Matthew Nitschke

I completed my PhD at the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2015 and my primary interests relate to symbiosis in the marine environment. Specifically, I focus on photosynthetic symbioses between invertebrates (including corals, jellyfish, and anemones) and marine algae, and how these interactions will reorganise under a changing climate. I target research questions which can resolve how symbiotic organisms with complex life cycles are integrated across generations and the key traits that are required for a working, resilient, and ecologically successful mutualism. With the rate of environmental change, this unfortunately also extends to diagnosing the breakdown and dysfunction of marine symbioses. My research has taken me to locations such as the Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and most recently in Sydney Harbour with the Future Reefs team of the Climate Change Cluster (C3) at the University of Technology Sydney.

August 2016