About Me

I am an Applied Quantitative Biologist at Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance (link). I also serve on the COSEWIC Marine Fishes Species Specialist Subcommittee. My research focuses on understanding the social and ecological processes governing the resilience of marine, coastal, and freshwater fisheries. Much of my research occurs alongside Indigenous partners and government science colleagues and helps to inform co-management and co-governance plans for sustainable fisheries. 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.

Previously, I was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University (with Jon Moore in the Salmon Watersheds Lab and Earth to Ocean Research Group), and a Vanier, Killam, and Mitacs 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.

I combine empirical and theoretical approaches to tackle a variety of challenges in 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