Email roe.stuart@otago.ac.nz
I am a freshwater ecologist with a passion for our native fish. I am currently focussed on exploring the undescribed communities at depth in Aotearoa’s deepest lakes, discovering new fish populations and describing the environment and food webs that can be over 400m below the surface in some lakes.
I completed my PhD at Otago on fish and invertebrate communities in coastal wetland systems in Southland, identifying spatial and temporal dynamics, and recolonisation patterns following drought. I then spent time as a post-doc in Vermont, USA, investigating a range of questions regarding American eels including diet, potential consumption of invasive lamprey, and distribution within Lake Champlain.
In addition to my deep lake research, I am also particularly interested in the biology of bullies (Gobiomorphus spp.) for which there are a range of key knowledge gaps to explore.
Research interests
- Native fish ecology, adaption, and species interactions
- Fish passage and migration
- Deep lake ecosystems
- Anguillid eels
- Life history and distribution of freshwater fish
- Aquatic invasive species
Current core project
The mystery of the deep: Populations and food web connections of fish and macroinvertebrates in New Zealand’s deepest lakes (Mana Tūapapa Future Leader Fellowship; Royal Society Te Apārangi)
Postgraduate students
Please contact me if you are interested.
Publications
Stuart, R. E., Holst, H. L., Marsden, J. E., & Stockwell, J. D. (2025). Distribution of American eels (Anguilla rostrata) and the influence of barriers in the Lake Champlain basin. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 51, 102617. doi: 10.1016/j.jglr.2025.102617 Journal - Research Article
Cameron, C., Thoresen, J., Stuart, R., Storey, R., Tracy-Mines, M., Ball, O., … Tait, P. (2025). Strong relationship between qualitative Rapid Assessment Forms and quantitative indices used to assess the ecological quality of forests in Northland, New Zealand. Restoration Ecology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/rec.70272 Journal - Research Article
Stuart, R. E., Stockwell, J. D., & Marsden, J. E. (2024). Anguillids: widely studied yet poorly understood: A literature review of the current state of Anguilla eel research. Reviews in Fish Biology & Fisheries, 34, 1637-1644. doi: 10.1007/s11160-024-09892-w Journal - Research Other
Stuart, R. E., Ingram, T., & Closs, G. P. (2023). Growth and diet of inanga (Galaxias maculatus) within a small New Zealand coastal pond system. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 57(1), 88-103. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2021.1968009 Journal - Research Article
Stuart, R. E. (2021). The spatio-temporal dynamics of fish and invertebrate communities within coastal wetland systems (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/12090 Awarded Doctoral Degree