Profile

I am a marine botanist and ecologist living in Galway with my partner and our fish. For fun we like to cook intricate meals (or I do), watch movies, go diving and we are going to start camping more this spring! In my spare time I do small art projects at the aquarium, take art classes,  weave, and crochet.

I have a research project that aims to fill in knowledge gaps concerning subtidal kelp forest productivity and kelp supported biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic. Subtidal kelp forests in Ireland are generally dominated by Laminaria hyperborea, but punctuated with four common species: L. digitata, Sacchorhiza polyschides, Saccharina latissima, and Alaria esculenta. Seasonal observations of four semi-permanent kelp forest monitoring sites in western Ireland (Figure 1) are made with three primary objectives: 1) record the environmental characteristics of these kelp forest habitats, 2) characterize kelp diversity, population structure, and productivity in western Ireland with a focus on L. hyperborea, and 3) describe biodiversity of floral/faunal assemblages in these kelp forests at multiple scales.