I am an ecologist with particular interests in population dynamics, evolution of life histories, and dispersal/migratory behaviour of fishes and other organisms with interesting and complex life-cycles. I lead active research programmes in New Zealand and the tropical South Pacific.

I grew up in southern California and have always had a strong connection with the sea. I completed my undergraduate degree with honours in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley in 1994, and a PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara in 1999. I then split appointments as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Study of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) and CSULA, and as the first Research and Outreach Coordinator for the Santa Barbara Coastal Ecosystem LTER. I moved from Santa Barbara to New Zealand to 2002 to work at Te Herenga Waka -  Victoria University of Wellington (as a Lecturer from 2002 to 2004; Senior Lecturer from 2005 to 2010; Associate Professor from 2011 to 2015; Professor from 2016 to Present).

I am currently the Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research for the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Te Herenga Waka -  Victoria University of Wellington.  I also serve on the Ministry of Buisness, Innovation and Employment's College of Assessors, as a member of Victoria University's Diving and Boating Committee/Diving Control Board, and on the Board of the Faculty of Graduate Research.  I maintain an Affiliate Faculty Member appointment at the University of California's Gump Research Station (based in French Polynesia).

I have previously served as the Director of Victoria University's Coastal Ecology Lab for 14.5 years (2004-2018 & half of 2024). I proposed and oversaw the development of the university's multi-million dollar marine biology research and teaching facility on Wellington's south coast (completed in 2009). 

I have served on the editorial boards for Oecologia (2007-2015) and Frontiers of Marine Science (2014-2016), Ecology (2016-2021), and Ecological Monographs (2016-2021). I served as a member of the Marsden Fund's Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Panel (2013-2014).

From 2014-2015, I held a Visiting Researcher post at the Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE), Université de Perpignan (France). I returned to France in 2019-2020 to work as a Visiting Researcher based at Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier,.

I have led 5 Marsden-funded research programmes as sole Principal Investigator.