The Dulvy Lab Team

Jenny Bigman, Ph.D. Candidate (jbigman@sfu.ca)
The respiratory basis of metabolism, life histories, and population dynamics | I am interested in how traits related to life history, physiology, and ecology vary on evolutionary and ecological timescales. For my dissertation, I am exploring the relationships of metabolic rate, respiratory physiology, lifestyle, and life histories in fishes.

Bigman JS, Pardo SA, Prinzing TS, Dando M, Wegner NC, & Dulvy NK. 2018. Ecological lifestyles and the scaling of shark gill surface area. Journal of Morphology, 279(12), 1716-1724.

Lyons K, Bigman JS, Kacev D, Mull CG, Carlisle AB, Imhoff JL, Anderson JM, Weng KC, Galloway AS, Cave E, Gunn TR, Lowe CG, Brill RW, Bedore CN. (2019). In press. Bridging disciplines to advance elasmobranch conservation: applications of physiological ecology. Conservation Physiology, Vol 7. DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coz011.

Ebert DA, Bigman JS, & Lawson JM. (2017). Biodiversity, Life History, and Conservation of Northeastern Pacific Chondrichthyans. In Advances in Marine Biology, Northeast Pacific Shark Biology, Research and Conservation Part A (Vol. 77, pp. 9-78). Academic Press, 318 pgs.

Jessica Cheok, Post-doctoral Fellow (jesscheok@sfu.ca)
Global Shark Trends | I am identifying priority species and areas for shark and ray conservation efforts at regional and global levels. In addition to this, I am also contributing to developing thematic, national, regional, and global Red List Indices for all sharks and rays.

Alvarez-Romero, J.G., Mills, M., Adams, V.M., Gurney, G.G., Pressey, R.L., Weeks, R., Ban, N.C., Cheok, J., Davies, T.E., Day, J.C., Hamel, M.A., Leslie, H.M., Magris, R.A., Storlie, C.J. (2018). Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning. Biological Conservation 227: 369-382.

Cheok, J., Pressey, R.L., Weeks, R., VanDerWal, J., Storlie, C. (2018). The plans they are a-changin’: More frequent iterative adjustment of regional priorities in the transition to local actions can benefit implementation. Diversity and Distribution 24: 48-57.

Cheok, J., Pressey, R.L., Weeks, R., Andrefouet, S., Moloney, J. (2016). Sympathy for the devil: Detailing the effects of planning-unit size, thematic resolution of reef classes, and socioeconomic costs on spatial priorities for marine conservation. PLoS ONE 11: e0164869.

Zoe Crysler, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group Programme Officer (iucnshark@gmail.com) Roughly ¼ of sharks and rays are at risk of extinction. I’m creating a network of experts to develop a plan to conserve wedgefishes and guitarfishes, a poorly understood group of species with an elevated risk of extinction.

Crysler, Z.J., Ronconi, R.A. and Taylor, P.D. 2016. Differential fall migratory routes of adult and juvenile Ipswich Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis princeps). Movement Ecology. 4:3.

Müller, F., Eikenaar, C., Crysler, Z.J., Taylor, P.D. and Schmaljohann, H. 2018. Nocturnal departure timing in songbirds facing distinct migratory challenges. Journal of Animal Ecology. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12821.

Taylor, P.D., Crewe, T.L, Mackenzie, S.A., Lepage D., Aubry, Y., Crysler, Z., et al. 2017. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System: a collaborative research network to enhance the understanding of wildlife movement. Avian Conservation and Ecology 12:8. doi: https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00953-120108.

Danielle Derrick, MSc Candidate (dhderric@sfu.ca)
Global biodiversity gradients in the marine realm | There are 67 species of shark in Canada and 387 off the coast of Brazil, yet so many of these species can only survive under fine tuned conditions in the ocean. I work on understanding the environmental and evolutionary patterns and processes that tell us where sharks are in the ocean and why, with the hope that we may be able to improve conservation management on a global scale.

Nathan Pacoureau

Riley Pollom, IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group Red List Officer (rpollom@sfu.ca) Global Shark Trends | Riley works to assess the extinction risk of sharks, rays and chimaeras on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This three-year project aims to re-assess over 1200 species of these chondrichthyans by 2020 through a series of international workshops that convene regional and national experts.

