Arlie McCarthy

My doctoral research addresses the risk posed by marine invasive species in Antarctica. Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity, driving ecological changes that impact all types of marine activities and environments. For at least 15 million years, the Southern Ocean and coastal Antarctica have been largely isolated from nearby temperate ecosystems by physical and physiological barriers that prevent non-native species from establishing populations. However, warming temperatures and reductions in sea ice caused by climate change, combined with increasing human activity within the Southern Ocean, will lower these barriers. My research investigates factors that affect both the transport of non-indigenous species to Antarctic coastlines and the capacity of such species to establish populations, both now and in the future.

I am based both in the Zoology Department (supervised by Prof David Aldridge) and at the British Antarctic Survey, where I am supervised by Prof Lloyd Peck.