"We should resist the temptation to find some problem that can be studied on a convenient scale, but rather should strive to identify the important problems then ask what is the proper scale on which to study them and how such studies might be carried out if the scale is large." -R. May
Current Research Themes:
Climate Change Solutions through Blue Carbon
After over a decade of researching the impacts climate change and local human impacts have on the ocean we are expanding our research to look into natural solutions to climate change. We are beginning our focus on Blue Carbon. Stay tuned as we begin to develop this research!
After over a decade of researching the impacts climate change and local human impacts have on the ocean we are expanding our research to look into natural solutions to climate change. We are beginning our focus on Blue Carbon. Stay tuned as we begin to develop this research!
Marine Heatwaves and Temperate Coastal Ecosystems
In this project, we look to broaden the knowledge about the effects of marine heatwaves in temperate ecosystems after the 2014-2015 marine heatwave termed "the blob" in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Stay tuned as we continue to develop this project!
Photo caption: "A foggy Bamfield summer day".
Credit: Kevin Bruce
In this project, we look to broaden the knowledge about the effects of marine heatwaves in temperate ecosystems after the 2014-2015 marine heatwave termed "the blob" in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. Stay tuned as we continue to develop this project!
Photo caption: "A foggy Bamfield summer day".
Credit: Kevin Bruce
Ensuring the Resilience of the Fraser River Estuary
Estuaries are amongst the most important and productive marine ecosystems globally. They also are amongst the most at risk. British Columbia’s Fraser River Estuary (FRE) is the mouth of the largest salmon bearing river in the world, supports the highest concentration of migratory birds in Canada, and is home to half of BC’s rapidly expanding urban population. Without timely and effective conservation management, these goods and services are at risk. Water pollution and loss of habitat resulting from industrial and urban development, exploitation of fish stocks, and climate change are a few of the key threats. Research effort to date in the FRE has focused on identifying its natural assets and their threats.
This Meopar-funded project instead focused research on the identifying key management actions needed to ensure the long-term resilience of this unique estuary. Led by post-doc Laura Kehoe, and conducted in close collaboration with Dr. Tara Martin, this project brought together experts in the ecology, sociology, economics and management of estuarine systems and the FRE, along with fishers and other nonspecialists with local knowledge to estimate the costs, benefits, and feasibility of alternative management actions for conservation of the FRE. Laura's research was published in 2020 in Conservation and Science Practice.
Building on this work, PhD student Lia Chalifour is also working on this project also in partnership with scientists at Raincoast Conservation Foundation and PSF in the Fraser River Estuary to quantify habitat use by juvenile salmon and identify priority managment strategies for salmon conservation (Chalifour et al. 2019 Marine Ecology Progress Series, Chalifour et al. 2020 Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science).
Current team: Lia Chalifour; Collaborator: Tara Martin; Image: Bald Eagle on the Estuary, by Tom Middleton.
Estuaries are amongst the most important and productive marine ecosystems globally. They also are amongst the most at risk. British Columbia’s Fraser River Estuary (FRE) is the mouth of the largest salmon bearing river in the world, supports the highest concentration of migratory birds in Canada, and is home to half of BC’s rapidly expanding urban population. Without timely and effective conservation management, these goods and services are at risk. Water pollution and loss of habitat resulting from industrial and urban development, exploitation of fish stocks, and climate change are a few of the key threats. Research effort to date in the FRE has focused on identifying its natural assets and their threats.
This Meopar-funded project instead focused research on the identifying key management actions needed to ensure the long-term resilience of this unique estuary. Led by post-doc Laura Kehoe, and conducted in close collaboration with Dr. Tara Martin, this project brought together experts in the ecology, sociology, economics and management of estuarine systems and the FRE, along with fishers and other nonspecialists with local knowledge to estimate the costs, benefits, and feasibility of alternative management actions for conservation of the FRE. Laura's research was published in 2020 in Conservation and Science Practice.
Building on this work, PhD student Lia Chalifour is also working on this project also in partnership with scientists at Raincoast Conservation Foundation and PSF in the Fraser River Estuary to quantify habitat use by juvenile salmon and identify priority managment strategies for salmon conservation (Chalifour et al. 2019 Marine Ecology Progress Series, Chalifour et al. 2020 Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science).
Current team: Lia Chalifour; Collaborator: Tara Martin; Image: Bald Eagle on the Estuary, by Tom Middleton.
Previous Research Themes:
Biodiversity and Trophic Ecology of British Columbia's Eelgrass Communities
Eelgrass meadows provide many ecosystem services to coastal waters, including serving as structure for food and refuge of commercially-important fishes. Global declines in eelgrass meadows have led to increased interest in understanding the baseline characteristics of healthy eelgrass communities, how reliant fish communities are on eelgrass habitats and how they respond to deterioration of these habitats. We are currently assessing variation in eelgrass fish and invertebrate diversity, as well as juvenile salmon use of eelgrass habitat, across coastal BC through the following projects: (1) In partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), post-doctoral Fellow Josie Iacarella built a working group of academic, government, non-government, and First Nations organizations who conducted fish surveys across coastal BC and synthesized the data collectively (Iacarella et al. 2018 Global Change Biology); and (2) M.Sc. student Aaron Eger worked in partnership with World Wildlife Fund of Canada in the Skeena Estuary to help better understand the role eelgrass plays in support of marine food webs (Eger et al. in review)
Eelgrass meadows provide many ecosystem services to coastal waters, including serving as structure for food and refuge of commercially-important fishes. Global declines in eelgrass meadows have led to increased interest in understanding the baseline characteristics of healthy eelgrass communities, how reliant fish communities are on eelgrass habitats and how they respond to deterioration of these habitats. We are currently assessing variation in eelgrass fish and invertebrate diversity, as well as juvenile salmon use of eelgrass habitat, across coastal BC through the following projects: (1) In partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), post-doctoral Fellow Josie Iacarella built a working group of academic, government, non-government, and First Nations organizations who conducted fish surveys across coastal BC and synthesized the data collectively (Iacarella et al. 2018 Global Change Biology); and (2) M.Sc. student Aaron Eger worked in partnership with World Wildlife Fund of Canada in the Skeena Estuary to help better understand the role eelgrass plays in support of marine food webs (Eger et al. in review)