Dr Laura Richardson

Research Fellow

l.richardson@bangor.ac.uk

Dr Laura Richardson

MRes (primary supervisor):

  • 听Thea Moule (2021-2023) - Thesis title: Variation in the body-size spectra of reef fish assemblages among distinct coral habitats, before and after a mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

MSc (co-supervisor):

  • Anicia Nalus (2020) - Thesis title:听Climate Impacts and the Functional Diversity of Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Equatorial Pacific.
  • Jessica Harvey听(2020) - Thesis title:听Local human impacts disrupt benthic community zonation on Pacific Ocean coral reefs.
  • Paul Anstey (2020) - Thesis title: Comparing Reef Fish Distributions Across Depths, Among Five Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Broadly, I am interested in exploring how ecological communities are organised by anthropogenic and biophysical processes interacting across space and time. By understanding how the natural variability of ecosystems interacts with human activities to determine ecosystem state, we can better inform the local, context specific and spatially explicit application of ecosystem assessments for management, such as prioritising management interventions based on the recovery potential and degree of depletion from an unimpacted baseline state. To date my research has focussed on tropical coral reefs. These are unique, ecologically complex, high-diversity systems maintained by varied, but overlapping, functions carried out by species operating across spatial and temporal scales, and of critical importance to the food security of millions of people worldwide. During my H2020 EU funded research fellowships at 逗逼直播, I have worked with Dr Gareth Williams, Reader in Marine Biology and Director of Research Impact at SOS, and Dr Adel Heenan, previously a lecturer in Marine Biology at SOS with >10 years鈥� experience working for governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental agencies, who together combine exceptional track records in academic excellence, interdisciplinary research, and expertise in macroecology, oceanography, fisheries science, statistical modelling, and applied conservation. My EU H2020 funded MSCA research project (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213) involves a novel natural experiment of unprecedented scale, combining advanced Bayesian statistical modelling, a 'functional' ecological approach, and coupling of high-resolution biophysical data to reveal the relative influence of interacting 鈥榥atural鈥� drivers and local human activities on the ecological structure of reef-fish assemblages across scales (from individual reefs across 35 central western Pacific islands, to regional patterns). Broadly, the research aims to advance our capacity to predict cross-scale spatial patterns of reef-fish communities, providing insight into relative ecosystem health and stability, and therefore advance the science underpinning ecosystem-based management of coral reefs. Specifically, the work assesses the forcing of biophysical mechanisms (such as local hydrodynamics and regional gradients in primary productivity) on the distribution of and cross-scale spatial variation in reef-fish assemblage structure (WP1-2). It also quanitifies how evidence of natural ecological organisation is distrupted by local human impacts (WP3; Richardson et al. 2023 Nat Ecol Evol). Finally, my research seeks to quantify revised 'contemporary' ecological baselines from remote reefs without local human impacts but exposed to anthropogenic climate change, as more pragmatic points of reference, to better predict the risk posed by local humans from which to base decisions of risk-control management, conservation, policy, and governance (WP4).

