Core Faculty

Marie Auger-Méthé
Associate Professor
Canada Research Chair (Tier II, Statistical Ecology)
Email: m.auger-methe@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-1658
On leave: September 1, 2023-2024Dr. Auger-Méthé’s work is interdisciplinary in nature and at the intersection between ecology, statistics, and marine sciences. Her recent focus has been on developing and applying statistical models to understand the movement and space use of marine species. Read More
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Ecology, movement, statistics, Arctic, marine mammals, seabirds

William Cheung
Director and Professor
Canada Research Chair (Tier II, Ocean Sustainability and Global Change)
Email: w.cheung@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-827-3756
Dr. William Cheung is Professor and Director of UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. His work addresses policy-relevant research questions, cut across multiple disciplines, from oceanography to ecology, economics and social sciences, and range from local to global scales Read More
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Nexus of food-climate-biodiversity in the ocean, pathways to sustainable ocean futures
Villy Christensen
Professor
Email: v.christensen@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-5751
On leave: July 1, 2023-2024Dr Christensen is a professor specialising in ecosystem modelling - in particular data-driven ecosystem model construction. He is known for his work as a leader and developer of Ecopath, an open source ecosystem modelling software system widely used for ecosystem based management and increasingly for environmental impact assessment Read More
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Dr. Donner is a climate scientist whose work lies at the intersection of climate science, marine science, and policy. He was a lead author on the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment and serves as a member of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body, which advises the federal government on pathways to net-zero emissions. Read More
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climate science; marine heat waves; coral reefs; sea-level rise; El Nino; equatorial Pacific; Small Island Developing States; climate change adaptation; kelp systems; numerical modelling

Dr. Harley studies patterns and processes in intertidal and nearshore ecosystems. He and his students are interested in how the environment (temperature, salinity, ocean acidification) and interactions among species (predation, competition, facilitation) interact to determine community structure. Ongoing work incorporates tipping points associated with environmental extremes, such as heatwaves, and changes in community composition, including species introductions and biodiversity loss... Read More
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community ecology, marine invertebrates, algae, species interactions, climate change, global warming, ocean acidification, multiple stressors, environmental variability

Dr Hunt is an ecosystem oceanographer who researches the structure and function of pelagic marine ecosystems and their response to climate forcing and anthropogenic impacts. Read More
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Murdoch McAllister
Associate Professor
IOF Graduate Advisor
Email: m.mcallister@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-3693
Dr. McAllister's research focuses on developing decision support tools for fisheries management including the development of data-intensive modeling approaches for fisheries stock assessment and management strategy evaluation. Teaching focuses on providing instruction and training in interdisciplinary and quantitative approaches to fisheries policy analysis... Read More
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Dr. Pakhomov is a biological oceanographer focusing on species ecology ranging from zooplankton to fish, incorporating ecosystem structure, physical-biological and biochemical coupling. More recently he has dabbled in stable isotope ecology as well as the variability and responses of marine ecosystems to climate change.
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Dr. Daniel Pauly is an exceptional scholar whose work has fundamentally impacted the fields of fisheries science, and biodiversity research. His creation of extensive approaches, knowledge infrastructures, and tools, are used extensively by scientists and experts in fisheries and aquatic biodiversity around the world. Read More
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Andrea Reid
Assistant Professor
Canada Research Chair (Tier II, Indigenous Fisheries Science)
Email: a.reid@oceans.ubc.ca
Dr. Reid is a proud citizen and member of the sovereign Nisg̱a’a Nation, and she is the Principal Investigator of the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries. Her collaborative and collective research and teaching program focuses on culturally-significant fish and fisheries, such as Pacific salmon (‘hoon’ in Nisg̱a’a; Oncorhynchus spp.), centring Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing, and connecting... Read More
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Indigenous fisheries; fisheries science; Indigenous rights; community-based research; Indigenous knowledge systems; fish ecology; freshwater systems; Indigenous research methodologies; land-based learning
Dr. Rosen's current research primarily investigates the bioenergetics (energy requirements and expenditures) of marine mammals. Its focus is to understand the root causes of population changes by investigating the interactions between the physiology of individual animals and biotic and abiotic environmental changes. Read More
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Rashid Sumaila
University Killam Professor
Canada Research Chair (Tier I, Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics)
Email: r.sumaila@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-0224
Rashid Sumaila's research focuses on bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, marine protected areas, illegal fishing, climate change, marine plastic pollution, and oil spills. Read More
Research Area
ocean, fisheries, economics, bioeconomic modeling, subsidies, high seas, valuation, infinity fish, climate change, discounting

