Researchers

Bio

Research Summary: My research focuses on combining paleoecological analyses with modern ecological data to assess how coral-reef ecosystems respond to changes in climate. Paleoecological analyses provide an opportunity to extract predictive trends from past relationships between environmental parameters and ecosystem change, allowing us to project the responses of ecosystems to anthropogenic impacts. Foraminifera have been used as indicators of environmental conditions past and present. In my master’s-thesis research, I used Foraminifera as bioindicators of ecosystem health in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. Now I am studying the assemblages of Foraminifera in cores of coral-reef frameworks from the Pacific coast of Panamá. By using ecological, geochemical, and paleoenvironmental tools I aim to identify long-term relationships between reef health and environmental conditions.