Author Spotlight: Bridging the Gap Between Field Observations and Lab Manipulations in Larval Ecology Research

I'm interested in how the development of marine larvae is influenced by multiple environmental factors and stressors and how the larval nervous system integrates information from the environment to regulate settlement of larvae, metamorphosis to benthic juveniles, and recruitment into adult populations. Larvae of some marine species like the Slipper Limpet, Crepidula Fornicata, are quite resilient to ocean acidification, but there are important interactions between acidification and other factors, like nutrition and salinity. We don't know very much about how larvae grow, develop, and behave in nature.

Field mesocosm observations can fill in some of these gaps and suggest hypotheses to test with lab manipulations. We can begin to ask on neurobehavioral, developmental, and transcriptional levels how larvae deal with stressors that vary on short time scales in productive coastal environments that are especially susceptible to human impacts.