Dr. Sophie McCoy

Research in my lab draws relationships between processes that occur at small scales to macro-scale patterns.  In the context of changing climate, we focus on links between physiological response and dynamics of populations and communities, and especially on the effects of environmental stress on traits that mediate species interactions.  How can we identify mechanisms that retain the ecological and biogeochemical function of coastal ecosystems?  At the moment, projects focus on a) changing trophic relationships in the marine environment, b) gaining a better understanding and context for macroalgae in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and c) community ecology of crustose coralline algae in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.