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Staff Spotlight
Our Team
The team is composed of about 30 professional team members (plus village staff) working in Canada, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and U.S.A. Project Seahorse has also managed projects in Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Vietnam, and maintains strong collaborations with colleagues in many more countries.
Amanda Vincent holds the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre, Canada. She has a PhD in marine biology from the University of Cambridge and was Darwin Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford from 1994 to 1996. She is considered the leading authority on seahorse biology and conservation, and in 2000 was named a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation. She also serves as lead scientific advisor and chair of the seahorse working group for CITES. Publications
Dr. Koldewey is the Section Head for Global Programmes at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). She holds a BSc from the University of Plymouth and a PhD (Genetics) from the University of Wales, Swansea. Heather was previously the Senior Curator for Aquarium Projects at ZSL. Publications
Lindsay’s research interests lie in community and population ecology, specifically to address seahorse conservation, threats and management. As a Fulbright Scholar, she brings over 5 years of marine biology research and international experience to Project Seahorse. Prior to joining the team, she worked in Brazil to identify microhabitat preferences of the longsnout seahorse,Lindsay holds a Master’s in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University where she studied bycatch in Pacific Island fisheries and a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University where she explored illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing of the Patagonian Toothfish.
Gina joined Project Seahorse in 2007, after many years of working on watershed management issues with a neighbouring research group: UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. Gina completed a MSc degree in Conservation and Environmental Biology at the University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). At Project Seahorse she applies her knowledge of design tools, multimedia applications, web-authoring applications, and GIS to the marine realm
Miguel is based at the Universidade do Algarve (CCMAR), Portugal and is investigating the variation in seahorse populations (H. guttulatus and H. hippocampus) at various scales (time and space) throughout the Ria Formosa lagoon, Faro, Portugal. He will also test several artificial strutures and their potential for seahorse settlement/colonization. He recently completed a Masters in Biology and Management of Marine Resources at Universidade de Lisboa, and he has experience in maintaining seahorses in captivity, at Ramalhete Field Station (CCMAR). