Dr Laura Richardson

Cymrawd Ymchwil

l.richardson@bangor.ac.uk

Dr Laura Richardson

MRes (primary supervisor):

  • ÌýThea Moule (2021-2023) - Thesis title: Variation in the body-size spectra of reef fish assemblages among distinct coral habitats, before and after a mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

MSc (co-supervisor):

  • Anicia Nalus (2020) - Thesis title:ÌýClimate Impacts and the Functional Diversity of Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Equatorial Pacific.
  • Jessica HarveyÌý(2020) - Thesis title:ÌýLocal human impacts disrupt benthic community zonation on Pacific Ocean coral reefs.
  • Paul Anstey (2020) - Thesis title: Comparing Reef Fish Distributions Across Depths, Among Five Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Broadly, I am interested in exploring how ecological communities are organised by anthropogenic and biophysical processes interacting across space and time. By understanding how the natural variability of ecosystems interacts with human activities to determine ecosystem state, we can better inform the local, context specific and spatially explicit application of ecosystem assessments for management, such as prioritising management interventions based on the recovery potential and degree of depletion from an unimpacted baseline state. To date my research has focussed on tropical coral reefs. These are unique, ecologically complex, high-diversity systems maintained by varied, but overlapping, functions carried out by species operating across spatial and temporal scales, and of critical importance to the food security of millions of people worldwide. During my H2020 EU funded research fellowships at Â鶹Íø, I have worked with Dr Gareth Williams, Reader in Marine Biology and Director of Research Impact at SOS, and Dr Adel Heenan, previously a lecturer in Marine Biology at SOS with >10 years’ experience working for governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental agencies, who together combine exceptional track records in academic excellence, interdisciplinary research, and expertise in macroecology, oceanography, fisheries science, statistical modelling, and applied conservation. My EU H2020 funded MSCA research project (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213) involves a novel natural experiment of unprecedented scale, combining advanced Bayesian statistical modelling, a 'functional' ecological approach, and coupling of high-resolution biophysical data to reveal the relative influence of interacting ‘natural’ drivers and local human activities on the ecological structure of reef-fish assemblages across scales (from individual reefs across 35 central western Pacific islands, to regional patterns). Broadly, the research aims to advance our capacity to predict cross-scale spatial patterns of reef-fish communities, providing insight into relative ecosystem health and stability, and therefore advance the science underpinning ecosystem-based management of coral reefs. Specifically, the work assesses the forcing of biophysical mechanisms (such as local hydrodynamics and regional gradients in primary productivity) on the distribution of and cross-scale spatial variation in reef-fish assemblage structure (WP1-2). It also quanitifies how evidence of natural ecological organisation is distrupted by local human impacts (WP3; Richardson et al. 2023 Nat Ecol Evol). Finally, my research seeks to quantify revised 'contemporary' ecological baselines from remote reefs without local human impacts but exposed to anthropogenic climate change, as more pragmatic points of reference, to better predict the risk posed by local humans from which to base decisions of risk-control management, conservation, policy, and governance (WP4).

2024

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Roche, R., Richardson, L. & Turner, J., 27 Maw 2024, Yn: Royal Society Open Science. 11, 3, t. 231246
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Magneville, C., Grange, L., Shepperson, J., Skov, M., Hoey, A. & Heenan, A., Meh 2024
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad arall › Cyfraniad Arall › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2023

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Anderson‑King, K., Wayman, C., Stephenson, S., Heron, S. F., Lough, J. M., McWilliam, M., Richardson, L., Scott, M. & Cantin, N. E., Hyd 2023, Yn: Coral Reefs. 42, 5, t. 1113-1129 17 t.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Lenfant, P., Clarke, L., Fontcuberta, A., Gudefin, A., Lecaillon, G., Le Vay, L., Radford, A. & Simpson, S., 17 Ion 2023, Yn: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Varenne, A., Radford, A., Rossi, F., Lecaillon, G., Gudefin, A., Bérenger, L., Abadie, E., Boissery, P., Lenfant, P. & Simpson, S., 1 Ebr 2023, Yn: Diversity. 15, 4
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Heenan, A., Delargy, A., Neubauer, P., Lecky, J., Gove, J. M., Green, M., Kindinger, T., Ingeman, K. & Williams, G. J., Tach 2023, Yn: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 11, t. 1844-1855 12 t.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2022

