| I am a marine community ecologist with a strong interest in coral reefs, fisheries and food webs. Over the last 18 years I have benefitted from macro-ecological (marine protected area and fishing effects), modelling and stable isotope approaches to help understand what holds marine ecosystems together. I edit the journal Environmental Conservation and much of my work is at the interface between environmental science and environmental management. |  |
Current Research |
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I have long been interested in the ecology and conservation of marine communities, have used a range of different techniques to quantify and better understand the links that hold species together. Thus I have applied stable isotopes to elucidate many aspects of food web structure and dynamics, including the trophodynamics of individual species as a function of size, and the structure of whole assemblages. I have used macroecological approaches to explore how ecosystem structure may change at large sale in relation to anthropogenic drivers such as fishing pressure, and climate change for example through coral bleaching. Statistical modelling has been employed to reveal patterns of change in ecosystems and reasons for these, such as through establishment of marine protected areas. Methodological development work in the group has included use of isotopic fractionation in measurement of trophic level and factors affecting this, appreciation of sources of variability in underwater visual census data, and application of size spectra to describe coral reef fish assemblage structures. Much of this work is directly relevant to major points of environmental policy and I have repeatedly sought to convey the understanding developed in the group to the wider community. |
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