How do hurricanes affect coastal ecosystems?

Coastal North Carolina is one of the most frequently hurricane-impacted locations in the United States.

Over a dozen tropical storms have affected the region and caused billions of dollars in damage to infrastructure in the last decade alone. Hurricanes have the capacity to drastically alter ecosystem structure and function via habitat destruction, stormwater-related water-quality degradation, mortality of marine organisms, among others.

My research examines if and how fish communities, seagrasses, and oyster reefs are affected by tropical cyclones and what storm-related factors drive ecosystem shifts.

Check out our interview with UNC’s Discover magazine on ecosystem resilience to hurricanes: Protecting North Carolina’s Seagrasses