Dr. Sam Starko

Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Marine Ecology @ Curtin University. He leads the CCEG and is interested in how coastal marine habitats, such as kelp forests and coral reefs, interact with the environment and how the environment can influence interactions between species. Broadly, his work combines molecular techniques and field ecology to better understand how environment-organism interactions can influence processes important to ecology, evolution and conservation. In recent years, Sam’s research has focused predominantly on how environmental change, and especially marine heatwaves, are impacting nearshore ecosystems.

Sam completed his PhD in 2019 from the Department of Botany and Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver. At UBC, hw was a Killam Scholar and studied the evolutionary ecology of rocky shore seaweeds. Following this, he was an NSERC and Mitacs Fellow at the University of Victoria, working in partnership with the Kelp Rescue Initiative and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. He maintains an advisory role with the Kelp Rescue Initiative.

Sam’s CV

Incoming students

Ciara Norman – Hons. (Curtin) – Impacts of temperature on herbivory

Stelio Georgious – Hons. (Curtin) – eDNA monitoring of seaweed forests

Troy Matthews – MPhil (Curtin) – Shark Depredation [Primary supervisor: Ben Saunders (Fish Ecology Lab)]

We are recruiting!

The CCEG is currently seeking motivated Honours and HDR students interested in coastal and marine ecology, climate change biology, and the ecology and genomics of marine foundation species. Projects span ecosystem resilience, population connectivity and adaptation, ecosystem responses to marine heatwaves, and coastal restoration science, with opportunities for extensive fieldwork, molecular and genomic analysis, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Applicants with backgrounds in marine biology, ecology, environmental science, or related disciplines are encouraged to enquire.