Research summary
The health of our oceans is under threat from a number of sources-and one of them is the rise and spread of infectious diseases among marine life. As Canada Research Chair in Marine Epidemiology, Dr. Martin Krkosek is using a population ecology lens to better understand these threats.
Population ecology examines how and why animal and plant populations change over time. It has long been used in conservation biology and resource management and to understand infectious disease. But current practices in population ecology don’t always adequately link the life history of species’ biologies (including viruses) with population dynamics to explain how and why epidemics emerge and fisheries collapse, or how ecosystems are reconfigured into an alternative stable state. Krkosek and his research team aim to tackle these problems using models, fieldwork and experiments in the areas of epidemiology, fisheries and conservation.