Curtis Suttle
Distinguished University Professor
Email: suttle@science.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-8610
Dr Suttle is primarily focussed on viruses and their role in the environment. His current work examines viruses and their roles in the oceans, high Arctic, deep mines, aeolian dust, lakes, and migratory-bird ponds. Read More
Research Area
microbial diversity, marine microbiology, biological oceanography, marine viruses, virus diversity, zooplankton, phytoplankton, bacterioplankton, virioplankton

Andrew Trites
Professor
Email: a.trites@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-8182
On leave until December 31, 2023Dr Trites oversees the Marine Mammal Research Unit and a research program that involves captive and field studies of seals, sea lions, whales and dolphins. Read More
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Dr. Amanda Vincent is driven by a determination to protect our oceans. As well as tackling research on pressing problems, Dr. Vincent also mobilizes conservation action to improve the status of marine species and habitats. Read More
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Emeritus

Dr. Newell is a historian of technology and society who has spent her career examining the diffusion of knowledge in disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. Appointed Professor Emerita in 2014. She is the Interim Director of the IOF’s Centre for Indigenous Fisheries. Read More
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Indigenous fisheries of BC, fishing and fish processing history, interdisciplinary research; small-scale fisheries, marine coastal fisheries; women & fisheries, industrial archaeology; Canadian Northwest Coast Indigenous fisheries case law; Pacific salmon canning industry. white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) fisheries
Tony Pitcher
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Pitcher’s research addressedthe impacts of fishing on aquatic ecosystems, the development of quantitative, multi-criteria evaluation frameworks and rapid appraisal techniques for evidence-based assessment of fisheries, management instruments and management goals, and a predictive understanding of how fish shoaling behaviour impacts fisheries.
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Dr Walters’ areas of research include the development of rapid techniques for teaching systems analysis and mathematical modeling to biologists and resource managers. His primary foci are fish population dynamics, fisheries assessment and sustainable management.
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Honorary

George Rose
Professor and Fisheries Conservation Chair
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Jordan Rosenfeld
Aquatic Scientist, Applied Freshwater Research Unit, BC Ministry of Environment
Email: j.rosenfeld@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-827-5137
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Associate

Kai Chan
Professor
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Philippe Le Billon
Professor
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Charles Menzies
Professor
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Camilla Speller
Assistant Professor
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Affiliate

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Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor
Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
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Claudia J. Hernández-Camacho
Affiliate Professor, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas-IPN: La Paz, Baja California Sur, MX
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Dirk Zeller
Affiliate Professor; Sea Around Us, University of Western Australia
Email: d.zeller@oceans.ubc.ca
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Adjunct

Jacquline Alder
Adjunct Professor, FAO
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Nathan Bennett
Adjunct Professor
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Tom Carruthers
Adjunct Professor, Blue Matter Science Ltd.
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Robyn Forrest
Adjunct Professor; Fisheries & Oceans Canada
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Alyssa Gehman
Adjunct Professor, Hakai Institute
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Martin Haulena
Adjunct Professor, Vancouver Aquarium
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Marine mammals, necroscopy
Douglas E. Hay
Adjunct Professor, Pacific Biological Station (Scientist Emeritus)
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Margot Hessing-Lewis
Adjunct Professor, Hakai Institute
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ecological dynamics, changing coastal environments, seagrass, kelp
Colleen Kellogg
Adjunct Professor, Hakai Institute
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Josh Korman
Adjunct Professor; Ecometric Research
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Steve McAdam
Adjunct Professor; BC Ministry of Environment
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Fraser McDonald
Adjunct Professor
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Jesse Morin
Adjunct Professor; practicing archeologist
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Archeology, lithic analysis, Coast Salish peoples, stone tools
Eric Parkinson
Adjunct Professor; BC Ministry of Environment
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Isobel Pearsall
Adjunct Professor; Strait of Georgia Data Centre
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R. Ian Perry
Adjunct Professor; Fisheries & Oceans Canada
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Stephen Raverty
Adjunct Professor, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Animal Health Centre
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Laura Richards
Adjunct Professor; Fisheries & Oceans Canada (Scientist Emerita)
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fishing
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Indigenous fisheriesResearch Faculty

