Bio
Welcome to my website!
I am a Seattle native and currently a graduate student at the University of British Columbia working towards a master's degree in Zoology. I discovered my passion for marine science in 2008 while diving in Thailand and have enthusiastically pursued that passion ever since. My love of marine ecosystems has led to many opportunities including positions as; Marine Camp counselor at the Seattle Aquarium, Research Diver at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, and Lab Tech in an Aquatic Microbiology Lab. I am particularly interested in landscape and subtidal ecology of the Northeast Pacific. Have a look around!
Research
Strongylocentrotus
franciscanus
Benthic community structure mediated by the red sea urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus in the San Juan Archipelago
The red urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus is a ubiquitous member of the San Juan Archipelago marine community ranging from the shallow subtidal to depths greater than 100m. They are known to be strong interactors in shallow algal habitats, but very little is known about interactions between urchins and the surrounding community in the deep subtidal. This study tested the hypothesis that red sea urchins alter benthic invertebrate community structure and abundance patterns in the deep subtidal zone. This was accomplished through the use of underwater photography pairing invertebrate communities underneath and adjacent to randomly selected urchins across three sites in the San Juan Channel. Analysis revealed that sea urchins are significantly altering abundance patterns of sessile and mobile fauna in the subtidal zone.
Collecting Data
Benthic Invertebrates
Metandrocarpa taylorii
Rock Wall Urchins
As part of an investigation into the role of grazers on subtidal rock walls, I assisted researchers at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories analyze and quantify gut contents of the red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus. I also performed biological census and habitat manipulation experiments in the field using SCUBA. This work resulted in several novel findings including the identification of the social ascidian Metandrocarpa taylorii as a significant portion of the red urchin's diet, as well as the overall contribution that sessile invertebrates make to their diet on rock walls. I was able to present these findings at both the Friday Harbor Labs’ Marine Biology Quarter Symposium and the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Various algae
Unidentified arthropod
Caprellid on a hydroid
Eelgrass Foodwebs
The role of top-down (grazing, predation) and bottom-up (nutrient) controls interact to structure the function and diversity of communties. In the eelgrass meadows of British Columbia the strength of these competing interactions is not well understood. In addition, much of the work conducted in other eelgrass systems has been done in the intertidal zone which only constitutes a fraction of eelgrass habitat. My continuing work aims to quantify top-down controls of ephiphytic algae by ubiquitous amphipod consumers called caprellids. This work will be viewed in the context of ongoing research to understand the strength of control exerted by predators, grazers, and nutrients in this system. In addition, I am working to describe deeper subtidal eelgrass food webs to see if our current models which are derived from the intertidal zone still apply.
Photo: Andrew Huang
Seagrass in Tsawwassen
Isopod on my nose
Whippo_CV_9-2011.pdf
Links
O'Connor Lab - UBC
Marine Environment Research (MER)
Department of Zoology - UBC
School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences - UW
Friday Harbor Laboratories
Seattle Aquarium
American Academy of Underwater Sciences
Divers Alert Network
