Research projects

Overarching research questions 

Research in the Meyer-Kaiser lab focuses on sessile benthic invertebrates - animals like anemones, sponges, bryozoans, and tunicates. We aim to understand how isolated, island-like habitats are connected, colonized, and change over time. Therefore, we study three major processes: larval dispersal (connectivity), recruitment (colonization), and succession (change over time). Sessile animals are excellent models for studying larval dispersal because they live attached to a surface and stay in one place throughout their adult life - the larval stage is their only opportunity to spread to a new environment. When they arrive at a new habitat, larvae undergo metamorphosis, which costs a lot of energy and leaves them vulnerable. Many of these newly-settled organisms die, and high mortality during the post-settlement stage constricts recruitment - who actually survives to join the population. Sessile invertebrates cannot escape changing environmental conditions or disturbance to the habitat because they are physically attached. These communities serve as excellent models for understanding how stressors or disturbances drive change over time. Meyer-Kaiser lab research helps illuminate the future of island-like seafloor habitats in our changing ocean. 

Shipwrecks as a model system

Anemones and sponges on the paddle wheel of the Portland.
Photographed using ROV Pixel in 2019.

Larval dispersal: Shipwrecks are by definition not supposed to exist, so any organism that colonizes a shipwreck may have arrived there by mistake. Most shipwrecks are isolated and island-like, separated from natural hard-bottom habitats by expanses of sand or mud. Yet, most shipwrecks are inhabited by sponges and cnidarians - including species that are thought to have short pelagic larval durations and would be expected to settle close to their parents. This presents a paradox: how and why did larvae disperse far away to a habitat that is not supposed to be there? My lab studies how biological and environmental factors to control larval dispersal to island-like habitats, especially shipwrecks. 

Recruitment: Shipwrecks and airplane wrecks introduce metals to the seafloor environment that would not exist naturally at high concentrations. In most places, the community of organisms living on shipwrecks, airplane wrecks, and naturally-occurring reefs are very different. We are beginning to explore how the chemistry of a substrate, such as an iron shipwreck or an aluminum airplane, controls recruitment of sessile invertebrates. Do larvae prefer some habitats over others? Do the metals released by shipwrecks or airplane wrecks influence the survival of newly-settled invertebrates? How are these processes mediated by microbial biofilms? Answering these questions requires innovation. A lot of organisms die in the post-settlement stage, but this bottleneck stage is very difficult to observe. My lab invented a camera system, CATAIN, which captures settlement and post-settlement morality of sessile benthic invertebrates in remote environments. We aim to use CATAIN to better understand the factors controlling recruitment on island-like habitats, including shipwrecks. 

Corals (Porites lobata) on a shipwreck in Palau, 2023.

Succession: For most habitats, the degree of structural complexity increases over time - think of a forest that develops different canopy layers as trees grow. Shipwrecks are different. They undergo corrosion, are impacted by fishing nets, endure storms, and generally break down over time. Archaeologists refer to this process as "site formation." Physical changes to a shipwreck habitat are coupled with biological changes in the community, or succession. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser and Calvin Mires co-developed the framework of Maritime Heritage Ecology to better understand this process and provide a platform for interdisciplinary biology-archaeology research. 

Current projects

Kirstin near the bow of SS United States in 
Mobile, AL in 2025. Photo by Dave Clark.

SS United States: The world's largest artificial reef, SS United States, will be sunk offshore of Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in 2026. The Meyer-Kaiser lab and collaborators at WHOI are partnering with Okaloosa County to use SS United States as a time-series study site. By sampling the same locations on the ship every year, we will understand larval dispersal, recruitment, and succession on this isolated, island-like habitat. 

WWII Pacific Theater: WWII resulted in countless ship and plane wreck sites in the tropical Pacific, and >80,000 of these vessels are considered Potentially Polluting Wrecks (PPWs). We study larval dispersal, recruitment, and succession on these wrecks to better manage them and the coral reefs they impact. 

Shipwrecks and Beyond: The Meyer-Kaiser lab is leading an effort to expand interdisciplinary research on shipwrecks, plane wrecks, and other anthropogenic habitats at WHOI. Biologists, chemists, and archaeologists have a lot to learn from each other. Genuine collaboration between these fields has the power to answer burning questions to inform effective management of our cultural and ecological resources. 

Check the blog for real-time updates on research in the Meyer-Kaiser lab!