Emer Cunningham

I am a marine ecology PhD student living and working on the unceded Turrbal and Jagera lands of Meanjin (Brisbane). I acknowledge that First Nations Peoples are traditional ecological knowledge holders and I respect continuing Indigenous connections with Country across this great southern land.

Here at The University of Queensland, I am working to detect and evaluate “novel" ecological states. Novel communities are formed through rapid and unprecedented change that reshapes the mix of species, traits, and environmental conditions in an ecosystem – and we expect these significantly different ecological states to become increasingly prevalent in the Anthropocene. I am studying the corals on our coastlines and the plankton in our oceans to quantify patterns and drivers of marine novel communities, through time and across space.

During my PhD, I am using field work and statistical tools to develop and apply quantitative approaches for identifying ecological novelty. I also spend a bit of time in the field and classroom tutoring high school to third-year university students about a range of biological sciences.