I am broadly interested in marine ecology, especially the ecology of shorelines of all t ypes. Specific topics of interest are: community ecology of shorelines, and the effects of environmental characteristics and stresses on the character and diversity of local communities; animal-sediment interactions; plant-herbivore interactions; the effects of intertidal stresses (e.g., desiccation) on energy allocation patterns in intertidal algae; the classification, long-term monitoring, and maintenance of biodiversity of intertidal habitats.  I am in residence full-time at the Friday Harbor Laboratories.

(Please note: Dr. Dethier is not eligible to take graduate students.)

Dr. Megan N. Dethier is a Research Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Washington but is in full-time residence at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. She did her undergraduate work at Carleton College in Minnesota, then PhD work under Bob Paine at the University of Washington. Since ~1978 she has been in working on the shoreline ecology of the Pacific Northwest. Her first love is rocky shores, but she now also works in mud, gravel, and salt marsh habitats. She designed a marine habitat classification system for Washington state, and has worked with the National Park Service and various Washington agencies designing shoreline mapping and monitoring programs. Her current research efforts are mostly focused in Puget Sound, investigating the linkage between physical features of shoreline habitats and their biota, and the effects of human impacts (such as shoreline armoring) on this linkage.