Luke Matisons

I am a PhD. candidate in the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab in the Center for Marine Science and Innovation. My main research interests are in physical and biological oceanography. I focus primarily on mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics, their interactions, impacts on biological processes and populations, and their representation within ocean models.

Supervised by: Prof. Moninya Roughan, Assoc. Prof. Amandine Schaeffer

Project Title: Dispersion characteristics of eddies and the East Australian Current system

Project Description: The ocean is constantly on the move. Like cream swirling through coffee, water masses spread out and mix over time in a process known as dispersion. This movement plays a crucial role in transporting heat, nutrients, and materials such as plankton or pollutants across the ocean, helping to shape marine ecosystems.

But the ocean is not a simple conveyor belt. It is filled with powerful currents and spinning features that interact across many different scales. My project explores how these motions influence dispersion in the East Australian Current (EAC), the major boundary current off Australia’s east coast. In particular, I focus on ocean eddies – giant, rotating “whirlpools” that can be hundreds of kilometres wide – and how they trap, stir, or release water and its contents as they move through the ocean, and what this means for the EAC and our local marine environment.