Welcome to our lab group! We study the interplay between evolutionary and ecological processes in shaping biodiversity. Our current research focuses on freshwater fish and lake food webs in New Zealand including Rēkohu/ Chatham Island. Our interests include intraspecific niche variation, life history evolution, phylogenetic comparative methods, and the effects of salinisation and altered connectivity on populations and food webs.

Lab News

Welcome to new lab affiliates Roseanna Gamlen-Greene whose postdoctoral work is looking at the health of tuna (eel) populations, Taylor McCormack whose MSc will investigate frog invasion on Rēkohu, and sabbatical visitors Marjorie Weber and Gideon Bradburd!

New publication from Eva De Jong's MSc looking at how gravel extraction affects fish population health in braided rivers

New publication from Marine Richarson's PhD, on the effects of an intraguild predator on individual specialisation in fish

Congratulations to Nathan Silcock for graduating with a MSc on population monitoring and food web ecology of wetland tuna/eels!

New publication from Amirah Norhayati's mesocosm experiment looking at how microplastic pollution affects lake food webs

We are located at the University of Otago (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka), in Ōtepoti Dunedin on the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our home is the Department of Zoology (Te Tari Mātai Kararehe), and our field sites include lakes, streams and wetlands throughout Rēkohu and the South Island.