What do I study?
Many organisms are capable of rapidly acclimatizing to new environmental conditions, which allows them to survive change. The array of tools they use and the speed of their responses are some of the most incredible phenomena in nature. These responses motivate me to ask: Why are some organisms flourishing on our changing planet while other are doing poorly? I use this information to design and test simple interventions to stimulate community growth and replenish human food resources, such as fishes. I primarily study coral reefs because they are biodiverse, harbingers of ecosystem-wide decline, and depended on by ~1 billion people who bear disproportionate harm from environmental decline.
Why is this work important?
Understanding phenotypic flexibility is particularly important today because natural selection is unlikely to keep pace with global change for long-lived species, such as trees and corals. The loss of organisms that form the base of ecosystems can lead to the complete loss of that ecosystem. Coral reefs, for example, are the primary source of income and food for ~1 billion people and a valuable source of novel pharmaceuticals. Therefore, understanding how to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems is critical to planetary health and human survival.
How do I study it?
I use a diverse suite of tools including large field experiments, laboratory experiments, metabolomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, larval behavioral studies, and machine learning. My work requires multidisciplinary. Beyond the expertises listed above, I work with engineers, human nutritionists, epidemiologists, reef managers, government scientists, and coastal communities—one of the best parts of my job.
What is my background?
I received a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California San Diego, an M.S. in Oceanography from SIO, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Vermont. I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and San Diego State University, and I am currently a Research Associate in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
