What makes a climate change winner?

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I am broadly interested in understanding how the physiology of an individual informs large-scale processes such as community dynamics and life-history strategies. Previously I have worked on projects which have examined potential trade-offs of different life histories, such as how different parental care strategies could result in changes in oxidative stress. During my MSc. I assessed the use of a novel tool, acoustic accelerometer transmitters for use in the study of migration behaviour and energy use of marine migrating adult sockeye salmon.

 

For my graduate research I am focused on understanding the sensitivity of juvenile salmon to climate mismatches and the implications of this on survival and abundance in the context of changing ocean conditions. Climate change is rapidly shifting the timing of plankton blooms, whereas there is little evidence of changes in juvenile salmon outmigration timing. It is unclear how shifting resource availability in the estuary may be influencing juvenile salmon survival. I hope to identify what, if any, effect the degree of phenological mismatch could have on individual population productivity and finally what factors may mitigate these effects. 

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Sam's Website

 

Interested in my research? Feel free to contact me (swa130@sfu.ca).