Climate change and glacier retreat impacts on future salmon habitat.

 

My research considers how climate and landscape change will alter future salmon habitat. I am both an ecologist and geomorphologist and am interested in how changing landscapes affect river systems and Pacific salmon. I hope that the findings from my research will provide insights for policy and decision makers tasked with fisheries conservation and management. Some past projects include:

 

(1) understanding the relationship between glaciers and salmon using a conceptual model;

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(2) empirically modelling gains in Pacific salmon habitat following glacier retreat throughout western North America; and

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(3) understanding how river temperatures fed from different landscapes influence salmon migration corridor water temperatures. 

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In my postdoctoral work with the Salmon Watersheds Lab, we are considering how the Taku River watershed, encompassed by retreating glaciers, dynamic river morphology, and varying flow patterns will potentially alter Pacific salmon habitat over the next century. This is a collaborative project with many stakeholders and community members.

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Feel free to reach out to me via email: karapitman [at] gmail.com or Twitter: @KaraPitman.

 

You can also view my work on my website, or LinkedIn.