Welcome
Research in the Baum Lab is motivated by a fundamental desire to understand how climate change and other anthropogenic activities are changing marine ecosystems, and what the consequences of these changes are for nature and for people. Our current research centres around the following questions: 

• How is climate change impacting marine ecosystems? How does climate change interact with other stressors, such as fishing and pollution, to alter marine ecosystems? 
• How do biodiversity, community structure, and ecosystem function and resilience vary across natural environmental gradients? 

​We investigate these questions on coastal ecosystems, with foci on tropical coral reefs and temperate estuarine and kelp ecosystems, and on organisms ranging from apex predators to microscopic dinoflagellates. We do so using a suite of approaches including statistical models of large observational data sets - which allow us to empirically test predictions from related theory and small-scale experiments at the ecosystem and global scale - as well as field observations and experiments, molecular analyses and bioinformatics, stable isotope analyses, interviews, historical ecology, and meta-analyses. Our research spans across broad temporal and spatial scales, incorporates principles from population, community and ecosystem ecology, conservation science, and fisheries science and is highly collaborative. Our current foci are tropical coral reefs and temperate eelgrass beds.

We are committed to open science and data sharing, and to outreach aimed at enhancing public understanding of our research, ocean conservation, and science in general. Our overarching goal is to make scientific discoveries that advance understanding of oceanic ecosystems, and inform and inspire effective solutions for their conservation. 

News - Spring 2021
**FUNDING OPPORTUNITY** Apply for UVic's new Dr. Margaret “Marmie” Perkins Hess Research Fellowship in Earth, Ocean, Astronomy and Environmental Sciences​ to work with with us: 2 year Postdoctoral Fellowship, due May 16, 2021. Interested applicants with strong track-records should send Julia an email with their CV and research interests. 

JOIN US! I am currently recruiting 1-2 PhD students and 1-2 Postdoctoral researchers to my team to work on climate change impacts in marine communities, focusing either on temperature marine communities in British Columbia or tropical coral reef communities in the Pacific for the 2021-2022 academic year. I particularly welcome applications from scholars from under-represented groups in STEM. Learn more here. 

The Tyee does an article covering Lia's newest paper!, March

Julia is awarded the UVic's President's Chair award! Read the article here., March

Continuing the good news for Sean Dimoff, his first data chapter is published on the use of acoustic indicators for coral reef monitoring!, February

Sean Dimoff successfully defended his masters thesis!, January

PhD candidate Lia Chalifour's paper on Chinook salmon in the Fraser River is published! Check out the press release here and the paper here!, January 

Our discovery that some corals can recover from bleaching while still at elevated temperatures is published in Nature Communications and highlighted in Science! Led by former PhD student, Danielle Claar, co-authors include Sam, Kristina, Julia, former Post-Doc Hannah and a team of wonderful collaborators. Check out the paper here, a short video, and other media here, here, here, and here!, December 

​The culmination of former Post-Doc Laura Kehoe's project, using priority threat management in the Fraser River estuary to develop a prospectus for saving 102 species is published, in collaboration with Tara Martin and many others! Watch the video here and read The Globe and Mail article, November
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University of Victoria, Department of Biology, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada