PhD research

My PhD investigates how shallow rocky reef communities and populations in temperate waters respond to the loss of kelp and/or temperature changes. I use macroecological approaches to understand how tropicalization signals (species range shifts) in reef communities are altered by kelp loss. At a more local level, my work investigates whether healthy kelp forests and areas that are devoid of kelp (i.e., sea urchin barrens) select for different traits and phenotypes in populations of species that occur across both barrens and kelp habitats. I quantify how physiological performance (e.g., metabolic rate) is shaped by kelp loss and whether populations from areas without kelp respond differently to temperature changes than populations from areas with kelp.