Student, PhD Candidate in Biology - Université Laval (ULAVAL)

Katie's doctoral research focuses on two ecological themes: the effect of individual movements on plant-herbivore interactions and environmental effects on individual behaviour. These two areas are being addressed using the dynamics of green urchins and kelp in the rocky subtidal system of the Saint Lawrence as a model system. Green urchins can be destructive herbivores in coastal ecosystems, completely suppressing kelp beds in certain regions, and Katie aims to explain how substrate composition, drift kelp and the hydrodynamic regime interact to modify the individual and collective movements of urchins.

(Source: Benthos)

Talk: Movement onto isolated rocky ‘islands’ underwater : how much distance across a sandy bottom is necessary to reduce the number of green urchins colonizing artificial reefs? (May 30)