Greig Oldford

PhD, OCF Thesis Topic From physics to fisheries: Greig’s PhD research focuses on developing and applying a spatial-temporal ‘end-to-end’ ecosystem modeling framework to simulate the effects of decadal scale changes occurring in the Salish Sea. This research will advance our understanding of how different factors are contributing to chronically low early marine survival of juvenile Pacific salmon. Supervisor Villy Christensen

Research Unit

Global Ocean Modelling Group

Degrees

Bachelor of Environmental Science (Maj: Ecology; Minor: Economics) – University of Guelph
Advanced Diploma in Geographic Information Systems – NSCC
Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies – Dalhousie University

Biography

Greig grew up in Nova Scotia Canada. Prior to his PhD work at UBC, he worked for the Canadian Government (Fisheries & Oceans) as a scientist and as a science advisor. Previous to that, he developed custom tools and models for natural resource management and ecological restoration of rivers.

Greig enjoys swimming, cycling, and running (and infrequent triathlons), and doing creative / artistic things.

Research Interests

Greig is an environmental scientist and ecosystem modeler. Greig has skillsets in ecosystem science, data science, geographic information systems, and computer programming. At UBC he was a teaching assistant for the Master of Data Science program ‘Supervised Machine Learning’ and ‘Data Visualization’ courses.

Generally, his research interests include:

• Decision support: Spatial optimization. Conservation planning. Software development.
• Modelling: Ecological networks (rivers and marine ecosystems). Parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis. Trade-offs and cost-benefit analysis.
• Data analysis: Large data sets. Geospatial analysis. Machine learning.
• Integrative ecology and synthesis: Hypothesis evaluation. Collaborative / participatory research.

His research at the UBC Global Ocean Modelling Lab is supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the UBC Ocean Leaders Program, and the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project.

Keywords

ecosystems, models, fisheries, Salish Sea, end-to-end, Ecopath, NEMO

Awards

Prix D’Excellence 2023 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada – Awarded for Work on the Great Bear Sea MPA Network
NSERC / MITACS ‘Accelerate’ Grant – PI: Villy Christensen – 2018-2021
UBC Ocean Leaders Fellowship – 2019-present
UBC President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award – 2020
UBC Faculty of Science PhD Tuition Award – 2019
UBC Faculty of Science Graduate Award – 2018
Centre for Art Tapes New Media Arts Scholarship 2013-2014
Neil Munro Parks & Protected Areas Award – 2010
NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship – 2008-2010
Esri Canada Scholarship – 2007

Contact Information

Email: g.oldford@oceans.ubc.ca
Website: goldford.github.io/

Social Media

Twitter: @greig_oldford

Selected Publications

Oldford, G; Jarnikova, TJ; Christensen, V; Dunphy, M. (in prep; 2023). NEMO-SS1500 v1.0: a hindcast of the Salish Sea (1979 – 2018) in support of ecosystem model development. In prep for submission to Geoscientific Model Development.

Oldford, G., Cote, D., Kehler, D. G., Riefesel, G. R., & Wiersma, Y. F. (2023). FIPEX v10. 4: An ArcGIS Desktop Add-in for assessing impacts of fish passage barriers and longitudinal connectivity of rivers. SoftwareX, 101469

de Mutsert, K., Coll, M., Steenbeek, J., Ainsworth, C., Buszowski, J., Chagaris, D., Christensen, V., Heymans, S. J. J., Lewis, K. A., Libralato, S., Oldford, G., Piroddi, C., Romagnoni, G., Serpetti, N., Spence, M. A., & Walters, C. (2023). Advances in spatial‐temporal coastal and marine ecosystem modeling using Ecospace. In Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90798-9.00035-4

Couture, F., Oldford, G., Christensen, V., Barrett-Lennard, L., & Walters, C. (2022). Requirements and availability of prey for northeastern pacific southern resident killer whales. Plos one, 17(6), e0270523

Taft, S., Oldford, G. , M.I., Lilley, P.L., Oetterich, S.B., Morin, J., George, M., George, M., and Christensen, V. . “Reconstructing the Pre-European Contact Shoreline of Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC, Canada) using participatory mapping and a two-eyed seeing approach ” Institute for Oceans & Fisheries (Fisheries Centre) Research Reports. Vol XX, March 2022

Steenbeek J, Buszowski J, Chagaris D, Christensen V, Coll M, Fulton EA, Katsanevakis S, Lewis KA, Mazaris AD, Macias D, de Mutsert K, Oldford G, Pennino MG, Piroddi C, Romagnoni G, Serpetti N, Shin YJ, Spence MA, Stelzenmuller V. “Making spatial-temporal marine ecosystem modelling better – a perspective ” Environmental Modelling and Software. Vol 145, November 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105209