Biography

Prior to joining GMRIs interdisciplinary research team, much of Jasons previous work focused on the Great Lakes where he developed a unified research framework to help identify the mechanisms underlying cisco (a herring-like freshwater fish) recruitment; modeled linkages between population dynamics and habitat supply; and transitioned and integrated a long-term monitoring program into a template for examining energy flow through food web across habitat gradients. Jason also brings extensive experience investigating the role of diel vertical migration in the ecology of pelagic forage species.

Currently, Jasons research focuses on the ecology, population structure, and assessment of Atlantic herring. He is investigating how energetics of herring may be influenced by changes in the ecosystem and how these dynamics may scale up to apex predators such as bluefin tuna, the potential impact of fishing fleet dynamics and fishing techniques on herring aggregations and localized depletion, and how herring stock structure may drive metapopulation dynamics and influence management considerations for harvest strategies. Other areas of research include the relationship between krill biomass and fish consumption in the Gulf of Maine, the impact of bycatch on alewife stock structure, and the influence of anadromous alewife on nutrient cycling and water quality in coastal freshwater systems.

Primary Research Interests

• The influence of pelagic forage species as energetic conduits/bottlenecks for both upper and lower trophic levels;
• The influence of stock structure on metapopulation dynamics and its implication for management policies;
• The impact of harvesting techniques (gear, timing, location) on predator-prey interactions, resource extraction, and bycatch.

Education

• Ph.D., Zoology, University of Toronto
• B.Sc., Biology and Mathematics, Northland College

Service to Science and Community

• Upper Trophic Level Predators Working Group, Gulf of Maine Area Program for Census of Marine Life
• New England Fisheries Management Councils Herring Plan Development Team
• Steering Committee, Maine Sea Grant Workshops on the Nearshore Migration of Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine Region
• Fellow, National Conservation Leadership Institute.
• Reviewer: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Ecological Applications, Ecology, North American Journal of Fish Management, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Fisheries Oceanography, Fisheries and Management Ecology, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Curriculum Vitae

View additional biographical information in Science - Research Staff