We study how and why marine ecosystems change
Fundamentally, we are fascinated by the dynamics of marine communities, particularly at regional to global scales and including humans. We are also science geeks who want to make a difference: we use bioinformatics, statistics, SCUBA diving, mathematical models, and other tools to understand the structure and function of ocean life, then translate that information outside the scientific community to help improve stewardship of ocean life. Right now, we’re especially interested in how marine species adapt to climate change, how marine communities are assembled, how networks of larval dispersal connects populations across space, and how people affect and are affected by the changing ocean. Current projects are focused in the northeast U.S., the Philippines, the California Current, and the North American continent, but we follow interesting questions wherever they may take us. We also actively partner with a wide range of government, NGO, and community organizations to apply our research.