Jessica Qualley

Jess is interested in the migration ecology of adult Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in the Strait of Georgia. The majority of herring in this population migrate between spawning grounds in the Strait of Georgia and feeding grounds on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Some herring, however, are non-migratory and exhibit a resident life history within the Salish Sea. Jess’ MSc research will investigate how juvenile growth conditions are correlated with migratory and non-migratory types within the population, as it relates to the spatial and temporal distribution of herring biomass available to the rest of the ecosystem.

Brittnie Spriel

Prior to beginning her masters, Brittnie began in the Juanes lab as a research assistant, working on the Adult Salmon Diet Program. She then transitioned to project coordinator of FishSounds Educate, an educational program offered by the FishSounds project (FishSounds.net). While she continues her involvement in the Educate project, Brittnie is now working on a thesis on the topic of marine bioacoustics. For her project, she will be testing relationships between kelp forest ecosystem state and acoustic indicators along the coast of Bamfield, BC. She will also be conducting a review of all soniferous (sound producing) invertebrates reported in scientific literature. The aim of her research is to enhance marine ecosystem assessments via non-invasive acoustic methods, and improve our understanding of kelp forest health along the Vancouver Island coastline.

Nathanael Tabert

​Nathanael works on the Adult Salmon Diet Program, a project founded in the Juanes Lab in 2017 with the goal of bettering our understanding of Chinook and coho salmon diets in BC. This program engages with recreational anglers, creel observers, and First Nations across coastal British Columbia to collect stomach samples which are dissected and analyzed in the lab. Nathanael started on the project as a technician in 2023, and is now working on analyzing the data for his Master's degree. For his thesis, Nathanael will be comparing data from the Adult Salmon Diet Program to historical studies from the same region. He will also be using spatiotemporal models to characterize regional, seasonal, and interannual patterns in Chinook salmon foraging and prey availability.