2026

  • E-pub ahead of print
    Asbury, M., Schiettekatte, N., Kindinger, T. L., Richardson, L. & Madin, J. S., 4 Apr 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ecological Applications. 36, 3, e70238.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Eakin, C. M., Heron, S. F., Connolly, S. R., Devotta, D. A., Liu, G., Geiger, E. F., De La Cour, J. L., Gomez, A. M., Skirving, W. J., Baird, A. H., Cantin, N. E., Couch, C. S., Donner, S. D., Gilmour, J., Gonzalez-Rivero, M., Gudka, M., Harrison, H. B., Hodgson, G., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. & Hoey, A. S. & 159 others, Hoogenboom, M. O., Hughes, T. P., Johnson, M. E., Kerry, J. T., Kimura, T., Mihaly, J., Mu帽iz-Castillo, A. I., Obura, D. O., Pratchett, M. S., Rivera-Sosa, A., Ross, C. L., Stein, J., Thompson, A., Torda, G., Viehman, T. S., Walter, C. S., Wilson, S., Marsh, B. L., Spady, B. L., Dyer, N., Adam, T. C., Alcolado, P., Alidoostsalimi, M., Alidoostsalimi, P., Alvarez-Filip, L., 脕lvarez-Noriega, M., Arias-Gonz谩lez, J. E., Bahr, K. D., Barnes, P., Barraza Sandoval, J. E., Baum, J. K., Bauman, A. G., Beger, M., Berry, K., Bessell-Browne, P., Bigot, L., Bonito, V., Brodnicke, O. B., Burdick, D., Burkepile, D. E., Burt, A. J., Burt, J. A., Butler, I. R., Caldwell, J. M., Chancerelle, Y., Chen, C. A., Cherh, K.-L., Childress, M. J., Coker, D. J., Costa, B., Coward, G., Crabbe, M. J. C., Dallison, T., Dalton, S., DeCarlo, T. M., Drury, C., Drysdale, I., Edwards, C. B., Eggertsen, L., Elma, E., Ennis, R. S., Evans, R. D., Eyal, G., Fenner, D., Figueroa-Zavala, B., Fisch, J., Fox, M. D., Gadoutsis, E., Gilbert, A., Halford, A. R., Heintz, T., Hewlett, J., Hobbs, J.-P. A., Hoot, W. C., Houk, P., Johnston, L., Johnston, M. A., Kayanne, H., Kennedy, E. V., Kikuchi, R. K. P. D., Kloiber, U., Koike, H., Kramer, K. L., Kuo, C.-Y., Lang, J., Lawrence, A., Leadbeater, A., Le茫o, Z. M. A. N., Lee, J. N., Lewis, C., Lirman, D., Longo, G. O., MacDonald, C., Mallela, J., Mangubhai, S., da Silva, I. M., Mason-Parker, C., McDonough, V., McField, M., Mello, T., Miternique-Agathe, C., Madi, M., Moldzio, S., Monroe, A. A., Montefalcone, M., Moses, K. S., Mostafavi, P. G., Moura, R. L. D., Munasinghe, C. S., Mwaura, J., Nakamura, T., Nicet, J.-B., Nuttall, M. F., Oliveira, M. D. M., Oxenford, H. A., Pandolfi, J. M., Patankar, V., Perez, D., Perera, N., Prabuning, D., Precht, W., Raj, K. D., Reimer, J. D., Richardson, L. E., Rotjan, R., Ryan, N., Salm, R., Sandin, S. A., Schopmeyer, S., Shedrawi, G., Shokri, M. R., Smith, J. E., Smith, K., Smith, S. R., Smith, T. B., Sommer, B., Soto, M., Suckoo, R., Sykes, H., Tagarino, K. A., Teoh, M., Thai, M. Q., Toh, T. C., Tredinnick, A., Tso, A., Tyley, H., Ussi, A. M., Vargas-Angel, B., Vaterlaus, C., Vermeij, M. J. A., Vo, S. T., Voolstra, C. R., Wee, H. B., Weiler, B. A., Williams, D. E., Yahya, S. A. S., Yeemin, T., Ziegler, M. & Manzello, D. P., 10 Feb 2026, In: Nature Communications. 17, 1318.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2025

  • Published
    Turner, R., Richardson, L., Couch, C., Harvey, J. & Williams, G. J., Jun 2025, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 292, 2048, p. 20241885 1 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • E-pub ahead of print
    Richardson, L., Williams, G. J., Dunne, A., Jackson-Bue, T., Green, M., Morrison, T. & Fox, M., 11 Aug 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature Ecology and Evolution.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • E-pub ahead of print
    Williams, B., Balvanera, S. M., Sethi, S. S., Lamont, T. A. C., Jompa, J., Prasetya, M., Richardson, L., Chapuis, L., Weschke, E., Hoey, A., Beldade, R., Mills, S. C., Haguenauer, A., Zuberer, F., Simpson, S. D., Curnick, D. & Jones, K. E., 28 Apr 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: PLoS computational biology. 21, 4, p. e1013029
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2024

  • Published
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Roche, R., Richardson, L. & Turner, J., 27 Mar 2024, In: Royal Society Open Science. 11, 3, p. 231246
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Richardson, L., Magneville, C., Grange, L., Shepperson, J., Skov, M., Hoey, A. & Heenan, A., Jun 2024
    Research output: Other contribution 鈥� peer-review

2023

  • Published
    Anderson鈥慘ing, K., Wayman, C., Stephenson, S., Heron, S. F., Lough, J. M., McWilliam, M., Richardson, L., Scott, M. & Cantin, N. E., Oct 2023, In: Coral Reefs. 42, 5, p. 1113-1129 17 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Richardson, L., Lenfant, P., Clarke, L., Fontcuberta, A., Gudefin, A., Lecaillon, G., Le Vay, L., Radford, A. & Simpson, S., 17 Jan 2023, In: Frontiers in Marine Science. 9
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Richardson, L., Varenne, A., Radford, A., Rossi, F., Lecaillon, G., Gudefin, A., B茅renger, L., Abadie, E., Boissery, P., Lenfant, P. & Simpson, S., 1 Apr 2023, In: Diversity. 15, 4
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Richardson, L., Heenan, A., Delargy, A., Neubauer, P., Lecky, J., Gove, J. M., Green, M., Kindinger, T., Ingeman, K. & Williams, G. J., Nov 2023, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 11, p. 1844-1855 12 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2022

  • Published
    Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L., Turner, J. & Roche, R., 1 Jan 2022, In: Marine Environmental Research. 173, 105520.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2021

  • Published
    Lawrence, A., Heenan, A., Levine, A., Haddaway, N., Powell, F., Wedding, L., Roche, R., Lawrence, P., Szostek, C., Ford, H., Southworth, L., Sannassy Pilly, J., Richardson, L. & Williams, G. J., 25 Jan 2021, In: Environmental Evidence. 10, 3.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2020

  • Published
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. A. J. & Hoey, A., 26 Feb 2020, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287, 1921, 20192214.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2019

  • Published
    McClure, E., Richardson, L., Graba-Landry, A., Loffler, Z., Russ, G. & Hoey, A., 13 Feb 2019, In: Diversity. 11, 2, 13 p., 23.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2018

