Dr Bridie Allan

Contact details

Office 310 Castle Street, room 148
Tel+64 3 479 8327
Emailbridie.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

Courses

• AQFI 251 Principles of Aquaculture (Lecturer)
• MARI 112 Marine Biology: The Living Ocean (Course co-ordinator)
• MARI 202 Ecology and Biology of Marine Invertebrates (Lecturer)
• MARI 301 Marine Ecology and Ecosystems (Lecturer)
• MARI 322 Coastal and Shelf Seas Oceanography (Course co-ordinator)
• MARI 401 Advanced Methods in Marine Science (Lecturer)

Postgraduate students

Current students

• Eleanor Kelly, PhD: The combined response of warming, UV, and crude oil exposure on predator-prey interactions of fish and the neurophysiological drivers responsible.
• José Emilio Trujillo Moyano, PhD: The relationship between physiological traits and fast-start escape behavior of juvenile blacktip reef sharks under different thermal conditions.
• Aneesa Delpachitra, MSc: Assessing the interactive impacts of crude oil and microplastics on juvenile coral reef fish (Pomacentrus amboinensis).
• Jake Edwards-Ingle, MSc: Influence of habitat complexity and time of day on encounter-rates of blacktip reef shark neonates and their predators.
• Teresa Morrell, MSc: The impact of microplastic exposure on the reproductive success of Triplefins.

Completed students

• 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, PGdipSci: The effect of microplastics on gut morphology in triplefin.
• Ashleigh Hawke, PGdipSci: 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.