Alumna

Her research: "I am interested in how species interactions and disturbance structure marine communities. More specifically, asking questions concerning which species of algae recruit after a disturbance and why they recruit when they do. Ulva (sea lettuce) is commonly found growing on newly disturbed intertidal rocks and in the form of 'green blooms' in coastal estuaries. The blades of this alga are annual and holocarpic, meaning that all cells within the blades can become reproductive simultaneously. This trait has led to the hypothesis of an external source of propagules that are always in the water column. I'm in the process of testing this hypothesis and investigating how variation in propagule availability might explain patterns of recruitment and green blooms."