	Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
	Canada's premier coastal and marine facility for teaching and research

PhD Candidate Chris Neufeld in the field

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Graduate Student Research at BMSC

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre provides support for graduate student research.

Although BMSC provides manyon-site facilities, the most important resource is the easy access to a diversity of inter-tidal, sub-tidal, coastal terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Check out what a few of BMSC grad students are up to!

Chris Neufeld is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. Rich Palmer, U of Alberta.

"My research is aimed at understanding the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping evolutionary and ecological processes in marine systems. Specifically my current research can be broken down into two categories a) study of the evolution of adaptive plasticity in variable environments using barnacle feedig legs and genitalia as a model system, and b) study of the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes between native crabs, introduced crabs, and their native gastropod prey."

Laura White is a PhD candidate, also under the supervision of Dr. Jon Shurin, UBC.

"Seaweed invaders as a group are overlooked in importance and often ignored in policy and legislation despite evidence impacts are largely negative. Sargassum muticum was introduce locally from SE Asia and forms a conspicuous dominant on local shores. My PhD research has focused on disentangling the relationship between native and exotic seaweeds locally, elucidating interactive relationships between the two. Specific questions include what is the mechanism responsible for invasion success of this taxa in BC, and which habitats are vulnerable to invasion?"

Spencer Wood is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. Jon Shurin, UBC. Spencer recently defended his PhD on July 22, 2009.

"I do ecological research that spans expanses in scale, from small local communities to large biogeographic regions, and from the present day into the prehistoric. My goal is to understand the processes that generate patterns of species distribution and abundance in ecosystems, with the hope that by unraveling underlying mechanisms we will improve our capacity to predict how ecosystems will respond to future change."

Matt Boeckner recently defended his PhD, under the supervision of Dr. Rich Palmer, U of Alberta. Congratulations Matt!

"The ocean floor is predominantly covered in soft sediments. These sediments are home to a large number of familiar and unfamiliar organisms. Mud-flat enthusiasts are no doubt familiar with the extensive variety of clams, worms, snails, crustaceans and other macrofauna (larger than 1 mm in size) that thrive in marine soft sediments.

Far less familiar are the unseen microscopic animals referred to commonly as the meiofauna. Meiofauna is the cross-phyla term given to small (63-1000 μm) metazoan animals that inhabit interstitial spaces of nearly every type of sediment world-wide.

My current research goals are to investigate how various biological and environmental queues affect meiobenthic assemblages. I have examined 1) how abiotic factors including depth, exposure, distance to new substrate and substrate porosity affected meiobenthic dispersal rates; 2) the effects of biotic impacts to meiobenthic colonization; and 3) the diversity of marine nematodes across a variety of intertidal and subtidal habitats in Trevor Channel."

Katie Lotterhos is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. Don Levitan, Florida State University.

"Many marine species release larvae that spend time developing in the open ocean, before recruiting into the nearshore habitat. In marine systems, there is limited understanding of how the ocean climate affects the successful recruitment of these larvae, and knowing which adult populations are the source of these larvae. My research uses genetics to address these problems in the black rockfish, Sebastes melanops. Like many rockfish species, black rockfish have suffered severe declines in recent decades. In collaboration with Russell Markel at the University of British Columbia, I am contributing to an ongoing survey of rockfish recruitment at 30 sites in Barkley Sound. My research will use genetics to investigate whether juvenile rockfish captured in Barkley Sound orginate locally or from the US, and to estimate the number of adults that successfully reproduce. This information will be explained in light of the ocean climate from year to year, and will be useful for the successful management of black rockfish."

See the grad student directory for more about grad students working at BMSC

Contact

BMSC Graduate Student Representative

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Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
100 Pachena Rd, Bamfield, BC
Canada, V0R 1B0
Phone: (250) 728-3301
Fax: (250) 728-3452

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