Research

Academic Approach

I am a critical marine ecologist with a penchant for understanding how young life stages of fishes and invertebrates, particularly those found in in nursery and/or freezing habitats, may cope with rapid anthropogenic change. My graduate and postdoctoral research training was primarily rooted in classic environmental physiology, of which research – including infamous research on Antarctic fish physiology (e.g., ‘antifreeze glycoproteins’) – has focused on describing how animals mechanistically cope with environmental ‘stressors’ on cellular and organismal levels. The approaches I integrate from this training span comparative animal physiology, animal behavior, community and habitat ecology. My academic perspective is also still deeply informed by my foundational education in the marine sciences.

            More holistically, though, my academic perspective and research approach has also been greatly influenced by a diversity of scholars, disciplines, and knowledge systems throughout my training, not just in the natural sciences, but also Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, feminist and critical theory, disability and queer studies, and art and literature. The more I have stepped out of the silo of the natural sciences, the more expansive my learnings and perspective have become, which has in turn deeply shaped my ecological research. An important practice in my research is considering what systems of power are at play and how they may be influencing the science and knowledge that I am engaged with. I also embody my values in my research, like hope and care, and rather than striving to meet the impossible goal of the objective observer, I choose to honor my unique perspective, and I have directly witnessed how much stronger this approach has made my work. From my connection to my study sites and species, my field observations, the questions I ask and how I approach them, my interpretations and applications of results – everything I do as a researcher is informed by who I am as a person and the diverse knowledge and experiences that I bring to my work. These approaches and perspectives are why I describe myself as a critical ecologist and an activist academic.