  • Published
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M., Eurich, J. & Hoey, A., 31 Jul 2018, In: Global Change Biology. 24, 7, p. 3117-3129
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2017

  • Published
    Richardson, L., Graham, N. & Hoey, A., 8 Aug 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 7557.
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review
  • Published
    Richardson, L., Graham, N., Pratchett, M. & Hoey, A., Mar 2017, In: Environmental Biology of Fishes. 100, 3, p. 193-207
    Research output: Contribution to journal 鈥� Article 鈥� peer-review

2025

  • In September 2025, the Learned Society of Wales invited leading experts on biodiversity in Wales to tackle the issue of how we should measure biodiversity in Wales, and how we can equip policymakers with the best measurements.

    Sep 2025

    Links:

    Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Participant)

  • 2025

    Activity: Types of Award - Appointment (Contributor)

2024

  • The workshop was organised by the Coral Conservation in the UK Overseas Territories (C-COT) Working Group, which unites government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and academic institutions from the six Caribbean and Western Atlantic UKOTs (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Montserrat) to address coral reef challenges. Funded by the UK government, C-COT recently released a 5-10 year Roadmap highlighting the importance of these in-person workshops and strengthening ties with UK academic institutions. This event in Nov 2024 focussed on fostering academic partnerships that support UK Overseas Territory (OT) conservation initiatives, emphasising successful collaborations between OTs and academic institutions.

    29 Nov 2024

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Contributor)

2023

  • Invited Guest Editor, special issue: The ecology of remote oceanic coral reef ecosystems.

    1 Sep 2023 鈥� 1 Apr 2024

    Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)

2022

  • Authors: Richardson LE1, Heenan A1, Neubauer P3, Lecky J4, Gove JM4, Green JAM1, Kindinger TL4, Ingeman KE4, Williams GJ1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, 逗逼直播, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, Hawai鈥檌, USA

    3 Dec 2022

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

  • Invited working group, led by Professor Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, JCU). Workshop participants included Professor Geoffrey Jones (JCU), Dr Maya Srinivasan (JCU), Dr Gemma Galbraith (JCU), Professor Andrew Hoey (JCU), Dr Mike Emslie (AIMS), Cassy Thompson (JCU), Professor Michael Berumen (KAUST), Dr Laura Richardson (逗逼直播), Professor Shaun Wilson (Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, DBCA), Dr Claire Ross (DBCA), Dr Jordan Goetze (DBCA), Dr Alice Rogers (Victoria University of Wellington), Professor Nick Graham (Lancaster University), Peter Doll (JCU).

    1 Sep 2022 鈥� 6 Sep 2022

    Activity: Participation in Academic workshop, seminar, course (Speaker)

  • Workshop: Habitat Degradation Impacts on Coral Reef Fish: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Australia)

    1 Sep 2022 鈥� 4 Sep 2022

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Contributor)

  • Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Adam J. Delargy1,2, Philip Neubauer3, Joey Lecky4,5, Jamison M. Gove4, J. A. Mattias Green1, Tye L. Kindinger4, Kurt E. Ingeman4,6, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 School of Ocean Sciences, 逗逼直播, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK

    2 School for Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA

    3 Dragonfly Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

    4 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA

    5 IBSS Corporation, Silver Spring, MD, USA

    6 Department of Environmental Studies, Linfield University, McMinnville, OR, USA

    4 Jul 2022 鈥� 9 Jul 2022

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

2019

  • Authors: Laura E. Richardson1, Adel Heenan1, Ivor D. Williams2, J.A. Mattias Green1, Gareth J. Williams1

    1 逗逼直播, Bangor, UK

    2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hawaii, USA

    14 Dec 2019

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

2014

  • I organised and attended this workshop hosted by external expert in conflict facilitation for staff at the Department of Environment during my role as Darwin Fellow/Project Support Officer on 逗逼直播 Darwin Initiative projects in the Cayman Islands.

    1 Feb 2014 鈥� 2 Feb 2014

    Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups (Contributor)

  • 01/10/2020 鈥� 30/06/2024 (Finished)

I received a joint BSc Hons in Social Anthropology with Development Studies from the University of Sussex and an MSc in Marine Environmental Protection from 逗逼直播. I then worked for the School of Ocean Sciences at 逗逼直播 as Project Support Officer on DEFRA funded Darwin Initiative projects in the Cayman Islands for 3.5 years. These projects combined applied, interdisciplinary approaches to the design, development, and integration of coral reef ecosystem assessments for marine spatial planning. I went on to do a PhD at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, in Australia, researching how coral reef fish assemblage structure, function, and resilience are influenced by the taxonomic composition of habitat-building corals. Returning to the UK, I did a 12-month postdoc with the University of Exeter and University of Bristol, before returning to 逗逼直播 as a Marie Sk艂odowska-Curie research fellow. My research at Bangor is funded by a Marie Sk艂odowska-Curie S锚r Cymru II COFUND Fellowship and a Marie Sk艂odowska-Curie European Fellowship (FISHSCALE: ref. 844213).