Dr. Correia has studied several aspects of European seahorse biology, ecology and conservation. He has worked closely with stakeholders to implement mitigation tools for seahorse conservation and was actively involved in the creation of new marine protected areas (MPAs). He also acts as Focal Point for Europe in the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group. Read More
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Dr. Foster is a conservation scientist dedicated to finding pragmatic solutions for the many problems facing the oceans and the animals that call them home – solutions that work for both fish and the people that depend on them. She is the Program Lead for Project Seahorse. Read More
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Dr. McLaskey is a zooplankton ecologist and biological oceanographer who researches the lower trophic levels of marine food webs—from phytoplankton, through zooplankton, to fish. Much of my work focuses on how nutritional quality intersects with food web structure, and how that can impact higher trophic levels. Read More
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Zooplankton, Salmon, Climate change, Marine ecosystems, Food webs, Nutrition, Fatty acids
Gideon Mordecai
Research Associate
Email: g.mordecai@oceans.ubc.ca or gidmord@gmail.com
Office phone: 604-827-5137
Dr. Mordecai’s research explores the diversity of viruses which infect Pacific salmon, and applies genetic sequencing to study their transmission dynamics. He is part of a collaboration with Dr Kristi Miller (Fisheries & Oceans Canada) and the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Salmon Health Program, which researches the combined impacts of disease and environmental stress. Read More
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Pacific salmon, viruses, viral ecology, conservation biology, genomics, molecular epidemiology
Maria Lourdes 'Deng' Palomares
Senior Scientist and Project Manager
Email: m.palomares@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-822-0218
Dr. Palomares has been the Sea Around Us' Project Manager since June 2017. Her research focus has been on the application of well-known theories in fish and fisheries biology as tools to test hypotheses and/or generate knowledge from ‘big data’ repositories. Read More
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Dr. Reygondeau is an ecologist and biological oceanographer by training, who specializes in the use of large-scale interdisciplinary data and the development and application of numerical computation methods to addresses key challenges in developing a theoretical and empirical understanding of the effects of anthropogenic stressors on marine diversity, ecosystem functioning and services. Read More
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biodiversity, macro-ecology, marine ecology, oceanography, biogeography, conservation, climate change, fisheries, explorative statistics, statistical modeling

Dr. Louise Teh's research focuses on how interactions between humans and marine ecosystems impact fisheries sustainability. She has a particular interest is in small-scale fisheries of developing countries, and has been involved in marine conservation projects on valuing marine turtle conservation, marine protected area management, and climate change adaptation. Read More
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Dr Lydia Teh’s research examines the social, economic, and ecological dynamics of marine fisheries, with a special focus on small-scale fisheries. Her inter-disciplinary research cuts across fields from human ecology to biodiversity conservation, and has taken her to work with fishing communities in Sabah, Malaysia and Fiji.... Read More
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Dr. Wabnitz is a marine scientist interested in understanding the functioning of ecosystems, how these may respond to human pressures and natural forcing, and the design - together with government, industry, NGOs and local communities - of appropriate measures for the sustainable use of their resources and the long term conservation of their services. Read More
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Honorary Research Faculty

