We often hear stories of kelp forests and urchins where urchins are painted as invasive and destructive entities, decimating a beautiful ecosystem. When, in fact, urchins are not invasive and are a natural part of the marine community. The dynamics between urchins and kelp are still being investigated, and we were able to host M.Sc. student Delaney Chabot to chat about urchins in the intertidal and the roles they may play in offshore kelp forest ecosystems.

Delaney is a third year Master’s student and works as a part of the Lubchenco-Menge Lab, which aims to “understand the structure and dynamics of ecological communities and ecosystems in the context of global climate change.” Her research focuses on the intersection between the rocky and intertidal shores across various sites in Oregon. These sites demonstrate a range of kelp forest degradation, with some sites having an excess of kelp, and others experiencing a significant loss of kelp biomass. Often, when there isn’t enough kelp for purple urchins to feed on, they may move inshore, where Delaney is interested in looking at variation in sizes, age class, reproduction, recruitment, community structure, and more.

The relationship between kelp forests and urchins is still not fully understood. In fact, there is still some debate on whether urchins will cross certain types of sediments, like sand, to access kelp forests, or alternatively, to move from the ocean up towards the intertidal. These are the kinds of questions that Delaney has been answering in her research. By understanding the types of urchin communities that exist in sites with and without bull kelp, it will help inform conservation of both species and help natural resource managers make decisions.

In our episode with Delaney, we also talk about how urchins are often painted as a “villian” in the kelp forest story. However, they are not an invasive species, and are actually pretty awesome little purple creatures that are navigating their environment in the best way they know how.

In her tide pool adventures, and in her time as an OSU Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) Fellow, Delaney worked with Alex Ellsworth, a musician, to create the kelp horn. The kelp horn is an instrument created using dried bull kelp and is a beautiful collaboration between music and ecology. Check out their website (https://thekelphorn.com/) to hear some amazing kelp music!

Delaney also speaks about her experience working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) at Oregon State University and how that reignited a passion for teaching. As she nears the end of her graduate program, she is moving to the east coast to begin a teaching job. Congratulations Delaney! Listen to this episode to learn all about kelp, urchins, and musical seaweed.

Written by Taylor Azizeh.