Members of my lab are collaborators. With that, I strive to provide my students with a considerable amount of freedom to pursue ideas, while also expecting them to work responsibly and professionally. I also very much understand that ‘life happens’, and that we’ve gotten into this profession to have fun, not just grind away. In addition to expecting my graduate students to be active in formal academia, I also strongly encourage them to make their research accessible to the general public, stakeholder, and rightsholders as a means to affect positive change when it comes to fish conservation
Dr. Lucas Griffin
Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Movement and behavior ecology of fish within recreational fisheries. His work aims to generate conservation focused outcomes to support healthy habitats and sustainable fisheries practices. Currently, Luke leads a multi-year Atlantic tarpon tagging project in the SE US. In addition, Luke also leads a project in the Seychelles focused on the intersection between spatial and behavior ecology of Giant Trevally and the catch-and-release recreational fishery on island.
Dr. Grace Casselberry
Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Intersection of marine animal movement, specifically elasmobranchs, with fisheries management and conservation. She applies acoustic and satellite telemetry to improve our understanding of shark spatial ecology and mitigate human-wildlife conflict in recreational fisheries.
Dr. Jess McLaughlin
Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass Amherst
Research interest: Comparative genomics and landscape genomics. Currently they are working on golden dorado, investigating how environmental gradients shape selection and gene flow.
jessmclaughl@umass.edu
Peter Holder
PhD Candidate, Carleton University, Co-Advised by Dr. Steven Cooke
Research Interests: Examining the mechanistic causes of exhaustion in fish to identify the best practices for catch-and-release angling.
Nadia Fernandez
PhD Candidate, UMass Amherst, Co-Advised by Dr. Lisa Komoroske
Research Interests: Application of genomics to wildlife populations and management, and asking evolutionary questions to understand how different species might handle various ecological pressures they may face in the future.
Bryan Legare
PhD Candidate, UMass Amherst, Co-Advised by Dr. Greg Skomal
Research Interests: Understanding spatial patterns in the marine environment, linking habitat mapping, fish ecology, movement, and species abundance to better understand the relationship between ecological functions and spatial patterns. Current research includes using acoustic telemetry and habitat mapping to track white sharks in shallow water Cape Cod, MA.
Danielle Morley
PhD Candidate, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Movement patterns and reproductive ecology of marine fishes; translation of science into policy and management action. Current project is using acoustic telemetry to quantify the spatial ecology of hogfish.
Olivia Dinkelacker
MS Student, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Science and social science of recreational fisheries.
Jamie Madden
MS Student, Carleton University, Co-Advised by Dr. Steven Cooke
Research Interests: Freshwater fisheries management, best practices in catch-and-release angling, fish behaviour and stress response, aquatic ecology.
Luc LaRochelle
PhD Student, Carleton University, Co-Advised by Dr. Steven Cooke
Research Interests: The post-release fate of sport fish after angling interactions. The main focus of his research looks to identify how different angling practices influence the physiology and post-release behaviour of freshwater fish.
Alyssa Goodenough
Research Interests: social and biologically practical aspects of recreational angling including women in fishing, formulating a standard of care for catch-and-release fishing with a focus on "trophy" sized freshwater fish, and riding the gap between the scientific and fishing communities.
MS Student, Carleton University, Co-Advised by Dr. Steven Cooke
AlyssaGoodenough@cmail.carleton.ca
Lab Alum
Cormier, R. 2022. MSc. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Chhor, A. 2021. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S. Cooke.
Trahan, A. 2021. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S. Cooke.
Haak, C. 2019. PhD. Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Filous, A. PhD. 2019. Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Twardek, W. 2018. MS, Carleton University, Co-advised by S. Cooke.
Ryan, K. 2018. PhD. Environmental Conservation. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Co-advised by A. Jordaan.
Gagne, T.O. 2017. MS. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Brownscombe, J. 2016. PhD. Carleton University, Canada, Co-advised by S. Cooke.
Becker, S. 2016. MS. Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts. Co-advised by A. Jordaan.
Snook, E. 2014. MS. School of Marine Science, University of Massachusetts.
St-Louis, F. 2014. MS, Carleton University. Co-advised by S. Cooke.
Tyrrell, H. 2014. MS. School of Marine Science, University of Massachusetts.
Hart, E. 2013. MS. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Brooks, E. 2012. Ph.D., University of Plymouth, UK.
Martinez, S. 2012. MS. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Murchie, K. 2010. Ph.D., Carleton University, Co-advised by S. Cooke.
O’Toole, A. 2010. M.Sc. Carleton University, Canada, Co-advised by S. Cooke.