Rate My Professor Bridie Allan

Dr. Bridie Allan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marine Science within the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her BSc from the University of Otago, followed by an MSc and PhD from James Cook University, where her doctoral research focused on the effects of climate change on predator-prey interactions in coral reef fish. Her career at the University of Otago encompasses teaching and research in marine science, contributing to both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Allan is a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration, which connects communities with interdisciplinary research to rebuild coastal ecosystems. She has been recognized for her excellence in supervision and teaching, receiving the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) Overall Supervisor of the Year Award in 2025 and the Outstanding Early Career Teacher award in 2020 from the Division of Sciences.

Allan's research investigates how human-induced environmental disturbances, including climate change, oil pollution, habitat degradation, and microplastic pollution, affect the physiology, behaviour, and ecology of marine organisms, particularly fish. Employing field collections, observations, laboratory experiments, and manipulative studies across tropical and temperate regions, her work examines mechanisms underlying population processes and their scaling to community dynamics. Key research interests include marine ecology, swimming performance in fishes, chemical ecology of predator-prey interactions, and environmental influences on these interactions. Notable publications include 'Combined effects of microplastics and nitrogen on bivalve-mediated biogeochemical cycling' (Foreman et al., Limnology & Oceanography, 2026), 'Spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) responses to marine heatwave conditions in southern New Zealand' (Gnanalingam et al., Marine Environmental Research, 2025), 'Safety in the shallows: Nearshore coastal habitats can provide physical and thermal features that optimize escape performance in newborn blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus)' (Trujillo et al., Conservation Physiology, 2025), 'Microplastic consumption elevates fish oxidative stress but does not affect predator-driven mortality' (Mannering et al., Science of the Total Environment, 2025), and 'Parental effects improve escape performance of juvenile reef fish in a high-CO2 world' (Allan et al., 2014, cited over 150 times). With over 3,100 citations on Google Scholar, her contributions advance understanding of anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems and inform conservation strategies.