Romina Vanessa Barbosa
Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography, University of Victoria
PhD, Marine Ecology, Université de Bretagne, Brest, France
MSc, Oceanography, Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo (IO-USP), Brazil.
BSc, Biology, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (UNC), Cordoba, Argentina.
I am a marine ecologist interested in the relationship between the environment and species distribution and dynamics. I aim to understand how environmental conditions affect the species at different levels of biological organization and spatial scales. That is, how environmental conditions affect the species' individuals by conditioning their performance on diverse physiological processes such as growth and reproduction, as well as how such environmental conditions affect population-level processes such as recruitment and mortality rate. The same environmental conditions could affect at different levels of organization in a contrary way, making complex patterns emerge. In order to understand such complex relationships, I integrate diverse sources of observation (such as aerial images and field sampling) and experimental data into correlative and mechanistic models. They allow me to reproduce the observed distribution and dynamic of species and infer the potential effects of particular environmental conditions such as the high temperatures during heat-wave events.
Currently, during my postdoctoral research, I work with the First Nations of the Broughton Aquiculture Transition Initiative (BATI), the Spectral lab, the Kelp Rescue Initiative, and the Salmon Coast Field Station (SCFS). Our goal is to improve our knowledge about the distribution and state of kelp in the Broughton area (northeast of Vancouver Island) and how it could help in the recovery of wild salmon populations in the area by giving them better habitat conditions. My specific objectives in the project are to perform field observations and species distribution model predictions to map the distribution of bull kelp in the Broughton area. Furthermore, I will calibrate a Dynamic Energy Budget model for the bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, to identify the main drivers of its temporal changes and the physiologic processes involved. Finally, I will participate in assessing the use of kelp habitat for juvenile salmon for evidencing the potential importance of kelp for salmon population recovery in the area.