My D.Phil. focused on fish populations in mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs). MCEs occur in tropical regions extending from depths of 30 m to approx. 150 m, and are often connected to shallow coral reef ecosystems, where it is suggested they provide an important reservoir of recruits for coral and fish populations. Their importance to overall reef resilience in the face of human disturbances such as overfishing is largely unknown and there is a lack of evidence for whether fish populations on shallow coral reefs and adjacent MCEs are connected.

My D.Phil. addressed this important information gap by using advanced diving technologies coupled with a newly developed stereo-video system methodology to:

(i) understand fish community ecological processes on MCEs (ii) evaluate effective survey techniques for MCE fish research (iii) explore the role of MCEs in the western Atlantic lionfish invasion

I am now a Marine Science Fellow at World Wildlife Fund US based in Washington, DC. I continue to extensively collaborate with members of the Ocean Research and Conservation Group, especially on projects relating to mesophotic coral ecosystems on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and Chagos Archipelago.

Only publications relevant to mesophotic reefs are indexed.

SCUBA (open-circuit or unspecified)
Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
Rebreather
Manned Submersible
Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV)