My research combines ecology, biomechanics, and physiology to answer questions about how global change and biotic and abiotic factors influence survival, life-stage transitions, feeding choices, response to herbivory, and community structure. I utilize both field and laboratory experiments to investigate how organisms respond to competition, predation, environmental changes, and stressors individually and in combination.
With global climate in a state of flux, I am especially interested in how the combined effects of multiple stressors (including changes in temperature, water chemistry, and the introduction of non-native species) may influence organisms across different life stages, interactions between species, and community composition and function.
My research takes place both in the Salish Sea near Friday Harbor, Washington as well as on the coast of Maine. Additionally, I am now exploring collaborations and questions in Southern California as well. My research highlights the importance of studying organisms with complex life cycles across different stages because influential biotic and abiotic factors may fluctuate greatly and seeks to provide sound science to benefit future conservation, management, and restoration efforts.
I am deeply committed to making science accessible and welcoming to all by seeking out opportunities for community engagement, helping to reduce barriers to entry in the field of marine biology, and ensuring that all students see themselves represented in examples of who can be a marine scientist.
Right now, I am a visiting associate professor at Woodbury University in Burbank, CA after spending the last four years as a visiting assistant professor at Bates College in Lewiston, ME. I received my PhD from the University of Washington and spent most of my time as a graduate student living and working at Friday Harbor Labs, where I return in the summer with my students to do field work. I spent fall quarter 2017 and winter quarter 2018 at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus learning how to teach a LARGE introductory biology class (Biol 180, ~1,050 students in the fall!) as part of a mentored teaching postdoc. During spring and summer quarter 2018, I taught a much smaller marine ecology (spring, Biol 433) and ecology (summer, Biol 356) class at the UW.
Katie Dobkowski, PhD 