Biography

Growing up in Vancouver, Canada allowed me to fall in love with the ocean at a very young age and, for as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to learn as much as possible about the sea and its inhabitants. 

So naturally I decided to move to Ontario to persue my undergrad degree as far from the coast as possible!  While I had always been interested in the evolution and physiology aspects of marine creatures such as whales and sharks, my time at Guelph gave me much more exposure to the conservation side of marine biology, particularily with respect to fisheries management.  And while marine activities are rather limited in Ontario, I did manage to escape to the remote southwest corner of Madagascar where I spent four months working with local fishermen and scientists.  While there, I was responsible for helping collect data for several reef surveying projects (particularily associated with MPA research), and I also assisted with the maintenance of sustainable fisheries awareness campaigns for villages in the region.

My experiences at Guelph and in Madagascar showed me that while education and awareness are increasing, the mentality responsible for much of the degredation we see in the ocean remains the same. But I am one of the hopeful ones who still thinks this can change! Although specifics have not yet been nailed down, my research will involve generating catch reconstruction maps for tuna and billfish species on the high seas for the last sixty years.