Dr. Juan José Alava is a marine eco-toxicologist/environmental toxicologist and conservation biologist and his current research envisions the assessment of the pollution footprint and hazard risk of plastics and microplastic in the global oceans and food-web bioaccumulation modelling of microplastics in marine and coastal food webs. He also conducts food-web modelling of pollutants’ bioaccumulation... Read More
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Russ Jones
Honorary Research Associate; Centre for Indigenous Fisheries
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Michael Melnychuk
Honorary Research Associate; Quantitative Modeling Group [University of Washington]
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Postdoctoral Fellows

Joanne Breckenbridge
Postdoctoral Fellow, Marine Zooplankton and Micronekton Laboratory
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Sara Cannon
Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Centre for Indigenous Fisheries
Email: s.cannon@oceans.ubc.ca
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Iria Garcia
Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow; Fisheries Economic Research Unit
Email: i.garcia@oceans.ubc.ca
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Ibrahim Issifu
Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Fisheries Economics Research Unit
Email: i.issifu@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-649-6335
Dr. Ibrahim Issifu is an accomplished interdisciplinary fisheries economist, specializing in the complex nexus of marine resource management, food systems, sustainable blue economy, and marine plastic pollution. With a deep understanding of the economic drivers and ecological implications of fisheries, Ibrahim employs a holistic approach to inform policy decisions and promote the long-term viability of frontline coastal communities and marine ecosystems. Read More
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Economic valuation of marine resources, Fisheries governance and policy, Climate change impacts on fisheries, Seafood trade flow, Bioeconomic modeling
Loic Jacquemot
Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Pelagic Ecosystems Lab
Email: l.jacquemot(at)oceans.ubc.ca
Dr. Jacquemot's main research investigates how marine organisms adapt to a changing environment. He uses recent molecular biology technologies (DNA/RNA metabarcoding, omics) coupled with bioinformatics analyses to study the diversity and distribution of marine communities and how they interact in marine ecosystems. His current project investigates how eDNA can be used to characterize and map biodiversity in BC fjords and explore the role of these fjords as critical habitats and refugia. Read More
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pelagic ecosystems, oceanography, fjords, eDNA, fish, conservation biology, bioinformatics, food webs
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Jacqueline Maud
Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Pelagic Ecosystems Lab
Email: j.maud@oceans.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-816-2557
I'm a late returner to science research! After my undergraduate studies I worked for the UK Environment Agency for ~10 years (as Pesticides Scientist, Human Health Scientist, Marine Scientist, Climate Change Scientist), but I felt very far away from real science and so I followed my heart and went back to university to do a Masters in Marine Biology from Bangor University, Wales. Before I started my PhD I worked as a research assistant in the... Read More
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Juliano Palacios Abrantes
Postdoctoral Fellow; Changing Oceans Research Unit
Email: j.palacios@oceans.ubc.ca
Juliano Palacios Abrantes' work looks at how climate change is shifting the distribution of marine species generating uncertain feedbacks on marine ecosystems and dependent fishing communities. Specifically, he looks at how such shifts affect shared stocks (e.g., stocks that are... Read More
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Anna Schuhbauer
Postdoctoral Fellow; Fisheries Economics Research Unit
Email: a.schuhbauer@oceans.ubc.ca
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Szymon Surma
Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Marine Zooplankton and Micronekton Laboratory
Email: s.surma@oceans.ubc.ca
Dr. Surma completed his PhD at the UBC IOF in 2019. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the International Year of the Salmon Project at the IOF and the UBC Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences... Read More
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marine ecology, fisheries ecology, biological oceanography, fisheries oceanography, ecosystem-based fisheries management, ecosystem modelling, management strategy evaluation, salmon, forage fish, marine mammals
Dr. Troina investigates the trophic and spatial ecology of marine top predators. She has been applying natural chemical tracers to learn about the foraging ecology and habitat use by marine mammals, how sympatric cetacean species compete for available resources, and how human-induced changes can affect the structure and dynamics of marine pelagic ecosystems. Read More
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Dr. Zhang studies the effect of climate change on global marine social-ecological systems. Using ecosystem modelling tools, she will identify possible social, economic and ecological targets for fisheries management and conservation, assess the risk and projected impacts of climate change for fisheries to achieve these targets, and potential adaptation options to these risks and impacts. Read More
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Administrative Staff