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L., Turner, J. & Roche, R., 1 Ion 2022, Yn: Marine Environmental Research. 173, 105520.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2021

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Lawrence, A., Heenan, A., Levine, A., Haddaway, N., Powell, F., Wedding, L., Roche, R., Lawrence, P., Szostek, C., Ford, H., Southworth, L., Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L. & Williams, G. J., 25 Ion 2021, Yn: Environmental Evidence. 10, 3.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2020

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. A. J. & Hoey, A., 26 Chwef 2020, Yn: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287, 1921, 20192214.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2019

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    McClure, E., Richardson, L., Graba-Landry, A., Loffler, Z., Russ, G. & Hoey, A., 13 Chwef 2019, Yn: Diversity. 11, 2, 13 t., 23.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2018

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M., Eurich, J. & Hoey, A., 31 Gorff 2018, Yn: Global Change Biology. 24, 7, t. 3117-3129
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2017

  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. & Hoey, A., 8 Awst 2017, Yn: Scientific Reports. 7, 7557.
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
  • Cyhoeddwyd
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M. & Hoey, A., Maw 2017, Yn: Environmental Biology of Fishes. 100, 3, t. 193-207
    Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2023

  • Invited Guest Editor, special issue: The ecology of remote oceanic coral reef ecosystems.

    1 Medi 2023 – 1 Ebr 2024

    Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)

2022

  • Authors: Richardson LE1, Heenan A1, Neubauer P3, Lecky J4, Gove JM4, Green JAM1, Kindinger TL4, Ingeman KE4, Williams GJ1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, Â鶹Íø, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA

    3 Rhag 2022

    Gweithgaredd: Cyflwyniad llafar (Siaradwr)

  • Invited working group, led by Professor Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, JCU). Workshop participants included Professor Geoffrey Jones (JCU), Dr Maya Srinivasan (JCU), Dr Gemma Galbraith (JCU), Professor Andrew Hoey (JCU), Dr Mike Emslie (AIMS), Cassy Thompson (JCU), Professor Michael Berumen (KAUST), Dr Laura Richardson (Â鶹Íø), Professor Shaun Wilson (Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, DBCA), Dr Claire Ross (DBCA), Dr Jordan Goetze (DBCA), Dr Alice Rogers (Victoria University of Wellington), Professor Nick Graham (Lancaster University), Peter Doll (JCU).

    1 Medi 2022 – 6 Medi 2022

    Gweithgaredd: Cymryd rhan mewn gweithdy, seminar, cwrs Academaidd (Siaradwr)

  • Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Adam J. Delargy1,2, Philip Neubauer3, Joey Lecky4,5, Jamison M. Gove4, J. A. Mattias Green1, Tye L. Kindinger4, Kurt E. Ingeman4,6, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, Â鶹Íø, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA

    5 IBSS Corporation, Silver Spring, MD, USA

    6 Department of Environmental Studies, Linfield University, McMinnville, OR, USA

    4 Gorff 2022 – 9 Gorff 2022

    Gweithgaredd: Cyflwyniad llafar (Siaradwr)

2019

  • Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Ivor D. Williams2, J.A. Mattias Green1, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 Â鶹Íø, Â鶹Íø, UK

    2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hawaii, USA

    14 Rhag 2019

    Gweithgaredd: Cyflwyniad llafar (Siaradwr)

  • 01/10/2020 – 30/06/2024 (Wedi gorffen)

I received a joint BSc Hons in Social Anthropology with Development Studies from the University of Sussex and an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection from Â鶹Íø. I then worked for the School of Ocean Sciences at Â鶹Íø as Project Support Officer on DEFRA funded Darwin Initiative projects in the Cayman Islands for 3.5 years. These projects combined applied, interdisciplinary approaches to the design, development, and integration of coral reef ecosystem assessments for marine spatial planning. I went on to do a PhD at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, in Australia, researching how coral reef fish assemblage structure, function, and resilience are influenced by the taxonomic composition of habitat-building corals. Returning to the UK, I did a 12-month postdoc with the University of Exeter and University of Bristol, before returning to Â鶹Íø as a Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie research fellow. My research at Â鶹Íø is funded by a Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Sêr Cymru II COFUND Fellowship and a Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie European Fellowship (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213).