Louise Anderson

Profile

I joined the Universty of Leeds to start my PhD in October 2017. My project explores how functional ecology approaches can be applied to an understanding of ecological resilience on coral reefs, and how this in turn can inform management and conservation planning.

Independent projects throughout my undergraduate and MSc degrees have focused on marine organisms and responses to environmental change. I completed my MSc in International Marine Environmental Consultancy at Newcastle University in 2016, with a final project looking at coral bleaching and disease around Phuket’s Laem Panwa peninsula. My BSc (Hons) in Biology at Newcastle University was completed in 2014, with a dissertation on the effects of climate change on limpet physiology.

Outside of my academic work, I also work as an Education Outreach Fellow with the University of Leeds. Prior professional experience is primarily in international marine consultancy and science communication, and I have also volunteered extensively on marine field projects.

Research interests

Broadly, I am interested in how coral reef ecosystems respond to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, and the conservation and management challenges associated with these changes. My research sits between ecology, conservation and applied management to identify indicators and look at ways to foster long-term ecological resilience on coral reefs.

My PhD project is in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, with case study sites in the Federated States of Micronesia. This collaboration provides a valuable opportunity to work directly with managers and stakeholders whilst I carry out my research, and aims to ensure that the project meets research, management and conservation needs at a local scale.

As my work has a climate related focus, I am also a Priestley Climate Scholar with the University of Leeds Priestley International Centre for Climate. This is a group of postgraduates whose work relates to climate change and its impacts, creating a multidisciplinary platform for collaboration and diverse perspectives on climate.

http://climate.leeds.ac.uk/opportunities/climate-scholars/

I am additionally a contributing writer and editor for Reefbites, the student-run blog for the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) which aims to take the latest in coral reef research and make it accessible to broader audiences.

https://reefbites.wordpress.com/

Qualifications

• MSc International Marine Environmental Consultancy, Newcastle University
• BSc (Hons) Biology, Newcastle University