Marine Science, and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. He is working on a book, tentatively titled The Ecology of California Marine Fishes.