I am an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences.  I received my PhD from the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program and did a postdoc at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  In my research I use a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches to study processes that affect population and community dynamics of marine invertebrates.

Much of my work has involved developing and applying new statistical analyses to describe how planktonic larvae respond to environmental cues such as turbulence.  I then integrate this behavioral information with physical models to learn how behavior affects larval supply to benthic habitats and dispersal among different populations. 

More recently I have been studying size-dependent predation in planktonic communities and how changes in predator assemblages can contribute to changes in fundamental community properties. The goal of this research is to provide a greater understanding of how climatic forcing affects the structure and function of planktonic ecosystems.

With turbulence tank and PIV. Photo courtesy of Tom Kleindinst, WHOI

Group photo in Antarctica

Collecting plankton in Antarctica