Address:
Department of Zoology
3041-2424 Main Mall, UBC
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4
Email: savery_at_zoology.ubc.ca (insert @ for _at_ )
Position: previous M.Sc. Candidate
Study Area: Endangered species
Project: Instream flow requirements for the endangered Nooksack dace.
I am interested in marine and freshwater conservation biology and community ecology. For My M.Sc. research, I am investigating the physical habitat requirements and instream flow needs of Nooksack Dace (Rhinichthys sp.), an endangered, riffle-dwelling minnow found only in four streams in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia.
Using a combination of experimental manipulations and field surveys I am studying how dace habitat use changes seasonally and how Nooksack dace growth rate responds to differences in instream flow. I am also interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying habitat selection (e.g., predator-prey interactions). Finally, I will build and validate a model that will predict how habitat suitability changes across a range of instream flows. This information will be provided to managers to inform the development of instream flow guidelines, and will address a key goal of the Species at Risk Recovery Strategy for this species.
Past Experience
For the past 2 years, I’ve worked for Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a Habitat Biologist in the Environmental Assessment and Major Projects Review Unit. I am also involved in an ongoing collaborative project to quantify plastic ingestion among marine birds in British Columbia.
In 2008 I completed my B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Victoria. During my undergraduate degree, I went on exchange to Deakin University in Australia, completed an Honours with Dr. Jon Shurin (UBC), and took summer field courses at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, where I also volunteered as a diving research assistant studying juvenile rockfish useof eelgrass beds as nursery habitats.