Jabado, R. W., Kyne, P. M., Pollom, R. A., Ebert, D. A., Simpfendorfer, C. A., Ralph, G. M., … Dulvy, N. K. (2018). Troubled waters: Threats and extinction risk of the sharks, rays and chimaeras of the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters. Fish and Fisheries, 1043–1062.

Fernandes, P.G., Ralph, G.M., Nieto, A., García Criado, M., Vasilakopoulos, P., Maravelias, C.D., Cook, R., Dulvy, N.K., Pollom, R.A., Kovačić, M., et al. (2017). Loss of megafauna and regional discrepancy in status of Europe’s marine fishes. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1: 0170.

Pollom, R. A., & Rose, G. A. (2016). A global review of the spatial, taxonomic, and temporal scope of freshwater fisheries hydroacoustics research. Environmental Reviews, 24, 333-347.

Tanya Prinzing, MSc Candidate (tanya_prinzing@sfu.ca)
Quantifying the link between respiration and metabolic rate | The Metabolic Theory of Ecology posits that metabolism underlies biological phenomena from individual up to ecosystem level scales. As these processes are tied to extinction risk, metabolic theory may be a powerful tool for conservation of threatened species. My research focuses on expanding metabolic ecology to quantify the link between respiratory physiology and metabolism. This work will help inform life histories and conservation management.

Bigman JS, Pardo SA, Prinzing TS, Dando M, Wegner NC, & Dulvy NK. 2018. Ecological lifestyles and the scaling of shark gill surface area. Journal of Morphology, 279(12), 1716-1724.

David Shiffman

Wade VanderWal, Lab Manager (wvanderw@sfu.ca)
Estimating the respiratory surface area of elasmobranchs with dissection and microscopy.

Rachel Walls, PhD Candidate (rwalls@sfu.ca)
Tracking progress towards biodiversity targets with Europe’s sharks and rays | Lots of targets for biodiversity conservation have been set, but most of them are not being met. I’m developing tools to meet these targets more efficiently using Europe’s sharks and rays as a case study.

Fernandes, P.G., et al. 2017. Loss of megafauna and regional discrepancy in status of Europe’s marine fishes. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1: 0170
Dulvy, N.K., Allen, D.J., Ralph, G.M. and Walls, R.H.L. 2016. The conservation status of sharks, rays and chimaeras in the Mediterranean Sea. IUCN centre for Mediterranean Cooperation Marie Curie, 22. 29590, Campanillas, Málaga, Spain. 6+6 pp
Nieto, A., Ralph, G.M., Comeros-Raynal, M.T., Kemp, J., García Criado, M., Allen, D.J., Dulvy, N.K., Walls, R.H.L., et al. 2015. European Red List of Marine Fishes. Publications Office of the European Union.

Serena Wong, MSc Candidate (serenaw@sfu.ca)
The speed of life in fishes | I’m studying the relationship between physiology and life histories in fishes. Ultimately, I want use respiratory and metabolic morphology and physiology to understand some of the broad patterns in life-history strategies we see across species. I’m interested in comparative biology, ecology, and life-history theory.

Alumni of the Dulvy lab

Lorenzo Alzarez-Filip (lorenzo@cmarl.unam.mx) Principal Researcher, Biodiversity and Reef Conservation (BARCO) Laboratory
Sean Anderson (Sean.Anderson'at'dfo-mpo.gc.ca) DFO Program Head in Analytical Approaches and Spatial Stock Assessment
Lindsay Davidson (ldavidso'at'sfu.ca) UBC Biodiversity PDF
Maria Jose Juan Jorda (mjuanjorda'at'gmail.com) EU Marie Curie PDF
Lucy Harrison (harrisonlucy'at'gmail.com ) Environmental Scientist, Project Manager and Team Lead at Stantec
Julia Lawson (jmlawson'at'ucsb.edu) PhD student at UCSB
Chris Mull (creeas'at'gmail.com) Australia Endeavour Fellow
Sebastian Pardo (sebpardo'at'gmail.com) Dalhousie PDF
Rowan Trebilco (Rowan.Trebilco'at'utas.edu.au) Ecological Statistician IMAS