The impacts of multiple stressors on freshwater fish behaviour, physiology and life history

My PhD dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Lauren Chapman (McGill University) explores the isolated and interactive effects of abiotic (increased temperatures or hypoxia) and biotic stressors (native or invasive predation risk) on freshwater fishes. My research spans two study systems: Canadian species at risk in southern Ontario, and fishes impacted by invasive predation in the Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa. My work consists of both controlled laboratory experiments and field studies. The broader goal of my research is to answer questions relevant to biodiversity conservation, fisheries resources, and both local and regional stakeholders.

​

The effects of multiple biotic and abiotic stressors on neophobia and learning in Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata

My FRQNT funded MSc research project under the supervision of Dr. Grant Brown (Concordia University) explored the effects of environmental disturbances and predation risk on guppy (Poecilia reticulata) cognition. I conducted laboratory experiments exposing shoals of guppies, to combinations of temperatures (high vs low) and increased predation risk (high vs low) (experiment 1), or combinations of turbidity (high vs low) and predation risk (high vs low) (experiment 2). I then tested individuals for the impacts of these stressors on neophobia (the fear of novelty) and learning of novel predator cues. Understanding how prey will cope with these threats contributes to a broader understanding of how anthropogenic changes will impact animal behaviour and biodiversity at large.

​

The effects of fishing pressure on the life history of the African cyprinid, Rastrineobola argentea in the Lake Victoria basin, Uganda

My study explored the effects of the newly emerging artisanal fishery on Rastrineobola argentea, a fish of commercial and nutritional importance in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. This was the focus of my honours undergraduate research thesis as well as my summer research assistantship at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Lauren Chapman (McGill University) and Dr. Diana Sharpe (Worchester State University). Here, I quantified the expansion of the R. argentea fishery and tested for any coincident changes in the demographic and life history traits of the species. I used a combination of laboratory dissections and analysis of catch surveys, experimental data, and fisher’s catch. This was one of the first studies that quantified the first decade of a freshwater fishery’s expansion in the tropics.