Rate My Professor Steve Wing

Professor Stephen Wing is a Professor in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago, where he also serves as PhD Co-ordinator. He earned his PhD from the University of California, Davis. Throughout his career, Wing has made substantial contributions to marine ecology, with early research focused on coastal upwelling systems and benthic invertebrate transport in California, reflected in highly cited publications such as "Pulsed delivery of subthermocline water to Conch Reef (Florida Keys) by internal tidal bores" (Leichter et al., 1996, Limnology and Oceanography), "Harvest Refugia in Marine Invertebrate Fisheries: Models and Applications to the Red Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus" (Quinn et al., 1993, American Zoologist), and "Settlement and transport of benthic invertebrates in an intermittent upwelling region" (Wing et al., 1995, Limnology and Oceanography). He coordinates courses including ECOL 111 Ecology and Conservation of Diversity, ECOL 411 Reading Ecology, and MARI 451 Advanced Topics in Marine Science, and teaches AQFI 352 Fisheries Ecology and MARI 302 Biology and Behaviour of Marine Vertebrates.

Wing's research emphasizes food web structure and metapopulation dynamics in coastal marine communities to inform persistence, stability, conservation, and management. His group investigates biogeochemical cycling in food webs, diversity of basal organic matter sources, and the effects of species loss on productivity and resource use by higher trophic levels such as rock lobsters, reef fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and humans, utilizing direct observations, in situ experiments, stable isotope analysis, and trace metals. He studies population structure and dynamics of fish and invertebrates across Fiordland, Antarctica, sub-Antarctic islands, and mainland New Zealand. Funded projects include food web connectivity in Fiordland (Marsden Fund), biodiversity patterns in Fiordland (Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of Fisheries), ecophysiology of giant kelp (Otago Research Grant), sea ice microbial communities in Antarctica (Antarctica New Zealand), and ecosystem connectivity (Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge). Recent publications feature "You can't go home again: Changes in trophic niche following extinction and recolonization of the New Zealand sea lion" (Wing et al., 2025, Ecosphere), "Sentinels of change: Divergence in trophic niche of New Zealand sea lions and fur seals from first human contact to today" (Wing et al., 2025, Marine Ecology Progress Series), "Removal of macroalgal-derived organic matter from suspension by green-lipped mussels" (McCarthy and Wing, 2025, Journal of Shellfish Research), and others on mesozooplankton and flounder species discrimination. His work has garnered over 6,452 citations on Google Scholar.