Penny McCracken
Position: PhD candidate (commenced January 2000)
Education:
Research Interests: Intertidal coral reef ecology and behavioural rhythms in marine invertebrates.
Education:
- 1992-1996 Bachelor of Science (Biology) Deakin University, Victoria.
- 1997-1998 Post-graduate Diploma (Marine Science) School of Life Sciences, University of Queensland. Supervisors: Dr Lexa Grutter and Dr. Ian Tibbetts.
Research Interests: Intertidal coral reef ecology and behavioural rhythms in marine invertebrates.
Penny in the lab.
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Heron Island
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Penny at Heron Island.
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Research Project: Penny completed her Post-Graduate Diploma at UQ under the supervision of Dr Ian Tibbetts. Penny is now based at Heron Island Research Station where she is completing her PhD which investigates the trophic contribution of grazing crabs in coral reefs and identifies the effect of environmental variables on their grazing activity. Her supervisors for this project are Dr Lexa Grutter and Dr Ian Tibbetts (The Centre for Marine Studies, UQ).
PhD project: "The ecological significance of crab grazing activity in a coral reef system"
The primary objective of my Ph.D. research is to investigate the ecological significance of crab grazing activity in a coral reef system. The investigation focuses on three common species of xanthid crab and I aim to determine their relative importance in reef trophodynamics and the indirect effects of their grazing activity on coral-algae competition. The main questions being asked are:
Contact Details: Penny.McCracken@bio.mq.edu.au
PhD project: "The ecological significance of crab grazing activity in a coral reef system"
The primary objective of my Ph.D. research is to investigate the ecological significance of crab grazing activity in a coral reef system. The investigation focuses on three common species of xanthid crab and I aim to determine their relative importance in reef trophodynamics and the indirect effects of their grazing activity on coral-algae competition. The main questions being asked are:
- How much organic carbon do these crabs consume each day?
- What are the direct influences of crab grazing on algal communities?
- Can the presence of grazing crabs increase the health and survivorship of live corals?
- What environmental cues influence their grazing activity?
Contact Details: Penny.McCracken@bio.mq.edu.au
Penny at Heron Island looking for crabs.