Neil Maclean
Manager, HR & Operations, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: n.maclean@oceans.ubc.ca
Human Resources; IT; and General Operations

Scott Finestone
Manager, Finance & Facilities, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: s.finestone@oceans.ubc.ca
Currently on leave
Facilities (Space and equipment); Finance; Grant Support; and AERL Health and Safety

Caroline Wong
Acting Manager, Finance and Facilities, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: caroline.wong@ubc.ca
Currently acting for Scott Finestone
Finance; Grant Support; Facilities

Katherine Came
Communications Manager, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: k.came@oceans.ubc.ca

Vicente Regis
Program Specialist, Extracurricular and Extended Learning
Email: v.regis@oceans.ubc.ca

Eden Raines
Graduate Program Officer / Administrative Assistant, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: e.raines@oceans.ubc.ca

Rebecca Smith
Senior Finance Specialist, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Email: finance@oceans.ubc.ca
Research Staff


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At the Sea Around Us, Elaine is in charge of updating catch reconstructions, with a particular focus on automation and optimizing the ex-vessel fish price database, in close collaboration with the Fisheries Economics Research Unit. She is also a proficient coder and the go-to person when it comes to designing scientific graphs and figures.

Deniz Coskuner
Research Assistant, Pelagic Ecosystems Lab

Allison Cutting
Research Analyst, Women in Fisheries (Colette Wabnitz)
Email: a.cutting@oceans.ubc.ca
Kahsennaroroks Maddy Deom
Program Assistant, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries

At the Sea Around Us, Brittany leads the catch reconstruction team. She is in charge of executing and verifying the annual updates to the catch reconstruction data of all sectors in all Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) or EEZ-equivalent waters of the world (247), plus the catch of tuna and other large pelagic fishes in the High Seas. She also authors or co-authors papers documenting these reconstructions.


Peggy Homan
Administrative Coordinator, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries
Email: p.homan@oceans.ubc.ca

I just completed my MSc in the Institute for Oceans and Fisheries. I I was born in Mauritius and grew up in both India and Mauritius. I have carried out research in multiple locations such as Mauritius, Seychelles, Florida, California, New Zealand, and Maine. My previous work has focused on the conservation of marine mammals, coral... Read More
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Martin Paulo Nevado
Database Software Engineer, Sea Around Us
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Miel Ortiz
Website Manager, Sea Around Us
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Lauren Portner
Research Assistant/Technician, Pelagic Ecosystems Laboratory
Email: l.portner@oceans.ubc.ca
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Valentina Ruiz Leotaud
Communications Officer, Sea Around Us Program
Email: v.ruizleotaud@oceans.ubc.ca

At the Sea Around Us, Patricia is in charge of conducting freshwater fisheries catch reconstructions, with an initial emphasis on Canada and the United States of America.
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I am interested in land-sea connections. My research focuses on the impacts of wildfires on coastal ocean biogeochemistry. Using the Fraser River and the Strait of Georgia as a model system, I work to identify impacts of runoff from burned forest areas on our coastal oceans. Read More

Natasha Buckiewicz
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisor: Brian Hunt
Email: n.buckiewicz@oceans.ubc.ca
As part of the Urban Oceans project, Natasha's PhD research focuses on the impacts of urbanization on phytoplankton dynamics in the Salish Sea. The aim is to understand how freshwater and material flows from the urban environment impact primary producers and their fatty acid profiles, with implications on essential nutrients available to higher trophic levels including culturally and economically important fish. Read More

