Kendall David Clements is a New Zealand academic and as of 2021 is a full professor at the University of Auckland specialising in the ecology and evolution of fish."
Professor Kendall David Clements."
University of Auckland staff page.
Accessed 2021-11-29.
https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/k-clements Academic career
After a PhD titled  'Gut microorganisms of surgeonfishes (family Acanthuridae)'  at the James Cook University, Clements moved to the University of Auckland, rising to full professor.
Clements is an expert in marine fish ecology and taxonomy, particularly focusing on herbivory in coral reef fishes,Choat, J., Clements, K. and Robbins, W., 2002.
The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs.
Marine Biology, 140(3), pp.
613–623.Nicholson, G.M.; Clements, K.D. (2020).
"Resolving resource partitioning in parrotfishes (Scarini) using microhistology of feeding substrata."
Coral Reefs 39, 1313-1327.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107021 Johnson, J.S.; Raubenheimer, D.; Bury, S.J., Clements, K.D. (2020).
"Does temperature constrain diet choice in a marine herbivorous fish?"
Marine Biology 167, 99, 1-12.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-3677-zTaylor, B.M.; Benkwitt, C.E.; Choat, H.; Clements, K.D.; Graham, N.A.J., et al. (2020).
"Synchronous biological feedbacks in parrotfishes associated with pantropical coral bleaching."
Global Change Biology 26 (3), 1285-1294.
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14909Nicholson, G.M; Clements, K.D. (2021).
"Ecomorphological divergence and trophic resource partitioning in 15 syntopic Indo-Pacific parrotfishes (Labridae: Scarini)."
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 132 (3), 590-611.
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa210 and the phylogeny and taxonomy of Kyphosidae (sea chubs)Beldade, R.; Longo, G.C.; Clements, K.D.; Robertson, D.R.; Perez-Matus, A., et al. (2021).
"Evolutionary origin of the Atlantic Cabo Verde nibbler (Girella stuebeli), a member of a primarily Pacific Ocean family of antitropical herbivorous reef fishes."
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 156, 107021.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107021Knudsen, S. W.; Choat, J.H.; Clements, K.D. (2020).
"The herbivorous fish family Kyphosidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) represents a recent radiation from higher latitudes."
Journal of Biogeography 46 (9), 2067-2080.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13634 and triplefins.Stewart, A.W.; Knudsen, S.W; Clements, K.D. (2021).
"A new species of deep-water triplefin (Pisces: Tripterygiidae) in the genus Ruanoho from coastal New Zealand waters."
Zootaxa 4981 (1), 123–136.
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4981.1.8 Contention
In July 2021, in the context of a review of the NCEA (New Zealand's National Curriculum), Clements was lead author of a letter "In Defence of Science" in the New Zealand Listener,Kendall Clements, Garth Cooper, Michael Corballis, Douglas Elliffe, Robert Nola, Elizabeth Rata, and John Werry.
“In Defence of Science.”
New Zealand Listener, 31 July 2021.
p.4 which drew considerable fire claiming indigenous knowledge (or Mātauranga Māori) "falls far short of what can be defined as science itself."
Auckland vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater said the letter "caused considerable hurt and dismay among our staff, students and alumni" and that "Mātauranga Māori as a valuable knowledge system, and that it was not at odds with Western empirical science and did not need to compete."
The letter writers were supported by opposition MP Paul Goldsmith.
Tara McAllister said "we did not navigate to Aotearoa on myths and legends.
We did not live successfully in balance with the environment without science.
Māori were the first scientists in Aotearoa."
Tina Ngata wrote that "this letter, in all of its unsolicited glory, is a true testament to how racism is harboured and fostered within New Zealand academia."
An open counter-letter received more than 2000 signatures.
Selected works
Choat, J., Clements, K. and Robbins, W., 2002.
The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs.
Marine Biology, 140(3), pp.
613–623.
Angert, Esther R., Kendall D. Clements, and Norman R. Pace.
"The largest bacterium."
Nature 362, no. 6417 (1993): 239–241.
Choat, John Howard, and K. D. Clements.
"Vertebrate herbivores in marine and terrestrial environments: a nutritional ecology perspective."
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29, no. 1 (1998): 375–403.
Choat, J., K. Clements, and W. Robbins.
"The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs."
Marine Biology 140, no. 3 (2002): 613–623.
References
External links
