Zooplankton Ecology

Behavior and sensory perception of zooplankton; bioluminescence of marine plankton; predator-prey interactions; photobehavior; role of zooplankton grazers in phytoplankton bloom dynamics

Estuarine Ecology

Research and monitoring within the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, including studies of climate change, freshwater inflows, nutrient loads and harmful algal blooms.

Research Interests

My research interests in marine science have focused on studies of the behavioral ecology of marine zooplankton, and how sensory perception mediates behavioral adaptations for locating food resources, avoiding predators and finding mates. Much of this research makes use of video microcinematography and automated video-computer methods for image and motion analysis. I am particularly interested in the role of photoreception in mediating potential predator-prey interactions within the plankton, including the role of bioluminescence in nocturnal predator-prey interactions, the role of vision in the feeding of larval fish on zooplankton and the role of sunlight in vertical migration of oceanic plankton to avoid visual predators. I am presently involved in studies of escape behavior of copepods using high speed video, and in studies of the effects of hypoxia on copepods in the Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" and the effects of climate change on the plankton community of the Arabian Sea. I am also interested in the role of planktonic grazers in harmful algal bloom dynamics; several ongoing studies are investigating the role of grazers in bloom dynamics of the toxic red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis.