We are primarily field ecologists with a research program focused on the fundamental principles that underpin the structure and function of food webs. We use this context to explore how organisms mediate energy flow in ecosystems through both top-down (e.g., predation) and bottom-up (e.g., nutrient cycling) processes. In particular, we employ two of the most pervasive human impacts in coastal ecosystems - over-exploitation of top predators and ecosystem fragmentation - as core hypothesis testing frameworks. Although many projects fall within the bounds of community ecology, our research program spans population, ecosystem and evolutionary questions. This integrated, interdisciplinary, research program provides for a multi-faceted understanding of how humans are driving ecological change across multiple ecosystem types.
- Consumer-driven nutrient cycling in marine ecosystems
- Intraspecific niche variation and individual specialization
- Impacts of the invasive lionfish
- Human-driven rapid evolution in mosquitofish
- New metrics to quantify food web structure
- Trajectories of change following tidal creek restoration
- Using acoustic telemetry to track fish movement patterns
- Predator-prey relationships in tidal creek food webs
- Dock piling fouling communities
An integral element of our lab’s direction is to develop extensive public outreach and education initiatives through direct integration of students and community members into my research program. See the Outreach link on this site for more information.
Other past research efforts