I am a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta in the Biological Sciences department co-supervised by Mark Lewis & Stephanie Green. In 2022, I moved with Mark to the University of Victoria where I am a visiting graduate student. From May through December 2024, I was on an academic jaunt to Bergen, Norway where I was visiting the Theoretical Ecology Group at the University of Bergen
My research delves into the population biology and fisheries management of marine invertebrates, focusing on the enigmatic spot prawn and their trap fishery in coastal British Columbia. Spot prawns are sequential hermaphrodites, transitioning from male to female part way through their lives, and despite a growing commercial fishery we still don’t know very much about their population biology. I am interested in understanding how the spot prawn life style interacts with current fishery management and what the tradeoffs are for alternative approaches. I try to get a hold on these questions by building population models, running field experiments, and synthesizing data from fishery and research surveys. The work is supported by expertise, funding, and logistical prowess from many folks including the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Fisheries Group, the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Association, Salmon Coast Society, the Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association, the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Prior to starting my PhD, I worked on research to do with wild Pacific salmon and the myriad stressors they face. I led a field experiment investigating whether baby salmon leaping dislodges parasitic sea lice (evidence suggests yes) and a status assessment of over 150 wild salmon populations in the Broughton Archipelago and mainland inlets (DFO Fisheries Management Area 12). I remain interested in understanding wild salmon and supporting their stewardship, usually by stewarding salmon data. I am currently involved in a project investigating the influence of forestry on salmon populations and am co-leading a coastwide assessment of the state of salmon abundance monitoring in Pacific Canada. 
Across projects and study species, I work to combine on-the-ground biology with quantitative tools and existing long-term data sets. I love to cycle, spend time on and in the water, and dance my heart out to a good tune. I can be reached by email here.