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Kate Colson
Student
Program: MSc, OCF
Supervisor: Andrew Trites and Leigh Torres (Oregon State University)
Email: k.colson@oceans.ubc.ca
Thesis
Energy requirements of the Pacific Coast Feeding Group grey whales in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia waters
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Outcomes of Indigenous fishing methods for fish health and fisheries sustainability in a changing world
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Centre for Indigenous Fisheries
Fanny Couture
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisors: Villy Christensen
Email: f.couture@oceans.ubc.ca
After moving to Canada in June 2017, I started volunteering for Dr.Lance Barrett-Lennard at Marine Mammal Research Institute (Ocean Wise). After contacting Professor Villy Christensen, we all together developed a PhD research project aiming at assessing the historical levels of key prey salmon species from California to Alaska in order to estimate the carrying capacity of the area for killer whale populations along with potential competitive effects of other marine top predators.... Read More
Thesis Topic
Connecting preys and specialized predator population dynamics: The case of Southern Resident Killer whales
Santiago De la Puente Jeri
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisors: Villy Christensen
Email: s.delapuente@oceans.ubc.ca
I am a Peruvian researcher that has been studying the ecological and human dimensions of the Humboldt Current, with emphasis on fisheries economics and governance. Before joining the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia as a graduate student, I worked as associate researcher at Centre for Environmental Sustainability of the Cayetano Heredia University in Peru (2010-2015), and at Inteligencia Financiera SAC (2014-2015); as consultant for OCEANA-Peru (2016), the GEF-UNDP Project: “Towards the ecosystem based management of... Read More
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Can integrated ecological-economic models help operationalize ecosystem-based fisheries management?
Alexander Duncan
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisors: Dr. Andrea Reid
Email: a.duncan@oceans.ubc.ca
Aanii, Alexander Duncan ndizhnikaaz, Niigaanweywidan nindigoo ojibwemong, Waabizheshii ndoodem, Neyaashiinigmiing ndoonjbaa. Alexander Duncan (Niigaanweywidan - spirit name), a member of the Marten clan, is from the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and the larger Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Ontario. Coming from a fishing nation where water and fish remain a vital component of culture and life, Alexander has committed his academic career to meaningfully contribute and support Indigenous fisheries across Turtle Island, especially given... Read More
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Sea lamprey research and management – Indigenous input and inclusion (3I project)
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Meaghan Efford
Student
Program: Ph.D., OCF
Supervisor: Dr. Villy Christensen
Email: m.efford@oceans.ubc.ca
I am a PhD student at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. My interest in coastal ecology and archaeology started when I lived at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre while working at the local community school. My background is in zooarchaeology, invertebrate archaeology, historical ecology, community engagement, and science communication. Read More
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From Ecosystem Abundance to the City of Vancouver: A Story of Stewardship and Colonization on Canada’s West Coast
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Global distribution and biomass of the mesopelagic Mesozooplankton and Micronekton community
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Ema Fatima
Student
Program: PhD, IOF
Supervisors: Dr. Rashid Sumaila and Dr. Tara Martin
Email:e.fatima@oceans.ubc.ca
I am a PhD student at the Institute of Ocean and Fisheries of University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. I come from India, a nation with over 7500 Km coastline that inhabits around 170 million people threatened with an increasing risk to shifting climate, sea-level rise, and natural disasters. Of these, approximately 4 million constitute of marine fisher population, dependent on ocean resources while 60% of them are subsistence fishers. I was born in a landlocked state and spent most of my schooldays along the eastern Himalayan range... Read More
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My research work broadly focuses on understanding the economics of fishing industry in India. I use trawl fisheries as case study: a sector reported most profitable by the nation’s government. I will be investigating the economic impact based on empirical analysis of what is perceived as profitable and what are the other unaccounted hidden cost. The second part of my thesis aims at identifying who bears the financial burden. The outcome of my study envisages to have a better understanding of government resource use and distribution for improving fisheries management effectiveness.
My research focuses on Arctic marine mammal space-use, predator-prey dynamics, and fitness under changing seascapes. I am developing models to test the landscape of fear hypothesis, which predicts that predator (polar bear) space-use will indirectly influence prey (ringed seal) space-use, where prey avoid predator distribution on the seascape. I will model the space-use of polar bear and ringed seal, and how the predator-prey relationship is affected by shifts in sea ice regime, and also investigate the temporal effects of a poor-ice-year on the fitness... Read More
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Effects of trophic interactions and climate change on the space use of an Arctic marine mesopredator
