Preparing the cod-ends of our coupled 4+1 m² MOCNESS onboard R/V Sikuliaq in 2018 (© Mark Farley)
Research Associate
Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center
Preparing the cod-ends of our coupled 4+1 m² MOCNESS onboard R/V Sikuliaq in 2018 (© Mark Farley)
I am a Research Associate at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, working on plankton ecology. In the lab of Prof. Su Sponaugle and Prof. Bob Cowen we investigate plankton using underwater imaging, in conjunction with deep learning in order to analyze the hundreds of millions to billions of plankton images we gather on a cruise. Using the resulting fine-scale data on the distribution of plankton ranging from diatoms over various copepods to larval fish and siphonophores, we ask novel ecological questions. Current projects include work on 1) the effects of intermittent and continuous upwelling on trophodynamics (with a focus on larval fish) off the Oregon and California coasts, 2) investigating how fine-scale vertically stratified plankton data can inform seascapes, as well as 3) streamlining and unifying the efforts of different underwater imaging laboratories (and their processing pipelines) from around the world. More research and all lab members are described here: http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/research-labs/planktonlab.
For my PhD in Arctic oceanography I worked with my supervisors Prof. Louis Fortier and Prof. Marcel Babin at the Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (CERC in Remote Sensing of Canada’s New Arctic Frontier), Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
There, I worked on the spatiotemporal variability of mesozooplankton and coupling with their phytoplankton food in the Canadian Arctic. To reach my study goals I utilized a new optical underwater imaging system (Lightframe Onsight Keyspecies Investigation, LOKI) and machine learning algorithms. I developed an automatic species recognition model, down to the developmental stage of species, which can reliably turn images into taxonomic information. I then used that model to further work on the links between individual copepod lipids and the copepods’ diapause. As part of my PhD I also described intriguing fine vertical scale (1 m resolution) Calanus species interactions. Calanus hyperboreus showed substantially different distribution peaks, in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum, from C. glacialis. The findings of my PhD are described in three research papers listed in the publications section.
For my M.Sc. thesis in International Nature Conservation I worked on spatial predictive modeling of pan-Arctic zooplankton. I used present time and future environmental data to predict zooplankton parameters like depth distribution and presence/absence into the future (max. year 2100). Future data was taken from the Canadian Earth System Model 2 (CanESM2), 5th generation IPCC data. I did this work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
Other research interests are described briefly on the research page or are documented in my CV.
Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center
Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center
Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
Ph.D. in Oceanography
Université Laval, Canada
Master of International Nature Conservation (M.I.N.C.)
University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA; University of Lincoln, New Zealand; University of Göttingen, Germany
Bachelor of Biology
University of Göttingen, Germany
Coursera, taught by Roger Peng et al., Johns Hopkins University
Coursera, taught by Andrew NG, Stanford University
Introduction to interactive programming in Python (part 1), Coursera, taught by Joe Warren et al., Rice University
Introduction to interactive programming in Python (part 2), Coursera, taught by Joe Warren et al., Rice University
https://cirfa.uit.no/emerging-leaders-of-arctic-frontiers-2017/