Gary is a marine plant ecologist who is passionate about understanding how we both can protect and use our rich marine environments. He has multiple interests including understanding biodiversity and ecology of temperate and tropical seagrass meadows and reefs, conservation and restoration of marine foundation species, and educating people about coastal and marine ecosystems.

Gary's experimental work on the ecology of seagrass meadows, kelp and Sargassum beds includes understanding the role of seagrasses and kelps in structuring communities, herbivory in seagrass meadows and reefs, and the effect of ocean warming and human impacts on the resilience of  seagrasses and macroalgae.

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Gary has recently focussed on dispersal and recruitment ecology, and genetics of seagrasses, has measured and modelled the dispersal of seagrass seeds and documented seedling survival.