My work uses a blend of analytical chemistry, experimentation and ocean-going field expeditions to understand how matter moves through oligotrophic marine ecosystems, which is often cryptic. In graduate school, I used isotopic tracing, surveys and experiments to quantify and reveal the dynamics of microbial hydrocarbon production and consumption in open ocean gyres. Later on, my interest in coral trophic ecology and reef health led me to work in the Red Sea to validate and explore the use of fatty acids as an inexpensive but detailed method to understand the often complex nature of coral feeding behaviors and resource allocation within the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Later, I used this knowledge and approach to explain previously unknown bleaching variability on the fore-reef in Mo’orea French Polynesia.

Currently, my work focuses on how water column mixing, primarily upwelling, affects the trophic strategies of reef-building corals in the Red Sea. Using compound-specific isotope analysis, fatty acids and metabolomics, as well as a plethora of environmental ocean data, we aim to understand the trophic response of several coral species to upwelling across space and time. Working with physical oceanographers, plankton ecologists, coral physiologists and marine food web experts, this work represents an international and trans disciplinary collaboration to understand large-scale bottom-up processes that influence coral reef health around the world.

Education:

B.S. Biochemistry, University of California – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 2016

Ph.D. Biological Oceanography, University of California – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 2023

Contact Information:

Email: connor.love@uri.edu