Mary Hunsicker, Ph.D.

Background

Mary Hunsicker joined NOAA Fisheries in 2015 as a Research Ecologist.  Prior to this position, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. She also conducted postdoctoral research at Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Mary received her Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences from the University of Washington. In addition, she holds a M.S. in Marine and Environmental Sciences from Stony Brook University and a B.S. in Biology from Lafayette College.

Current Research

Mary’s research interests focus on the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems and the potential impacts of climate and human activities on ecosystem components. Most recently, she has been using synthetic and analytical approaches to 1) identify nonlinearites and thresholds in relationships between climate drivers and human stressors and ecological responses, 2) test the utility of early warning indicators to reliably detect abrupt shifts in marine ecosystems, and 3) determine the influence of environmental variables on species distributions and interactions. Mary’s work provides insights into the population dynamics of fishes and invertebrates and ocean ecosystem processes that benefit both management and conservation efforts.