RESEARCH THEMES
Understanding the ecology of resilience depends on processes operating at multiple scales, often acting together to provide functional redundancy or buffer shifts in species interactions. To investigate these processes, I use manipulative field experiments in conjunction with laboratory studies targeting the physiological mechanisms underlying community-level patterns. Species interactions are a central focus of my work. As members of ecological communities respond to changes in the marine environent, the strength and structure of their interactions can change or disappear entirely. My research seeks to uncover how these dynamics influence ecosystem function and resilience.
Marine macroalgae form the foundation of most coastal ecosystems, providing productivity, habitat, and a host of ecosystem services. My lab studies how these organisms respond physiologically to ocean acidification and warming, and how those responses scale up to shape carbon cycling and community structure along the coast. A major thread of this work focuses on calcifying algae, where we've found that seemingly identical "cryptic species" can differ dramatically in their physiology and microbiome associations. This variation may prove critical to how these communities adapt to future ocean conditions.
Benthic Cyanobacterial Mats
Benthic cyanobacterial mats are dense, diverse microbial consortia that have become an increasingly dominant feature on coral reefs and temperate coastlines alike. My lab seeks to understand the ecology of these photosynthetic mats, including their interactions with macroscopic organisms and tracing how nutrients are partitioned and recycled among microbial partners to sustain the mat over time. Viral activity plays a surprising top-down role in these systems by regulating microbial populations and nutrient cycling through shifts between lytic and lysogenic viral infection.
Calcification & Mineralogy
Calcifying organisms like coralline algae and mussels build their skeletons from forms of calcium carbonate that are increasingly vulnerable as ocean chemistry shifts. My lab studies the physiological and mineralogical mechanisms behind this process, using a combination of field populations, archival specimens, and laboratory experiments to understand how calcification responds to acidification over both short and long timescales. These responses vary widely between individuals and morphotypes, variation that may be critical raw material for future adaptation, and that shifts in species interactions can signal disruptions to reef and coastal communities well before other, more visible impacts appear.
