Kaitlyn O'Mara

Kaitlyn is an aquatic ecologist that uses tracers to study food webs and movement of fish and other aquatic organisms, working across a range of environments including estuaries, rivers and wetlands. Kaitlyn's research explores many aspects of fish nutrition, identifying food sources and environments that are important for fish to acquire the nutrients they need to grow and reproduce. Her research uses a whole-ecosystem approach, starting from nutrients, trace elements and other substances in the environment, through the food web to fish and other consumers. The outcomes of her work increase understanding of how aquatic organisms are influenced by their environment and how they will respond to change, such as new water resource developments, contamination from expanding human populations, and increased extreme events such as floods that may result from climate change. This new knowledge informs conservation and environmental management practices.