Gina Hounsell

Hi, my name is Gina Hounsell, and I am a marine biologist in training, about to begin the second year of my degree at the University of Plymouth!

Originally from Dorset, I moved to Plymouth recently, where I am studying to earn my BSc (Hons) in Marine Biology. My passion for marine mammals lead me to my degree, but now I am developing a new love and appreciation for our little crustacean friends, especially the hermit crabs.

I am most interested in the anatomy, physiology, and behaviour of marine life. I hope to use the 3 fields of biology to inspire my final-year dissertation. Currently, I spend my time volunteering at Wembury, where I assist in rock pool safaris, where I find intertidal organisms to show to the public and share interesting facts about them. In my spare time, I enjoy being outdoors when the weather is bright, but when cooped up inside, my time is filled with drawing while listening to audible books in the company of my tortoise, Beauregard.

Projects

  • Jacqui and I are working with Ari to understand how the salinity of seawater influences the behaviour of individual hermit crabs. We know hermit crabs vary in the way different individuals react to different threats and stimuli, but we don’t yet know how a range of abiotic variables impacts these responses and how they correlate with the anatomy and physiology of individual animals. Together we are finding out just how important salinity is to a hermit crab’s ability to respond to a “threat”.