More than half of the world's population lives within 50 miles of the ocean causing the coastal zone to be one of the most heavily impacted areas of the world. One of the biggest challenges facing marine scientists today is determining ways to protect coastal resources from inevitable environmental impacts. One strategy that is gaining popularity as a management tool for mitigating environmental impacts is the restoration of degraded habitats by artificial means. Understanding the processes that allow a system to recover from natural disturbances is critical to the success of habitat restoration. Only then can the steps that are most likely to impede recovery during restoration be identified. A primary objective of our research is to gain insight into processes that promote the recovery of coastal ecosystems following natural disturbances, and the application of this knowledge to restoration programs designed to mitigate impacts caused by human disturbance.

The two ecosystems our research focuses on are kelp forests and sea grass meadows, both of which are at risk to damage from industrial and municipal effluents which are routinely discharged into coastal waters. Specifically, we are interested in the factors that affect the production and supply of propagules to disturbed areas, and their importance in determining recruitment and subsequent population size. Our research is inter-disciplinary and combines ecology, oceanography, and molecular biology using state-of-the-art instrumentation and techniques.