Researcher Summary
My research interests sit at the nexus of freshwater, ecosystem and restoration ecology. I am involved in multiple projects within the Freshwater Ecology Research Group (FERG). My main role as Director and Scientist with the Canterbury Waterway Rehabilitation Experiment (CAREX) involves a research programme to address freshwater health issues in agricultural waterways, and are generating robust science to underpin restoration and management decisions.
I am co-leader on New Zealand's Biological Heritage National Science Challenge Project 3.4 - Reigniting healthy resilience: Using functional traits to achieve stream restoration. We are a team comprised of early-career researchers, combining data syntheses and experimental approaches to test food web theory in a stream restoration context.
I am also interested in broader questions around the what drives variability in freshwater ecosystems. I use temporary streams, microbial communities and nutrient dynamics in human-impacted systems to explore interactions between ecosystem structure and function. I also work towards linking science with policy and am a Young Fellow on the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).