Research Summary

I study the evolutionary ecology, behaviour and phylogeography of marine animals. Laboratory clones of the sessile marine invertebrate Celleporella hyalina serve to investigate a wide range of evolutionary problems, including mechanisms for ensuring cross fertilization (PNAS 2002), adjustment of sex ratio in response to stress (PNAS 2003), histocompatibility in relation to coancestry (Evol. Devel. 2004) and plasticity of body size in relation to temperature (Evol. Devel. 2006). In collaboration with Gary Carvalho, we have used DNA barcoding in conjunction with breeding tests to reveal prolific cryptic speciation in C. hyalina, having important implications for estimating marine biodiversity and predicting biogeographical impacts of climate change. Current NERC-funded research uses C. hyalina as a model system for testing theoretical predictions of the effect of self-fertilization on the sex ratio of simultaneous hermaphrodites. For more information, please go to my research page.