Education

Academic Education:

2010-2012

NSERC Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C., & Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, Burlington, ON
Project: Developing spatially explicit models of critical habitat for aquatic species at risk.
Co-Advisors: Dr. Janelle Curtis (PBS) & Dr. Marten Koops (GLLFAS)

2005-2010

Doctorate of Philosophy, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Collaborative Degree with Environmental Studies (Centre for the Environment)
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Thesis: Conservation by consensus: Reducing uncertainties from methodological choices in conservation-based models.
Advisor: Dr. Don Jackson

2002-2004

Master of Science, Zoology
University of Guelph, Guelph, ON & Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Burlington, ON
Thesis: Science in Support of Policy: Assessment and Protection of Fish Species at Risk in the Sydenham River.
Co-Advisors: Dr. Rob McLaughlin(UofG) & Dr. Nicholas E. Mandrak (DFO)

1997-2002

Bachelor of Science, Honors Biology with Environmental Science
University of Western Ontario, Dept. of Integrative Biology, London, Ontario.
Thesis: Foraging success of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) with two non-indigenous Lake Ontario salmonids.
Advisor: Dr. Robert L. Scott

Certifications:

Teaching Higher Education Certificate, Woodsworth College, University of Toronto
Teaching Fundamentals – TATP Certificate, University of Toronto
Electrofishing Class 1, Watershed Science Centre, Trent University
Fisheries Assessment Certification from the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO)
Ontario Stream Assessment Protocol Certification
Fish Identification
Mussel Identification
All-Terrain Vehicle Training
Defensive Driving Certificate
Animal Care Procedure (Fish)
Hydrolab Maintenance Certification
Wilderness First Aid
First Aid & CPR
WHMIS

Training:

Experience with study and statistical design
Experience with environmental impact assessment
Experience with interpreting federal & provincial legislation (e.g. Species at Risk Act, Fisheries Act)
Experience with multiple fish & invertebrate sampling methods (passive & active gears)
Experience with radio telemetry, passive integrative transponder (PIT), visual implant elastomer
Experience with Geographic Information Systems (e.g. ArcView, IDRISI) & spatial statistics
Experience with univariate (e.g. GAM, GLM) & multivariate statistics (e.g. CCA, RDA, NMDS)
Experience with predictive & learning-based models (e.g. neural networks, random forest)
Experience with database creation & management (e.g. SQL in Microsoft Access)
Experience with genetic procedures (e.g. DNA extraction & purification, PCR)
Experience with best management practices, land-use management & erosion/sediment control
Experience with fish, mussel and invertebrate identification, including species at risk.

Field Work:

2008 – Lead Researcher (and Crew Leader): Understanding genetic architecture of the redside dace (various rivers, ON).
2007-2008 – Lead Researcher (and Crew Leader): Identifying critical habitat & movement for the endangered redside dace (various rivers, ON).
2007-2008 – Research Collaborator: Identifying dispersal patterns of endangered mussels (Unionidae) & their fish hosts (sw ON)
2006-2007 – Lead Researcher (and Crew Leader): Measuring geo-morphologic stream form in urbanized catchments (various rivers, ON)
2005, 2006 – Field Course Instructor: Monitoring changes in fish community dynamics through time (Duffins Creek, ON).
2005 – Crew Member: Measuring fish and invertebrate shifts along a physiochemical and geomorphologic gradient (northern lakes, ON).
2005 – Crew Leader: Measuring fish & invertebrate recovery from acidification in northern Ontario (northern lakes, near Wawa, ON)
2003 – Crew Member: Identifying movement patterns of endangered black redhorse (Grand River, ON)
2002-2003 – Lead Researcher (and Crew Leader): Sampling fish species at risk in rural agricultural systems (Sydenham River, ON)
2000 – Crew Member: Identifying impacts of urbanization on stream invertebrates (Thames River, ON)