For our June 2024 art and natural history masterclass we welcomed to our Coconut Crab studio Milly Caley, a passionate marine ecologist who works as a research assistant at the University of New South Wales. Milly talked about and painted two species of sea urchins, one endemic to NSW called the Long-spined Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) and the other a Red Pencil Urchin (Heterocentrotus mamillatus), a species found in the waters around Hawaii.

Milly’s research focusses on understanding human impacts in marine ecosystems, but also testing and implementing solutions to some of these issues, such as through eco-engineering.

Many of her research projects have focused on the long-spined urchin, Centrostephanus rodgersii, also known as “Centros”. Centros are the largest urchin found in New South Wales, and are important nocturnal grazers along our rocky coasts, where they hide in crevices during the day, and come out at night to feed on kelp. They are endemic to New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand and some offshore islands. However, they are also a range-extending species, appearing in Tasmanian waters from the 1970s. Centros are also an important fishery species along our south coast. Due to their importance as grazers, fishery targets and range-extenders, studying Centros can help us understand more about their important role in our natural ecosystems, and their role in our changing oceans.