I am originally from New Zealand, and as a youth I spent a large portion of time around the sea fishing, snorkeling and spearfishing. This passion for New Zealand’s rocky reefs drives a large amount of my research focus. I completed a MSc at Victoria University of Wellington in 2007. I commenced a PhD at the Department of Botany at the University of Otago in 2010, examining the capacity of seaweed to act as a refuge for ocean acidification for calcifying species. In 2013 I took up a Research Fellow position at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Tasmania, furthering this work. I then worked as a Lecturer at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies University of Western Australia node at the School of Earth Science and UWA’s Oceans Institute and Oceans Graduate School examining the calcification mechanisms in coralline algae. I have returned to Victoria University of Wellington after 11 years away, starting a 5-year Rutherford Discovery Fellowship funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand to start my own group at SBS focusing on New Zealand’s iconic kelp forest ecosystems. In July 2021 I will start my role as leader of the Understanding theme in the Centre of Research Excellence Coastal People: Southern Skies.