MSc Student​

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I am a UNBC graduate student pursuing a Master's in Natural Resources and Environmental Science. Having grown up in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, the importance of salmon in Interior ecosystems was drilled into me by the Stream-to-Sea program, high school trips to the Quesnel River Research Centre, and the Horsefly Salmon Festival. I'm pursuing my passion for the conservation of local salmon populations through my project at the Freshwater Fish Ecology Laboratory. Under Dr. Eduardo Martins's supervision, I'm researching the effects of habitat degradation on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) fry, as effected by climate change. As lakes in Northern BC increase in surface temperatures and decrease in deep-water oxygen saturation, the resident sockeye fry experience a sandwiching effect between unsuitable habitats, causing them to accumulate thermal stress. I'll be testing the thermal capacity of sockeye fry in the lab to model the interactive effects of water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and duration of exposure. In the second phase of my project, I'll analyze historical distributions of spawning sockeye salmon to determine how historical temperature events have impacted their migration, and how these effects might inform future migration patterns. My thermal stress models can then predict how Northern sockeye populations will fare in future habitat scenarios under climate change, and inform conservation efforts that will assist in their long-term survival. My project is funded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.