Conservation

Global species diversity, abundance, and richness have declined rapidly as the human population has increased over the last century. The situation is no different in the oceans where many species have undergone dramatic declines and many face extinction. The mechanisms causing these declines include habitat degradation and loss, pollution, overexploitation and the effects of anthropogenic climate change and ocean acidification. Conservation efforts to save or restore marine species, their habitat and populations, deploy the offset of human impacts include setting up protected areas, developing sustainable fisheries, and restoring endangered species populations. Further, limiting human activities through policy such as fishing quotas is also helping.
Marine conservationists at UBC are taking an interdisciplinary approach by combining marine biology, oceanography, fisheries science, as well as looking at marine resource demand, and marine governance in order to address how the entire ocean system can be restored and maintained. Firstly, basic research on threatened species and their ecosystem is performed (Hinch, Schulte, O’Connor, Pauly, Taylor, Trites). Next, these observations and theories are used to inform models of population trends that are in turn used to inform management recommendations to policymakers (Cheung, Palomares, Kamat, Pauly, Zeller). Finally, the social implications of these policies and how to recruit the public in conservation efforts are explored (Palomares, Satterfield, Foster).

 

 

William Cheung

Professor and Director; Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change
Institute for Oceans and Fisheries
Website and Publications
Email

The Changing Ocean Research Unit studies the effects of global climate and ocean changes on marine ecosystems, biodiversity and fisheries social-ecological systems. Led by Dr. William Cheung, the Unit assesses the biophysical and socio-economic vulnerabilities and impacts of marine climate change, and identifies mitigation and adaptation options. Its vision is “Predicting the future ocean under climate change”. Mission is to improve understanding of the past, current and future responses of marine ecosystems and fisheries to global change; and explore and inform policy-relevant solutions at local and global scales to improve human well-being and the sustainable use of ocean biodiversity and ecosystem services. Its strategies are to integrate multidisciplinary datasets and information across scales and domains, and facilitate democratization of knowledge through innovative partnerships, capacity building and outreach initiatives; and to apply and develop scenarios and models to understand the dynamics of changing oceans and ecosystems.

 

Sarah Foster

Program Manager
Project Seahorse
Website
Email

Foster’s research and conservation work spans the areas of trade and bycatch – specifically the listing of marine species on The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and the issue of small fish species in bycatch. Project themes include trade and policy, sustainable fisheries, and conservation education.

 

Scott Hinch

Professor
Forest and Conservation Sciences
Departmental Website and Laboratory Website
Email

The Hinch lab studies salmonid ecology, behaviour and physiology, and provides management systems with information needed for the conservation and sustainable use of fish resources. Research topics include physiology of migrations; social science and information exchange with stakeholders; environmental impacts on migrations; land-use impacts and restoration; effects of capture and release; stress, disease and pathogens; physiology and behaviour of offspring; and hydropower, fish passage and olfaction.

 

Vinay Kamat

Associate Professor
Anthropology
Website
Email

Kamat has an interdisciplinary background including medical anthropology; ethnography; global health; outsourcing of clinical drug trials in India; childhood malaria in Tanzania; marine conservation in East Africa; dispossession; extractive industry; and political ecology. His work in Southeastern Tanzania examines the social impact of a large-scale marine conservation project (Marine Park) in the coastal region of Mtwara, following displacement and the enforcement of restrictions on fishing and extracting marine resources.

 

Charles Menzies

Professor
Anthropology
Website and Publications
Email

Hagwil hayetsk (Charles Menzies), member of Gitxaała Nation, conducts research and teaching on the ethnography of Western Europe and Coastal British Columbia, natural resource-dependent communities and resource management policies, and the political economy of social struggle. His book, “People of the Saltwater: An Ethnography of Git lax m’oon” discusses an economy based on natural-resource extraction by examining fisheries and their central importance to the Gitxaalas’ cultural roots. He is also the Director of The Ethnographic Film Unit at UBC https://anthfilm.anth.ubc.ca/

 

Mary O’Connor

Associate Professor
Zoology
Departmental Website, Laboratory Website, and Publications
Email

The O’Conner lab studies how the abiotic environment influences marine ecological communities. In particular, they want to understand what drives variation in ecosystem structure and function to better understand the ecological impacts of climate change and habitat modification and to explore how conservation efforts can be most effective given natural environmental changes.

 

Maria Lourdes ‘Deng’ Palomares

Senior Scientist
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Website
Email

Maria Lourdes ‘Deng’ Palomares is a Senior Scientist with the Sea Around Us Project in charge of the Sea Around Us catch databases. She also handles issues related to FishBase, an information system for the world’s fishes and is the Project Coordinator for SeaLifeBase, an information system for the world’s marine organisms other than fish. She is interested in traditional ecological knowledge by fisher communities.

 

Daniel Pauly

Professor
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries; Zoology
Website and Publications
Email

Dr. Pauly’s research interests include aquatic ecosystems, Ichthyology and Fisheries management. He is also devoted to studying, documenting and promoting policies to mitigate the impact of fisheries on the world’s marine ecosystems. Pauly is also co-founder of FishBase.org, the online encyclopedia of more than 30,000 fish species, and he has helped develop the widely-used Ecopath modeling software.

 

Terre Satterfield

Professor
Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability
Website and Publications
Email

Satterfield’s work concerns sustainable development in the context of debates about cultural meanings, environmental values, perceived risk, environmental, and ecosystem health. Her contribution to the publication “Ocean Grabbing” which refers to acts of dispossession or appropriation of marine resources or spaces, presents a framework to evaluate conservation or development initiatives for ocean grabbing.

 

Patricia Schulte

Professor
Zoology
Departmental Website, Laboratory Website, and Publications
Email

The Schulte lab is interested in studying the physiological adaptations that allow animals to live in particular environments. They take advantage of intraspecific variation in fish to study the evolution of the mechanisms that allow animals to respond to a changing environment. Specific research projects focus on thermal adaptation in killifish, conservation genomics of Atlantic salmon, and the evolution of exercise performance in three-spine stickleback

 

Eric Taylor

Professor
Zoology
Website and Publications
Email

The Taylor lab researches patterns of genetic variation within and between natural populations, the processes that promote and organize such variation, and their relevance to the origins and conservation of biodiversity. In particular, they are interested in population structure and the processes that influence population structure, speciation and hybridization, and the implications of these processes for conservation.

 

Andrew Trites

Professor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Departmental Website, Research Unit Website, and Publications
Email

Trites’ research is primarily focused on pinnipeds (Steller sea lions, northern fur seals, and harbor seals) and involves captive studies, field studies and simulation models that range from single species to whole ecosystems. The research program is designed to further the conservation and understanding of marine mammals, and resolve conflicts between people and marine mammals.

 

 

Amanda Vincent

Professor
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Website and Publications
Email

The Vincent Lab mobilizes conservation action to improve the status of marine species and habitats. She is actively involved in biological and social research, empowering local communities, establishing marine protected areas, managing small-scale fisheries, restructuring international trade, promoting integrated policy, and advancing environmental understanding.

 

 

Dirk Zeller

Senior Scientist
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Departmental WebsiteLaboratory Website, and Publications
Email

Zeller leads research on global catch reconstructions and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and engages in research on coral reef fisheries, ocean governance, and fisheries policy. He collaborates closely with the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, with the Changing Ocean Research Unit, and with the UBC Faculty of Law.