About me and my research
Me and an iconic predator that resides in Boreal lakes - the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush).
I am a postdoctoral researcher interested in global change impacts on the dynamics of food webs (i.e., organisms and their interactions with each other and the non-living components of ecosystems). I bring enthusiasm for ecological ideas and first hand knowledge of 'northern' freshwater systems to my research and teaching. My roots are in the inland lakes of Ontario, Canada. I now live and work in Madison, WI in the Midwestern United States.
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ProfileMy pursuit of the study of freshwater ecosystems began as an undergraduate at the Co-operative Freshwater Ecology Unit at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. There I spent summers as a undergraduate researcher and field assistant working in the Boreal lakes of central Ontario. Afterward I moved to Iceland to study fish ecology and I pursued a master's degree at the University of Iceland . Much of this time was spent directly observing predatory behaviour of salmonids in rivers in northern Iceland near where I lived in Holar i Hjaltadal.
My interest in the spatial elements of predator-prey interactions led me to the lab of Kevin McCann at the University of Guelph. At Guelph I received my PhD studying food web responses to changing environmental conditions. At that time I also worked with a number of government scientists including Brian Shuter and Nigel Lester of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. This government agency interaction facilitated my interest in doing basic research motivated by real world environmental problems (global change). I like to work with theoretical ideas and models, but I do so with one boot planted in the mud. In other words, my research interests combine theory and data, and tend to interface basic and applied ecology. Currently I work with academics and government agency scientists to investigate climate change and the resilience of sport-fish in inland freshwater lakes (with a focus on Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Wisconsin lakes). I work with theoretical ideas and models, but I do so with one boot planted in the mud. In other words, my work combines theory and data, and tends to interface basic and applied ecology.For over a hundred years scientist have sought answers to basic questions on the structure and function of the complex networks of species interactions found in ecosystems-i.e., the food web. What species interact? How does the patterning of links and the strength of interactions effect organism dynamics? Research in this area provides incredible insights into some of the most complex systems studied by mankind.
Nevertheless, it is now evident that global change is altering nature's food webs at a rapid pace and in unexpected ways. History suggests that scientist can gain insight into these changes with thoughtful theoretical development, careful collection of data on species interactions, and the execution of experiments. However, given the immediate demand for information scientist face several challenges to predict the responses of the species we care about to looming global change. One basic challenge is that predictions about the future are hampered by incomplete information about the food web. This is a difficult problem because collecting the kinds of data required to describe a food web is no small task (i.e., the interactions that occur and the specific parameter values that govern the strength of these interactions). Further, the rate at which these systems are changing and thus the time available to collect data and probe food webs before a management decision is required is limited. It is important then that researchers identify ways to rapidly assess change and provide society with knowledge that can be used to develop solutions for ecosystem conservation and management while further learning takes place. One question I tackle in my recent research asks how we might reduce uncertainty in predicting the outcome of management actions with incomplete information on the food web. I do this by assembling multiple models informed by observational data on the pattern of food links. I then ask how uncertainty in the our knowledge of food web interactions influences uncertainty in predictions about the dynamic responses of species to a set of management interventions. In these situations, making good decisions ought to include avoiding risk while learning more about the underpinnings of food web change. |
Research Projects
Synthesizing theory and databases to advance a general theory for how warming affect trophic interactions (NCEAS working group). |
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