Oliver is a Postdoctoral Scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. After completing his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge (2011), and master’s degree in Taxonomy and Biodiversity at Imperial College, London (2012), Oliver defended his PhD in Deep-Sea Ecology at the University of Oxford in 2017. Oliver is an ecologist with experience working in a myriad of environments, and with a variety of taxonomic groups; from tropical rainforests (soil-dwelling arthropods), to temperate coastal waters (microscopic protists), to the depths of the ocean (crustaceans, annelids, molluscs and xenophyophores).
Oliver’s research aims to understand the importance of biodiversity in promoting the healthy functioning of deep-sea ecosystems. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is poorly understood in deep-water environments. However, its understanding can provide important information about the rate of ecosystem functioning loss in deep-sea ecosystems in response to human disturbances, such as hydrocarbon extraction, fishing, and (potentially) seabed mining.
Oliver also has an interest in the impacts of bottom trawling on deep-sea fauna, understanding the environmental shapers of deep-sea communities (including predicting the impacts of climate change on deep sea fauna), and investigating the influence of coral and sponge reefs on deep-sea crustaceans.
When not in the laboratory, Oliver can be found playing music, surfing, or hiking and photographing the landscapes of California.
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