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Kathleen is analyzing datasets from pinniped telemetry studies to investigate factors such as environmental cues, anatomical mechanisms, and innate versus learned abilities that pinnipeds use to navigate during long-distance migrations. She hopes to contribute new knowledge to a relatively unexplored field and understand how these findings impact the level of behavioral adaptability pinnipeds have when facing environmental changes.
Thesis Topic
Exploring pinniped navigation methods for long-distance migrations
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Rowenna Gryba
Student
Program: PhD, ISGP
Supervisors: Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé and Dr. Greg Henry
Email: r.gryba@stat.ubc.ca
Rowenna's PhD is on developing methods to quantitatively include Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into animal movement and habitat models. To address this she is focusing on ringed seals, spotted seals and bearded seals and their behaviour and habitat use in the Beaufort, Chukchi and Bering Seas. Rowenna will be conducting IK interviews in Arctic communities in Alaska to document the vast IK that exists in this region. She will then use a Bayesian statistical framework to equally include the IK and satellite movement data for these species to identify behaviour, such... Read More
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Integration of Indigenous knowledge and western science using a Bayesian approach for fully informed models.
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Vania Henriquez-Tribinos
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisors: Dr. Murdoch McAllister
Email: v.henriquez@oceans.ubc.ca
Vania is a marine biologist interested in stock assessment, harvest control rules, and mixed fisheries. Currently, I am working on designing multi-species harvest control rules under non-stationary natural mortality of harvested species in mixed-stock fisheries. Read More
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Stock assessment, harvest control, fish stocks
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Josh is a new IOF MSc student interested in the ecology, foraging behaviour and spatial ecology of marine mammals. In particular killer whales. Josh grew up on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada where he has been studying and working with transient (Bigg's) killer whales for over a decade. Josh is fascinated by the cultural and behavioural dynamics between and within populations and how these behaviours are utilized for hunting different... Read More
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Tess grew up in Vancouver, BC where she became fascinated by marine life, especially marine mammals. Tess attended UBC to complete her undergraduate degree and specialized in biology where she became passionate about marine ecology and conservation science. She volunteered and worked for various IOF research units such as the Sea Around Us and the Marine Mammal Research Unit during her undergraduate degree and looks forward to completing her Master's... Read More
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Max Miner
Student
Program: MSc, OCF
Supervisors: Dr. Brian Hunt and Dr. Camilla Speller
Email: m.miner@oceans.ubc.ca
I am an M.Sc. student interested in the impacts of anthropogenic change on coastal marine ecosystems. My work at IOF uses environmental DNA (eDNA) and ancient DNA (aDNA) methodologies to examine harmful algal bloom dynamics along the Pacific Northwest coast. For my thesis, I will be using DNA extracted from nearshore marine sediment core samples to reconstruct past HAB events at a clam garden site in the traditional territory of the Gitga’at Nation... Read More
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Thesis Topic
Humpback whale prey consumption in British Columbia and the effects of a growing population on the food web in the Strait of Georgia
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Being born and raised in a small town on Canada’s east coast within Mi’kma’ki, I have always been influenced by the ocean and its inhabitants. Through my undergraduate degree at UBC, I was able to combine an education in anthropology and the relationship between people, culture, and the environment, with natural resource conservation. The interdisciplinary nature of my degree allowed me to learn from a number of approaches to current issues in... Read More
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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. Read More
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ecosystems, models, fisheries, Salish Sea, end-to-end, Ecopath, NEMO
Haley Oleynik
Student
Program: MSc, OCF
Supervisor: Murdoch McAllister
Email:h.oleynik@oceans.ubc.ca
My interest in fisheries science began in my undergraduate degree where my thesis research focused on how environmental change and management have influenced the social structure and dynamics of the Lobster fishing industry in Maine. Through this research, I became fascinated by how fishing industries support coastal communities and I was eager to learn more about how fisheries are monitored and managed. I crossed North America to work in some... Read More
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Samantha Ramirez
Student
Program: MSc, OCF
Supervisor: Dr. Jordan Rosenfeld
Email: s.ramirez@oceans.ubc.ca
I grew up in a small town in Southern Ontario called Fort Erie and was always intrigued by the dominating agricultural landscape and it's impact on Lake Erie fish. I had the opportunity to complete my Bachelor's of Science at the University of Guelph majoring in Wildlife Biology and Conservation and minoring in Geographical Information Systems and Environmental Analysis. I completed my undergraduate thesis using GIS to analyze agricultural landscapes... Read More
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I am an MSc student at the IOF under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Pauly. My current project focuses on catch reconstruction and ecosystem modelling in the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Eastern Canada). I am interested in the impacts of fisheries on the different trophic levels and structures, and how to implement sustainable fisheries. Read More

