I am interested in understanding how abiotic factors influence an organism's ecology and evolution; in particular, how temperature can affect patterns of local adaptation and population dynamics over both local and latitudinal spatial scales.

One major goal of my research is to understand how temperature influences the ecology and distribution of intertidal species. Most recently I have been studying the effects of temperature on the vertical zonation population dynamics of the barnacle Balanus glandula. Barnacles are one of the major space occupying organisms in the rocky intertidal, and their response to climate will affect a multitude of other species in the community. I am using a combination of field experiments, laboratory studies of physiology and computer modelling to better understand how temperature affects this animal. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Here's recent talk I gave at Scripps College

Sarah Gilman : "Climate Change and Its Consequences for the Oceans" from Scripps College on Vimeo.

Click on the links to the left for more information about my research and teaching