Carrington Lab Research Interests

My research program, in its broadest sense, investigates the physiological ecology of marine organisms. I am fascinated by the form and function of organisms inhabiting physically demanding environments, where thermal, osmotic, and hydrodynamic conditions can be extreme. I generally focus on organisms common to wave-swept rocky shores, where they are alternately exposed to marine and terrestrial conditions with the rise and fall of the tides. For example, sturdy mussels, mobile snails, and flexible seaweeds can experience cool water flowing over 10 m/s (>20 knots) in the morning, followed by an afternoon high and dry in the baking summer sun. How do these kinds of environmental fluctuations affect the growth, survival, and reproduction of organisms with such different body plans? My research involves both plants and animals and spans many levels of biological organization, from the mechanics of biological materials, to the persistence of populations, to the characterization of the physical environment and how it influences biological processes. I often take an engineering approach to the study of living systems, applying the basic mechanical principles to evaluate the organismal form and function. My laboratory is located at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories and comprises a broad range of biomechanical research tools, including several recirculating flumes, materials testing devices, force transducers, flow meters, temperature probes, and a wind tunnel.

In recent years, there have been three major themes to my research, all of which involve collaboration with my students and other researchers: 1) ecomechanics of wave-swept organisms (especially mussels), 2) thermal effects on ecological processes, and 3) functional morphology of seaweeds. Although these themes may appear disparate, I view them as being entirely complementary; they all explore how organisms perform within the physical constraints of their environment. A more detailed description of each research theme follows.

Ecomechanics of wave-swept organisms. The survival of many of our favorite coastal organisms is constrained by the integrity of their structural components. Is their shell strong enough to deter predators? Is their attachment to rock secure in the face of strong waves and currents? What will happen to coastal marine communities as changing environmental conditions, such as ocean acidification or warming, alter the way key biomaterials are manufactured and maintained? These are the questions guiding our team of marine biomaterials experts at Friday Harbor Labs, led by Emily Carrington in collaboration with Adam Summers, Moose O’Donnell and Patrick Martone. The impetus for the research, which is funded by the National Science Foundation comes from our recent insights into the seasonal dynamics of wave-swept mussel populations; their ability to manufacture strong tethers can be compromised dramatically by various environmental and physiological demands, to the point where mussels can be washed away readily by even modest storms. Clearly, the structural integrity of a mussel is constrained by environmental conditions; the new project applies this ecomaterials perspective to the emerging problem of ocean acidification. The research will target a suite of organisms (including mussels, snails, crabs, and calcified red algae), each with one or more well-known biomaterials that serve a critical ecological function. Photo credits (top to bottom): Emily Carrington, Laura Coutts, Patrick Martone, Thomas Kleinteich.

Thermal effects on ecological processes. This NSF-funded project (with Sarah Gilman, Claremont Colleges) focuses on how temperature affects three key interacting species: the predatory whelk (snail) Nucella ostrina, its preferred prey species, the acorn barnacle Balanus glandula, and the rockweed Fucus distichus, which may alter the thermal and/or flow environment encountered by the two animal species. This simple rocky shore community provides an ideal model system to study the mechanisms by which temperature influences multiple, hierarchical ecological processes. Our research is centered around three major goals: to develop biophysical models to predict organismal body temperatures from local climatic conditions, to develop energetic models to link body temperature to individual performance, and to determine the effect of temperature on the interactions among the three species. One important output of this project is a continuous record of local weather conditions, which we record at our research site at FHL and publish online for public access. Photo credits (top to bottom): Emily Carrington, Moose O'Donnell, Kristy Kull.

Functional morphology of seaweeds. Marine algae of temperate rocky shores, especially in Washington waters, are fascinating because they are so diverse in the way they are constructed. How can so many different, and seemingly delicate, growth forms thrive on a shore pounded by surf? Many of my early contributions focus on how thallus morphology influences the ability of algae to withstand wave forces, while others detail the mechanical properties (strength, stiffness, etc.) of various species. The studies by Michael Boller use a combination of field, laboratory and modeling techniques to illustrate how tissue construction (plant stiffness, thickness, and size) influences the ability of a plant to deform and reconfigure in flow, which in turn influences the flow forces it encounters (Boller and Carrington 2006a, 2006b, 2007). This work extends our basic understanding of how flexible objects, which are less commonly studied by engineers, interact with and modulate water moving past them. Photo Credits (top to bottom): Michael Boller, Meg Boller.