Starrlight Augustine is a new postdoc in the Section at the Centre for Ocean Life. Below, she introduces herself
I have a background in Marine Ecology and Theoretical biology (2004-2008). I then pursued a PhD where I used Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models to characterize stress induced responses of a contaminant to a freshwater fish species (2008-2012).
Later I continued in the field of bio-energetics and parametrized a DEB model to several species of comb jellies and jellyfish with the aim to predict growth and reproduction of two specific species which negatively impact fishing and tourism (2012-2013).
At present I work at the Centre for Ocean Life on modelling mixotrophy in marine pelagic food webs (2013 - 2015). This is a continuation of my previous work where the modelling framework of DEB theory will be used to quantify the investment of individual plankton cells in either heterotrophic or autotrophic functions.
The general idea is to discover why an individual would choose one strategy or the other (perhaps even combining both to a certain extent). Nothing comes for free so there are always costs and benefits in terms of survival of the species linked to these choices. The environment experienced by the individual in combination with interactions between individuals/ populations and communities makes that 'the best strategy' depends on an ever changing and complex context.