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Background:
Honours BSc. Environmental, Science McMaster
University
Undergraduate Thesis: Geochemical processes affecting
habitat suitability of smallmouth bass in Algonquin
Park, ON
My background is in environmental science where
I was exposed to the concept of multidisciplinary
research. As environmental problems become more
complex, I saw that it was necessary to borrow
techniques from multiple disciplines to understand
these problems.
My interest in backcountry travel brought me
to Banff National Park where I worked as an aquatics
technician, sampling bull trout, cutthroat trout
and amphibians such as long-toed salamanders and
boreal toads. Soon, however, I began to understand
that even protected areas experience enormous
impacts on these native organisms. As a result,
I was attracted to the Cooke Lab as a place where
numerous research techniques (e.g. radio telemetry,
physiological sampling) are used in combination
to understand the ecology and conservation problems
faced by aquatic managers.
Proposed Research:
Proposed MSc thesis title: The costs of living
in a fluctuating environment: energetics and organismal
condition of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni)
in the Middle Columbia River.
I am using EMG telemetry in to determine both
the activity and movement rates of bull trout
and mountain whitefish in the Middle Columbia
River, British Columbia. Variations in activity
can serve as sensitive indicators of stress; I
intend to use activity to determine the impacts
of varying flows downstream of the Revelstoke
Hydropower Dam. Understanding how varying flows
shape a fish's energy budget provides insight
into how deprived or challenged these fish are
compared to the more predictable environment of
an unregulated river.
In addition to the radio telemetry work I am
collecting a series of physiological samples in
order to provide more insight into the response
of the fish to variable flows. These data will
provide important information on the overall physiological
and nutritional condition of fish experiencing
different flow patterns. One goal is to identify
if fish are actually changing how they partition
energy or if there are net changes in body energy. |
