Eilzabeth Nyboer (she/her), Principal Investigator
Google Scholar Elizabeth (Beth) Nyboer is a frshwater ecologist and conservation scientist exploring how anthropogenic stressors affect freshwater ecosystems and the fish, fisheries, and fishing communities they support. Beth and the AFL team use transdisciplinary approaches to integrate community perspectives alongside social, ecological, and environmental data to understand the vulnerability of these systems to environmental change and to find equitable solutions to social-ecological challenges. Emma Rice (she/her), PhD Student
Google Scholar Emma is a fisheries social scientist and that works to integrate development economics, geography, and gender studies in freshwater fisheries globally. She is particularly interested in exploring issues of equity, access, gender, food security and nutrition, and livelihoods, at the nexus of economic development and environmental conservation. Her research is guided by resilience theory, social-ecological systems and food systems thinking, and a commitment to ethical engagement with local communities. Her dissertation research explores the diverse values of Great Lakes Fish Food Systems in both Lake Victoria and Lake Erie. |
Jonathan Low (he/him), PhD Student
Jon is interested in the interplay of social and ecological dynamics in conservation and sustainability. His research in the Adaptive Fisheries lab is focusing on the impacts of aquaculture development in the Lake Victoria Basin. Using genetic techniques, he aims to identify strains of farm Nile tilapia and assess their levels of hybridization with established Nile tilapia populations and native tilapia species. He is also using social science methods to investigate the socio-economic effects and perceptions of aquaculture, as well as biodiversity values and relevant concerns. Through his research he hopes to provide insight for decision-making on fisheries health and stakeholder wellbeing. Lily Casteen, Undergraduate Researcher
Lily is a senior undergraduate at Virginia Tech studying wildlife conservation. Their research investigates angler attitudes toward longnose gar in the James and Rappahannock rivers of Virginia, in connection with an emerging bowfishery and spatial and temporal trends in abundance and condition. They have also contributed to shorebird and waterfowl research on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and in arctic Alaska. |
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