Lara Atkinson

Scientist at Egagasini - In her position as an offshore marine scientist with SAEON Egagasini, Lara’s research focuses on establishing monitoring tools for the offshore benthic environment, specifically invertebrates and anthropogenic impacts thereon. Having completed her PhD on the effects of demersal trawling in 2010, Lara has established herself as an offshore benthic ecologist with a strong focus on benthic biodiversity and impacts thereon. Lara also has experience in a diverse range of other marine and estuarine research topics including west coast rock lobster dynamics, biological traits analyses, population shifts, environmental impact assessments, marine protected areas and monitoring programs in nearshore/estuarine environments. Lara lectures an annual multivariate statistical course component (PERMANOVA) at the University of Cape Town where she also serves as an honourary research associate.