Research

I am currently studying the larvae of ascidians to determine how events that occur during the larval phase affect subsequent life stages. Some of our previous work showed that larvae of the ascidian Corella inflata are extremely sensitive to natural sunlight; even very short exposures affect survival of the larvae during their planktonic larval phase. We are now working to understand whether sublethal doses of natural light can carry-over into subsequent life stages by reducing juvenile survival and growth. We are also testing other ascidian species to determine whether high light sensitive is an unusual characteristic of this species or whether it is a more general feature of ascidian larvae (and the larvae of other invertebrates).