Shaun’s previous research examined the impact that habitat disturbance and fishing on reef communities, focusing on the effect of coral bleaching on reef fish. His work has examined the role that structural complexity of reefs plays in maintaining diversity, habitat associations and specialization of fish and the impact of different disturbances on reef communities. He is currently examining the importance seaweed beds as nursery habitat for tropical fish. Shaun has also worked on food webs, in particular the importance of detritus relative to algae in fish diets and the implications that different feeding modes have for reef recovery. He has worked on the reef communities on the Great Barrier Reef, Caribbean, Seychelles and Fiji.