Selected Research Projects
I have listed here a few of my completed and ongoing research projects, along with some general information and links to relevant media on these works. Feel free to get in touch by email with any questions!
Larval invertebrate behavior in flow
Many larval invertebrates have a planktonic dispersal period before settling to the seafloor as adults. Our understanding of how larval behavior may influence dispersal and transport across a range of spatial scales is limited, and larval responses to a variety of physical, chemical, and biological cues remain ongoing areas of research. Larval supply is crucial to maintaining benthic populations of marine species, and the degree of active control exercised by larvae in selecting seafloor habitats remains an intriguing question.
Hydrodynamic triggers to larval oyster dive responses
Swimming and reorientation of sea urchin larvae in flow
Larval oyster behavioral responses to interacting water column cues
Competent-to-settle larval responses to conspecific chemical cues
Phytoplankton behavior and genetic regulation in turbulence and changing gravity regimes
A considerable proportion of marine and aquatic phytoplankton are motile, and a key purpose of motility is vertical migration, which allows cells to shuttle to depth at night, where limiting nutrients are abundant and predation risks reduced and to reside in the well-lit surface waters during the day. To migrate through the water column, many phytoplankton species rely on gravitaxis – the tendency of cells to align their swimming direction with (or against) gravity. We are presently investigating the role played by both turbulence and the gravity vector (which cells perceive differently when they are overturned in flow) in disrupting the vertical migration of phytoplankton, as well as the behavioral and genetic responses of phytoplankton to these disruptions.
Heterosigma akashiwo swimming and aggregation in turbulence
Heterosigma akashiwo behavioral and genetic responses to hyper- and micro-gravity conditions
Behavioral adaptations of the microbial community in the sea surface microlayer
The aquatic microlayer consists of the upper ~500 micrometer depth of ponds, lakes, and oceans, and is characterized by extreme gradients in temperature (and salinity, in the case of oceans). It is a fascinating micro-environment for study as it represents the interface between water and air; buoyant material in the water collects there, and atmospheric material is deposited there. The microbial and planktonic community in the microlayer, collectively known as the micro-neuston, may play a crucial role in global climate patterns and biogeochemical cycling, via aggregation (which regulates air-sea exchange rates of climatically-relevant gases) and behavioral modes (finding and introducing nutrients available on the surface into elemental cycles). Despite this, very little is known about the community composition of the microlayer and how bacteria and plankton live and move in this extreme environment. We are presently developing an in situ device for direct observation of microbial behavior in the microlayer, in order to address these basic questions.