The broad goal of my research program is to understand how natural and anthropogenic environmental change affect aquatic ecosystems and the human societies they support. My research is necessarily inter- and trans-disciplinary integrating concepts from applied conservation ecology, social-ecological systems theory, and knowledge mobilization theory. I employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative methodologies including field surveys, ecophysiology experiments, spatial analyses, data syntheses, and socio-economic interviews to develop solutions to complex environmental challenges including biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation (biological and social), fisheries sustainability, and natural resource management. I collaborate with researchers from academia, government, and non-governmental organizations both within Canada and globally.
The three core themes of my research program are: 1. the ecological consequences of environmental change on fish and fisheries, 2. the impact of environmental change on fishing communities and the social-ecological feedbacks that occur as societies adapt to these changes, and 3. how social and ecological knowledge is best communicated and integrated into environmental policy and practice. |
Current projects
Indigenous Inclusion and Input "3I": Understanding Indigenous perspectives on the management and control of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes (NA)
As a postdoctoral fellow with the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries at UBC my research aims to enhance collective understanding of Indigenous perspectives on the management and control of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes region. Funded by the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission (GLFC), the core goal of this work is to address the long history of Indigenous exclusion from fisheries decision-making processes by documenting experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about sea lamprey and identifying ideas, priorities, and better/best practices to guide future conservation in the Great Lakes region. To conduct this work, we follow the principles of co-production by engaging with allowing research to be guided by and answer the needs of Indigenous community partners. We use transdisciplinary approaches that interweave Indigenous knowledge and methodologies alongside social science and ecological research tools.
|
Amplifying the impact of environmental research on policy and practice in Canada
This research aims to understand how applied conservation research can have the greatest impact in environmental policy and practice. To tackle these challenges, I am coordinating an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional team of researchers in an investigation of the opportunities and barriers associated with evidence-informed decision-making in the Canadian context. We have designed and conducted interviews with 84 scientists and policy practitioners working for environmentally focused government bodies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Canada. This work is being done in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Evidence Based Conservation.
|
Trait-based climate change vulnerability assessments of fishes
Global recreational fish
Recreational fisheries contribute substantially to the sociocultural, ecological, and economic wellbeing of coastal and riparian regions worldwide, but climate change threatens their sustainability. Fisheries managers require information on how climate change will impact key recreational species; however, the absence of a global assessment hinders both directed and widespread conservation efforts. In this study, we present the first global climate change vulnerability assessment of recreationally targeted fish species from marine and freshwater environments (including diadromous fishes). We use climate change projections and data on species’ physiological and ecological traits to quantify and map global climate vulnerability, and analyze these patterns alongside indices of socioeconomic value and conservation effort to determine where efforts are sufficient and where they might fall short.
|
African freshwater fish
African freshwater ecosystems are home to one of the most diverse and unique ichthyo-faunas on the planet, and inland fishes are essential to the social and economic stability of millions of people in lakeshore social-ecological systems. Although nearly one sixth of African inland fishes are designated as endangered or vulnerable by the IUCN redlist, the effects of climate change on these species have never been explored on a continent-wide scale. In this study, I conducted a trait-based climate change vulnerability assessment of Africa’s currently described freshwater fishes. I assembled data related to three dimensions of climate change vulnerability (sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure) and also developed an index of ‘conservation value’ based on traditional conservation metrics. I demonstrate that incorporating climate change effects in conservation planning can improve decision making for ecosystem management. This work was done in collaboration with Lauren Chapman and Chris Liang. Please contact me if interested in details or data.
Eco-physiology of commercially-harvested fishes in the tropics
Tropical fishes are often predicted to be highly vulnerable to climate warming because they experience small annual temperature fluctuations, are predicted to have narrow thermal windows, and appear to live near their upper thermal limit. I use laboratory experiments (respirometry, critical thermal maximum [CTmax]) to explore the effects of elevated water temperature on aerobic metabolic performance and upper thermal tolerance of fish species of economic and food-security importance in East Africa, namely the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Nile perch (Lates niloticus). I use various combinations of acclimation times and performance metrics to understand patterns of thermal plasticity and intra-specific divergence in these traits, and to develop predictions on these species' capacity to cope with climate warming. This work was done in collaboration with Lauren Chapman, Emmanuelle Chrétien, and the Aquaculture Research and Development Centre in Uganda. See recent publications here.
Climate change resilience in lakeshore social-ecological systems
Inland fisheries support livelihoods and provide food security for millions of people worldwide. In this work I examine the impacts of contemporary climate change on fishery-based social-ecological systems in the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda. In collaboration with the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute of Uganda, I held a series of interviews and focus group discussions among several landing sites and with a range of stakeholders to understand how environmental stressors change livelihood strategies and decision making within the fishery. I examined strategies for adapting to these changes, and identified major barriers to adaptation. Please contact me for details.
|
Past research
2013 Harmonizing social and ecological knowledge for fisheries management
Conducted in collaboration with Ismael Vaccaro (McGill), Colin Chapman (McGill), and others, this study investigated challenges faced by local managerial institutions (beach management units; BMUs) governing fisheries in East African lakes. Specifically, we determined whether spatial pattern of the fishery resource (fish) and resource users (fishers) could be combined to develop territorial jurisdiction for management and enforcement. We combined anthropological and ecological data to create a map outlining social landmarks and ecological characteristics of the lake, assessed the distribution patterns of harvested species, and quantified spatial distribution of fishing effort by local fishers. The results demonstrate spatial structure at all levels (social and ecological) of the fishery in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda, presenting an achievable approach to improve fisheries management. Read more here.
|
2010 - 2012 Master’s research: Fishing-induced ecological change in Nile Perch
My Master’s research, supervised by Lauren Chapman, examined movement patterns and habitat selection of Nile perch in Lake Nabugabo. I also quantified habitat-mediated divergence in morphological traits to better understand mechanisms by which intense fishing may contribute to ecological change in this species. I used radio telemetry to track Nile perch for five months and analyzed these data in ArcGIS to evaluate home range, movement and habitat selection. Geometric morphometric analyses and computer-based colour analysis were used to quantify divergence in body shape and colour between two ecologically divergent habitats (wetland vs forest) in Lake Nabugabo. Read more here.
|
2009 Food web interactions of Pacific salmon in coastal aquatic ecosystems.
This research, conducted with Wendy Palen (Simon Fraser University) and others, aimed to understand how energy originally fixed by plants (either terrestrial or aquatic) makes its way into food webs of interacting species that ultimately get consumed by juvenile Pacific salmon in coastal ecosystems. We worked on tributaries of the Eel River in northern California to collect information about aquatic macro-invertebrate species present at different places in the watershed (small shady upland streams to large sunny rivers) to evaluate how resource availability changes down the watershed, and compare these patterns with samples of juvenile salmon diet composition and stable isotope concentrations.
|
2008 Aggression and courtship behaviour of the mangrove killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus)
This project, done in collaboration with Phillip Molloy and Isabelle Côté, investigated intra- and inter-sexual competition and mating strategies in a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite, the mangrove killifish. I conducted a number of behavioural experiments to study the influence of size and colour on the ability of the males of this species to outcompete conspecifics for resources and mating opportunities. Read the paper here.
|