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Taryn Scarff
Student
Program: MSc, Zoology
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Trites
Email: t.scarff@oceans.ubc.ca
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I am an oceanographer with a special interest in jellyfish ecology. I am also passionate about Indigenous representation in science and related outreach.
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I'm studying the glaucous-winged gulls to determine if human activities are influencing their behaviour and their health status. I'm using GPS and acceleration data to monitor them. My goal is to gain a deeper understanding of these birds and to ensure we coexist harmoniously on this planet.
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Marine Resource Management; Marine Policy; Marine Protected Areas; Ocean-based Climate Solutions; Regenerative Ocean Farming; Small-scale Fisheries; Food Security; Community-based Management; Marine Tenure
Mica’s earliest and strongest passion in life is marine biology. Since she was young, she has been fascinated by the biosphere and has always felt particularly drawn to studying our oceans. She obtained her junior open water diving certification in the Philippines when she was 12 years old, and, as a result of her parents’ unique employment opportunities in the Canadian Foreign Service, she grew up diving the world’s oceans, which fostered her profound... Read More
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Kristen's (she/her) PhD research topic encompasses multi-stressor impacts on the Canadian Beaufort Sea marine ecosystem at various biological scales. Specifically, she will develop and apply food web models and associated indices using the platform Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) to understand system dynamics. The food web models will investigate possible changes in the Beaufort Sea ecosystem structure and function under changing environmental and human... Read More
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Ambre Soszynski
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisor: Dr. William Cheung
Email: a.soszynski@oceans.ubc.ca
Her research aims at understanding the functioning of ecosystems and their response to anthropogenic pressures in a changing world. The use of marine ecosystem models (Ecopath with Ecosim, OSMOSE) allows to study the marine environments from the individual to ecosystem levels and to forecast the future of biodiversity under fishing and climate change scenarios. Read More
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ecological modelling; impact assessment; biodiversity; fisheries; climate change; marine ecosystem; marine governance; Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace; OSMOSE
Kasey Stirling
Student
Program: PhD, OCF
Supervisor: Dr. Andrea Reid
Email: k.stirling@oceans.ubc.ca
ʔéx kʷ n̓ & pusu’l (hello), my name is Kasey Stirling and I am Nlaka’pamux, Mi’kmaq, and Acadienne. I am a status member of the Lower Nicola Indian Band in Merritt, BC. I am from Williams Lake, the traditional territory of the T’exelcemc Nation (Williams Lake First Nation, Secwepemc Peoples). Throughout my life, I have walked between both worlds: Western and academic science, and Indigenous traditional knowledge. Balancing these pedagogies and developing... Read More
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Rhea Storlund
Student
Program: PhD, Zoology
Supervisors: Dr. David Rosen and Dr. Andrew Trites
Email: r.storlund@oceans.ubc.ca
Rhea's Ph.D. explores cardiovascular adaptations in diving mammals. She looks at this from two perspectives, anatomy and physiology. Anatomically, the aorta of marine mammals is intriguing as it has been reported to be enlarged in some species, but not others, and it is suspected to contribute to the ability to breathhold dive for long durations. Physiologically, marine mammals are known for their extreme cardiovascular adjustments to diving... Read More
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