My Background
I am a fisheries biologist with B.Sc. (1977) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. I am a Canadian citizen and grew up in Vancouver, which I still consider my home even though I haven't lived there for more than twenty years. I have worked in British Columbia, Ontario, and Michigan. I recently enjoyed a four-month return visit to Vancouver for part of my 2006-07 sabbatical.
I worked as an environmental consultant and a government research scientist prior to joining the faculty at MSU. From 1980 to 1988 I worked as a systems ecologist with ESSA Technologies Ltd. ESSA is an innovative, quantitatively-oriented consulting firm that was originally created to provide expertise in modeling and adaptive management to government and corporate clients with environmental concerns. During my eight years with ESSA I participated in a variety of projects in resource management and environmental assessment, including fishery management, acid rain effects on fisheries, and aquatic effects of power plant operation.
In 1988 I became a research scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, where I led the Great Lakes Salmonid Unit. In the eight years I worked with the Salmonid Unit we conducted research on various aspects of salmonine ecology in the Great Lakes including:
- examining the feasibility of Atlantic salmon restoration in Lake Ontario;
- developing methods and models to understand
riverine salmonine habitat-population interactions
