Projects and Collaborations

Unlocking the secret microscopic life of kelp: assessing gametophyte density and resilience in disappearing kelp habitats:

Kelp is one of the largest and most productive organisms on earth, creating unique underwater forests. However, very few people are aware that kelps have a microscopic life stage that resides in these unique underwater ecosystems. Though tiny, this stage is resilient to environmental stress and has the potential to preserve kelp forests when the ocean is inhospitable. My research interests draws from my passion for diving and marine conservation, which aims to detect and monitor microscopic kelp ‘seed-banks’ in wild populations. Like a detective using a forensics approach and modern genetic tools, I will tackle long-standing questions about kelp forest stability, focusing on the resilient microscopic kelp stage.

Going beyond presence absence – an eDNA technique to estimate gametophyte densities in wild kelp populations:

There has been an emergence of novel eDNA techniques to detect intraspecific variation in nuclear DNA markers, such as microsatellites. These new methods enhance our ability to make genetic inferences at the population level, even to the degree of estimating numbers of individuals in a sample, inferring more accurate measurements of species’ densities. Current technologies such as high throughput sequencing of amplicons represents an efficient way to genotype microsatellite markers. The framework for parsing out individuals is akin to forensic analyses and can be applied to counting individuals of a given species in an eDNA sample. As such, we are we developing a genetic monitoring tool that estimates gametophyte densities through the collection of eDNA from benthic substrate.

Addressing long-standing questions about gametophyte longevity and population dynamics:

It is unknown if microscopic gametophytes are longer-lived, creating a multigenerational ‘seed bank’, analogous to terrestrial seed banks. This unknown has been the main focus of a field experiment in collaboration with the Hakai Institute, on Quadra Island British Columbia, Canada. We created artificial ‘seed banks’ with known genetic mixes of gametophytes cultured in the Hakai Institute biobank. The ‘seed banks’ were then deployed into the field. Our study area consisted of a kelp forest with an adjacent urchin barren, which we used as separate treatments to test gametophyte longevity under grazing pressure. Gametophyte loss is being tracked over time using our molecular monitoring technique that estimates gametophyte density.

Limitations to pneumatocyst buoyancy under pressure:

Maintaining buoyancy with gas-filled floats (pneumatocysts) is essential for some subtidal kelps to achieve an upright stature and compete for light used for photosynthesis. However, as these kelps grow up through the water column, pneumatocysts are exposed to substantial changes in hydrostatic pressure, which could cause complications as internal gases may expand or contract, potentially causing them to rupture, flood, and lose buoyancy. Our research investigates the consequences of mechanical stress imposed by hydrostatic pressure gradients on Bull Kelp pneumatocysts, demonstrating challenges to maintaining buoyancy, as well as highlighting developmental strategies employed by the kelp to resist breaking under pressure.

Pneumatocyst gas composition:

The ability of Bull Kelp pneumatocysts to inflate with gas underwater is peculiar, and the gas composition of pneumatocysts has been the topic of several studies over the last 100 years. It is unclear whether changes in pneumatocyst size and corresponding physiological processes influence internal gas composition and concentration. To address these questions, we use developmental time as a means to understand the origin and physiological mechanisms that give rise to different gases within Bull kelp pneumatocysts.

This project was conducted as a part of my M.Sc. thesis

Assessing invasion risks of seaweeds found on Japanese marine tsunami debris:

The Great East Japan Earthquake, with magnitude 9.1, struck on March 11, 2011, and created a massive tsunami that impacted more than 10,000 square kilometres of coastline, causing loss of human life, property destruction, and environmental damage. The tsunami washed millions of tons of material into the Pacific Ocean and, within a year, marine debris started arriving on the Pacific coast of North America and the Hawaiian Islands. The overall goal of the project was to assess and forecast the potential effects of floating debris, especially those related to non-indigenous species (NIS), on ecosystem structure and function, the coastlines, and communities along the Pacific coast of North America and the Hawaiian Islands, and to suggest research and management actions to mitigate any impacts.

This project was led by Dr. Thomas Therriault (DFO)

Long-term monitoring of a culturally harvested alga (Pyropia abbottiae):

In Spring 2016, indigenous communities documented historically low Pyropia abundance and quality in culturally important intertidal foraging areas throughout coastal British Columbia (BC), Canada. This event caused concern among local communities, who questioned the fate of future seaweed harvests. In response, a monitoring project has been developed that focuses on 1) the cause of the seaweed decline, 2) whether future events can be predicted, and 3) if they are predictable, whether they can be prevented or mitigated. In 2017, we began to document inter-annual trends, seasonal dynamics, and drivers of the observed changes, including examination of key stressors (temperature, nutrients), and recruitment sources.

This project is led by Dr. Jennifer Clark (Hakai/UBC)

Cryptic corallines and community dynamics:

Coralline algae are a group of calcified red algae that form pink crusts across rock surfaces. These organisms provide ecosystem services in many nearshore marine environments by promoting settlement of many invertebrate larvae (e.g. abalone & urchins) and kelp species. Previous studies around Calvert Island, BC used DNA identification to quantify specifies diversity, discovering urchin barrens (devoid of kelp) to have lower coralline diversity than their kelp forest neighbours. Experiments are currently underway to examine the mechanisms of these differences in coralline communities and how these differences may affect the recovery from urchin barrens to healthy kelp forests.

This project is led by Dr. Brenton Twist

Rockfish find refugia in Howe Sound’s glass sponge reefs:

Howe Sound is an ecologically rich marine area that houses unique deep-sea glass sponge reefs. These reefs create habitat for many foraging fish, including rockfish – where populations have been declining in the sound since the 1960’s. A citizen science initiative led by the Underwater Council for British Columbia (UCBC) and the Marine Life Sanctuaries Society (MLSS) with support from local communities has advocated for more areas with in the sound to be identified as critical habitat. The UCBC has teamed up with, and trained local divers to conduct subtidal research on the glass sponge reefs. Specifically, with the goal to quantify rockfish population sizes. All data collected will go towards further research conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) as well as extending existing marine protected areas into the these deep-sea reefs.

This project is led by Glen Dennison (UCBC/MLSS)