Past Students

Megan Adams

BSc Honours, 2009

I am interested in understanding biological systems and how those systems can inform more sustainable industry practices. My project focused on how historical selection pressures of parasites, transferred from farmed to wild salmon stocks, have potentially influenced the morphology of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) fry from a variety of watersheds in the Broughton Archipelago.

Dr. Jason Fisher

PhD, Dec. 2010

As a mammal ecologist I’m the black sheep of the crowd. I research mammalian habitat selection in complex terrestrial and coastal landscapes, to define habitat requirements necessary for species conservation. We know that landscape features outside an animal’s home range affect its habitat selection, and its survival. But how far outside? We need to know this before we can start defining critical habitat for species. Under John and Dr. Brad Anholt, my PhD research tackles this question by examining habitat selection at different landscape sizes (spatial scales) by 6 mammal species: wolverines, marten, and fisher in Alberta, and sea otters, seals, and sea lions in BC. After identifying the size of landscape with the most impact on habitat selection by each species, we can determine whether these scales vary with ecosystem type, species morphology, or some combination thereof. Establishing predictable trends in scale-dependent habitat selection is a pre-requisite to the delineation of critical habitat for all endangered species.

PhD Dissertation

Fisher, Jason. 2010. Cross-scale habitat selection by terrestrial and marine mammals (PhD dissertation). University of Victoria, BC. (1.82MB | PDF)

Additional Information

Helen Ford

Masters of Science, 2011- Effects of shellfish aquaculture on chlorophyll-a

The goal of this research was to determine if there was a measureable depletion of phytoplankton around shellfish farms along the west coast of Canada and the United States. Chlorophyll-a, a pigment found within phytoplankton, was used as a proxy for phytoplankton abundance for this study. In field season one, two bays were studied, one exposed to shellfish culture (Westcott Bay) and one not exposed to shellfish culture (Fisherman Bay). The concentration of chlorophyll-a was measured in each bay at three locations at two depths (0.5 and 3 meters) and at two tidal heights (high and low). Chlorophyll-a concentration was found to be related to either depth or tide, with location in a bay showing no difference in either of the bays studied. In addition to water column measurements, 100 Pacific oysters were placed at two locations within Westcott Bay Seafarm to test for local differences in oyster growth. The results from this experiment showed that Pacific oysters grown in the center of a shellfish farm were smaller than oyster grown at the farm’s periphery. Field season two tested for spatial patterns between chlorophyll-a concentration and proximity to a shellfish farm in three different bays (Westcott Bay, Trevenon Bay and Gorge Harbour). A measureable depletion footprint of chlorophyll-a concentration was detected in the two sheltered shallow bays tested (Westcott Bay and Gorge Harbour), whereas no depletion footprint was detected in the exposed, deep bay (Trevenon Bay).

Masters Thesis

Ford, Helen. 2011. The effects of shellfish aquaculture on chlorophyll-a in the north east Pacific Ocean (Master's Thesis). University of Victoria, BC. (4.25MB | PDF)

Jennifer Gee

Masters of Science, 2010 - Economic, Social and Ecological Impacts of the Salmon Industry

Neoliberal economists argue that the market provides the most efficient mechanism to address externalities. Theoretically then, the market value of a commodity should show a correlation with any changes in social and ecologicalperformance. Alternatively, if the social and ecological costs of production are being externalized (not addressed by the market) then it is expected that the social and ecological costs of production would not be reflected in the market price. This study examined the extent to which social and environmental costs are externalized by the salmon farming industry and, by extension, to what level social and ecological impacts are reflected in the market, if at all. The salmon farming industry represents a classic example of how a relatively new industry functions within the confines of the current economic climate and was assessed to examine whether social and ecological impacts are reflected in the market. A novel tool called the Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI) has been developed that addresses both the need for a quantitative measure of social and ecological performance and a tool that informs where policy is best directed to alleviate the impact of externalities. In applying the GAPI method, the market price for farmed salmon was not found to be correlated with changes in social and ecological performance and it may be assumed that these costs are externalized. GAPI provides a quantitative, performance based assessment of the salmon farming industry while the indicators of social and ecological performance provide clear starting points to improve salmon farming through a policy based context.

Masters Thesis

Gee, Jennifer. 2010. Is the salmon farming industry externalizing its social and ecological impacts? An assessment using the Global Aquaculture Performance Index (Master’s Thesis). University of Victoria, BC. (Link to PDF | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2675)

Hilary Harrop-Archibald

Masters of Science, 2010 - Coastal forest ecology

A significant component of the landbase in British Columbia is composed of young second growth plantation forests. Due to their simplified nature these forests are often considered unsuitable habitat for many forest dwelling species and less resilient to potential climate change impacts. Hilary is interested in the efficacy of alternative silviculture practices aimed towards increasing structural complexity and species diversity, and the effect of said practices on stand level carbon dynamics, particularly soil carbon. Hilary is working in collaboration with the Pacific Forestry Center and is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Masters Thesis

Harrop-Archibald, Hilary, 2010. Soil nutrient and vegetation response to ecological restoration in a coastal Douglas-fir plantation on Galiano Island, BC (Master’s Thesis). University of Victoria, BC. (Link to PDF)

Dr. Martin Krkosek

PhD

My interests lie in the sustainability and conservation of marine systems, particularly as influenced by infectious disease dynamics. This entails understanding marine ecology and evolution, but also how humans benefit from and modify marine ecosystems. I use mathematical tools in my work by developing theory and synthesizing datasets to address important policy relevant questions. Although applied, the research is routed firmly in basic ecological theory and there are many exciting insights into basic natural history. My quantitative approach involves much basic fieldwork through sampling, experiments, and observation.

Jenna Stoner

NSERC Scholarship, 2010 - Sustainable fisheries research; Victoria Seafood Audit

I completed my Bachelor of Science degree here at the University of Victoria in May 2010. Not quite knowing what to do next, I took the opportunity to explore the world of academia a bit further alongside Dr. Volpe and his research group. Over the summer of 2010 I was fortunate enough to sit in as a research assistant for GAPI (Global Aquaculture Performance Index) – a novel, quantitative and standardized approach to measuring the relative environmental impacts of marine finfish culture at a country-species level. During my time in the SERG lab, I was also able to complete a project called the Victoria Seafood Audit. This project assessed the environmental sustainability of seafood products found in 22 restaurants and 10 grocery stores around the greater Victoria region. In my future work I hope to take a multidisciplinary approach and encourage researchers, policy makers, resource users and marketers to work together to drive change in seafood industry practices.

Lise Townsend

Masters of Science - Water Resource Management

Lise’s area of interest is the integrated management of water resources for sustainable development. She is studying the Swan Lake watershed, an urban system that has been degraded over time but still provides valuable habitat, recreation/education and attenuation of stormwater flows. Lise is using resilience theory (a.k.a. Panarchy) as a framework to assess the health of the watershed and to provide restoration recommendations. Components of her study include history and ethnoecology, Proper Functioning Condition assessment of the watershed components, hydrological monitoring, and vegetation ecology.

Masters Thesis

Townsend, Lise. 2009. Urban watershed health and resilience, evaluated through land use history and eco-hydrology in Swan Lake watershed (Saanich, B.C.)(Master's thesis). University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia. (Link to PDF)

Erin Webb

Research Assistant - GAPI

Over the summer of 2009, I worked as a research assistant for GAPI (Global Aquaculture Performance Index) – a novel, quantitative and standardized approach to measuring the relative environmental impacts of marine finfish culture at a country-species level.