Graduate research study site
Buck Island Reef National Monument, USVI
January 2016
Buck Island Reef National Monument, USVI
January 2016
Ashleigh Novak, MS
Technical Associate, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology Research topics: Spatial ecology, marine conservation, acoustic telemetry, fisheries science and management, network analysis, trophic ecology, species interactions
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My primary interest centers around understanding the spatial ecology of marine fishes. This includes how individuality shapes movement behavior and how other biological and abiotic factors may influence movement across the seascape. I am using a fine-scale acoustic positioning system to develop novel tools to study real-time predator-prey interactions. I am also working towards integrating acoustic telemetry data into stock assessment models for fisheries management.
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What got me into fisheries science?I spent much of my childhood outside or at museums and nature centers throughout Massachusetts. My father was a fisheries biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and managed a hatchery rearing Atlantic salmon Salmo salar for stocking into the Connecticut River. My interest and later passion for fish stemmed from my experiences growing up at the hatchery, feeding and catching fish, but also observing my father's dedication to the conservation and preservation of an endangered species back to a historic watershed. When I am not busy with science, you will often find me hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire completing the state's 48, four-thousand footers (23 done so far!) or spending time outside with my two dogs (Bonnie Blue Butler pictured on the left & Rhett Butler pictured below), cooking, antiquing, rug hooking, or most importantly spending time with friends and family. |
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to
everything else in the Universe.”
John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra , 1911