I am an Assistant Professor in quantitative fisheries ecology in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University and help lead the Fisheries Management Lab. Our lab is collaborative research group focused on understanding what drives risk and resilience in fisheries to inform management and decision-making. I also serve on the COSEWIC Marine Fishes Species Specialist Subcommittee helping in the conservation of Canada’s extensive marine biodiversity.
In general, our research integrates field and quantitative approaches to study key social and ecological drivers underlying these important ecosystems. Some of my recent work has involved quantifying long-term trends in Pacific salmon fisheries along coastal BC, and identifying hotspots of rockfish, coral, and sponge biodiversity for marine protected area network planning.
I enjoy working alongside a diverse and collaborative community both inside and outside the academy, including Indigenous partners and government researchers, to produce evidence that navigates the interface between science and policy. I believe that working within these collaborative spaces will help develop and support management and policy frameworks that advance reconciliation and respect Indigenous sovereignty and promote resilient ecosystems. I am particularly interested in collaboratively developing interdisciplinary research that supports the reimagining of more holistic practices in quantitative risk assessments and equitable management and governance of marine, coastal, and freshwater ecosystems.
Prior to joining SFU REM, I served as the applied quantitative biologist for the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance (link), an Indigenous-led organization serving the Central Coast Nations in their coastal and marine stewardship. Previously, I was a Banting Fellow at Simon Fraser University (with Jon Moore in the Salmon Watersheds Lab and Earth to Ocean Research Group), and a Vanier and Killam Scholar during my PhD at the University of Calgary (with John Post). I did my MSc in Fisheries at the University of Florida (with Mike Allen), and my BSc in Biology at San Diego State University.
Combining empirical and theoretical approaches is a powerful way to tackle a variety of challenges and questions in basic and applied ecology. In particular, my research rests at the interface of interdisciplinary topics like quantitative ecology, population dynamics, life-history theory, fishery stock assessment, decision-making, spatial ecology, human dimensions, and environmental policy. Some of my current research areas include:
- Landscape ecology and life-history variation of exploited fishes
- Quantifying risk and resilience in marine and freshwater fisheries
- Understanding coupled feedbacks between people and nature
- Navigating tradeoffs in conservation and fisheries management
- Improving fisheries assessment and monitoring
I also teach courses and workshops on (1) R programming for the biological sciences, (2) applied Bayesian modelling, and (3) fish population ecology and fisheries management.
Kyle Wilson 