PhD Student

Seeking PhD candidate in quantitative fisheries ecology on Pacific salmon

The Fisheries Management Lab in the School of Resource and Environmental Management located at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC seeks a PhD candidate with a focus on quantitative ecology of Pacific salmon ecosystems and their fisheries. The candidate is expected to address and quantify time-varying productivity of coho salmon in the North and Central Coast and understand reference points preferred by Indigenous communities to inform collaborative management, with flexibility to address other research questions by the candidate.

Overall, the PhD Candidate will address and contribute to several research areas including:

• Developing novel analytical tools to help improve sustainable fisheries practices (i.e., models, methods and databases) alongside federal and Indigenous decision makers,
• Improve understanding of the marine ecosystem to better incorporate environmental considerations in fisheries assessments by understanding the role of nonstationarity, and
• Establishing or enhancing partnerships with Indigenous organizations.

Applicant Information:

We seek a PhD candidate that can implement quantitative analyses of Pacific salmon and work alongside Central Coast First Nation staff and agency science partners to assess questions of interest for this collaborative project. The successful candidate should have:

• MSc or equivalent experience in fisheries or ecology;
• A track record of publishing and communicating science to community partners;
• Work effectively in a collaborative team;
• Experience in quantitative analyses of ecological data;
• Some related background or interests in salmon ecosystems or their fisheries;
• Awareness of inclusive research practices with Indigenous communities

Salary: funding for this position comes from a combination of sources covering a guarantee of four (4) years for the PhD Candidate subject to SFU policies and is anticipated to be ~$35,000 CAD. This project is subject to final approval of funding.