PhD Research

My PhD project fits within a larger research project, "ExStream: Freshwater Ecosystems Under Global Change", led by Dr. Piggott and funded by the IRC. The multi-disciplinary project aims to improve our understanding of the relationships between three key stressors relating to climate change in freshwater systems (increased temperature, increased dissolved CO2 and changes to stream flow patterns) and stream biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We will carry out two major multiple-stressor experiments in two temperate regions in opposite hemispheres – New Zealand and Ireland – using the ExStream system. I will be investigating a range of fish and invertebrate responses in both experiments. This will allow me to assess the individual and combined effects of these three stressors on not only invertebrate communities and individual fish, but also fish-invertebrate interactions. My data will also be used for the overall ecosystem-level synthesis of data from both experiments and across all trophic levels.