Dr. Kara Layton is a marine evolutionary biologist and currently a Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Aberdeen. Kara earned her BSc and MSc at the University of Guelph and her PhD at the University of Western Australia, and recently completed postdoctoral research at the Ocean Frontier Institute and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Kara has worked across diverse marine ecosystems and taxonomic groups, using genomics and morphology to understand the evolution of marine biodiversity. She is particularly interested in the evolution of colour pattern diversity and mimicry in nudibranchs (sea slugs), resolving phylogenetic relationships in molluscs, and investigating climate change response in marine species. Kara has extensive field experience and has participated in oceanographic expeditions in the Arctic, Antarctica and Australia. After having discovered a new species of sea slug from a mesophotic reef in the Indo-Pacific, Kara is thrilled to be exploring Kimberley deep reefs for the first time. She is also passionate about supporting other early career researchers and improving access to biodiversity knowledge through her outreach efforts and service commitments.
