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Contact detailsBridie Allan 2020 Image

Email bridie.allan@otago.ac.nz

Academic qualifications

BSc University of Otago
MSc James Cook University
PhD James Cook University

Research interests

  • Marine ecology
  • Swimming performance in fishes
  • Chemical ecology of predator-prey interactions
  • Environmental influences on predator-prey interactions.

My research explores how environmental changes can alter the mechanisms underlying population processes and how these changes scale to community dynamics. To do this, I use field collections, observations and experiments in conjunction with laboratory experiments to investigate a wide range of impacts including climate change, oil pollution, habitat disturbances, microplastic pollution, and other human activities that influence the physiology, behaviour and survival of fish. My field sites span both tropical and temperate regions.

I am also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.
Coastal People: Southern Skies

I encourage enthusiastic students who have a strong academic background and are interested in joining our research group to contact me directly to discuss potential postgraduate projects:

  • Influence of habitat complexity on anti-predator behaviour in marine animals
  • Impacts of microplastic pollution on the physiology and behaviour of marine animals
  • The impacts of dredging and sediment exposure on the physiology and behaviour of marine animals
  • Effects of habitat degradation on reproductive fitness in marine animals
  • The ecological role of chemically-mediated larval behaviour in ecosystem function

Postgraduate students

Current students

  • Dominic Hayes, MSc: The impact of future climatic conditions on coral reef fish routine swimming and fast start escape
  • Eleanor Kelly, PhD: The combined response of warming, UV, and crude oil exposure on predator-prey interactions of fish and the neurophysiological drivers responsible

Completed students

  • Hannah Fox-McLachlan, MSc: Can Common triplefin (Forsterygion lapillum) recruits use associative learning mechanisms to learn the identity of a novel predator
  • Jake Edwards-Ingle, MSc: Influence of habitat complexity and time of day on encounter-rates of blacktip reef shark neonates and their predators
  • Aneesa Delpachitra, MSc: Assessing the interactive impacts of crude oil and microplastics on juvenile coral reef fish (Pomacentrus amboinensis)
  • Isabella Clere, MSc: Quantification and characterisation of microplastics in wild and farm reared commercial fish from southern New Zealand
  • Brad Lamont, MSc: The effects of chemical alarm cues on fish physiology and development
  • Amelia Mannering, MSc: Another one bites the microplastic! The impacts of microplastic exposure on the condition and anti-predator behaviour of coral reef fish
  • Teresa Morrell, MSc:  The impact of microplastic exposure on the reproductive success of Triplefins
  • José Emilio Trujillo Moyano, PhD: The relationship between physiological traits and fast-start escape behavior of juvenile blacktip reef sharks under different thermal conditions
  • Zoe Psarathoukis, MSc: The impact of ingested microplastics with adsorbed heavy metals on the fitness and predator avoidance behaviour of Forsterygion capito (robust triplefin fish)
  • Paige Olmstead, MSc:  The effect of microplastics on gut morphology in triplefin
  • Ashleigh Hawke, MSc:  The effect of heavy metal and microplastic contamination on the escape performance of the New Zealand Triplefin fish
  • Eleanor Kelly, MSc:  Microbial biofilms on marine plastic debris
  • Ben Paanakker, PGdipSci: Exposure to sublethal levels of glyphosate-based herbicide on the embryonic development of coastal triplefin, Forsterygion capito
  • Campbell Pearson, PGdipSci: The effect of crude oil on Triplefin (Forsterygion capito) embryo physiology
  • Fletcher Munsterman, MSc: The effect of plasticisers on nest guarding behaviour in Triplefins
  • Isla Twigg, PhD: Macrocystis pyrifera as a biogenic engineer

Publications

Foreman, S., Allan, B. J. M., Sabadel, A. J. M., & Savage, C. (2026). A tale of two stressors: Nitrogen, microplastics, and their influence on estuarine organic matter degradation. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 230, 119779. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119779 Journal - Research Article

Twigg, I. M., Baltar, F., Pritchard, D. W., Allan, B. J. M., & Hepburn, C. D. (2026). Winter marine heatwaves alter bacterial carbon uptake in Macrocystis pyrifera ecosystems. Annals of Botany. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcag106 Journal - Research Article

Foreman, S. E., Allan, B. J. M., Sabadel, A., & Savage, C. (2026). Combined effects of microplastics and nitrogen on bivalve-mediated biogeochemical cycling. Limnology & Oceanography, 71, e70329. doi: 10.1002/lno.70329 Journal - Research Article

Gnanalingam, G., Kelly, E. R. M., Coyle, L. J., Smith, R. O., & Allan, B. J. M. (2025). Spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) responses to marine heatwave conditions in southern New Zealand. Marine Environmental Research, 211, 107410. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107410 Journal - Research Article

Trujillo, J. E., Bouyoucos, I. A., Weideli, O. C., Milanesi, E. M. C., Debaere, S. F., Rayment, W. J., … Allan, B. J. M. (2025). Safety in the shallows: Nearshore coastal habitats can provide physical and thermal features that optimize escape performance in newborn blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus). Conservation Physiology, 13(1), coaf045. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaf045 Journal - Research Article

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