We study interactions among physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolution in animals that occupy the dynamic habitats such as estuaries and the intertidal zone that fringe the ocean's margins. These habitats require animals to cope with extreme and rapidly fluctuating contemporary environmental conditions. Rare but extreme environmental events - and the functional abilities needed to endure them - are also likely to play a significant role in determining future ecological and evolutionary patterns. By applying approaches at multiple levels of biological organization (proteins, organisms, populations) as part of an integrative approach to organismal function, we pursue the ultimate goal of assessing the ecological and evolutionary implications of environmental stress physiology in a dynamic and changing ocean.