Leigh Marine Laboratory
Dr Nick Shears
Senior Lecturer
Contact details
Office: 114.104 Commerce A
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 82958
Email: n.shears@auckland.ac.nz
Website: www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~shears
I carried out my PhD at the University of Auckland's Leigh Marine Laboratory, where I utilised the long-established Leigh Marine Reserve to experimentally investigate the ecological effects of fishing on kelp forest ecosystems. I then carried out a three year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California Santa Barbara where I studied the effects of the Channel Islands Marine Reserve Network on kelp forest ecosystems.
In 2011 I was awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to support my research into the combined effects of terrestrial-derived sedimentation and climate change on rocky reef ecosystems.
I have a joint position between the Leigh Marine Laboratory and the Department of Statistics and am particularly interested in using marine reserves as experimental tools to better understand marine ecosystems and the effects that humans have on them.
See my publications on Google Scholar.
I have a joint position between the Leigh Marine Laboratory and the Department of Statistics and supervise student projects that span both of these disciplines.
Current students:
- Edwin Ainley - Effects of deposited sediments on macroalgal assemblages (MSc Marine Science)
- Benn Hanns - Kelp forest productivity and morphology (MSc Marine Science)
- Kate James – Invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida in the Hauraki Gulf (PhD Marine Science)
- Jared Kibele – Marine Science – Investigating the use of aerial and satellite imagery for monitoring biological habitats (PhD Marine Science
- Kirsten Rodgers – The effects of multiple anthropogenic stressors on the ecological function and resilience of kelp forest ecosystems (PhD Marine Science/Statistics; Co-supervisor Dr Alwyn Rees)
- Sarah Roth - Cause and consequences of blooms of the green algae Microdictyon umbillicatum (MSc Marine Science; Co-supervisor: Dr Jarrod Walker, Auckland Council)
- Blake Seers – Predicting the effects of climate change on sedimentation in the coastal environment (PhD Marine Science/Statistics)
- Arie Spyksma - Influence of predators on sea urchin behaviour (MSc Marine Science, Jointly supervised by Dr Richard Taylor)
Past students:
- Alessandra Bisquera - Sediment effects on intertidal rocky reef assemblages in the Hauraki Gulf (MSc - Statistics 2012)
- Blake Seers – Investigation into the current state and trends of Auckland's coastal water quality (MSc Statistics, 2011)
- Richard Hughes - Sedimentation and the ecology of shallow macroalgal habitats in the Hauraki Gulf (MSc Marine Science, 2011)
