Marine & Freshwater Ecology

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor of Evolution and Ecology
• Director, Center for Population Biology

EDUCATION:
• BA Dartmouth College (USA)
• PhD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)

MEMBERSHIPS:
• Ecological Society of America
• American Society of Naturalists

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
In the broadest sense, the unifying theme of my research is the ecological causes and consequences of biodiversity. Research in my lab investigates both the community level processes responsible for the maintenance of biological diversity in natural ecosytems as well as the ecological consequences of changing biodiversity. Our approach usually involves a combination of field and lab experiments, observations and/or modeling. I have found seaweeds and marine invertebrates to be particularly tractable experimental subjects and have conducted research involving a diverse suite of marine organisms in habitats from kelp forests and coral reefs to estuaries and tidepools. Currently, the main conceptual issues my research focuses on are:

(1) the functional importance of marine seaweed and invertebrate biodiversity for ecosystem stability and functioning
(2) the ecological roles of genetic diversity within key species for the functioning of ecosystems
(3) the causes of successful exotic species invasions and their consequences for natural communities
(4) the importance of mutualism and commensalism in the maintenance of species diversity and in structuring communities in general.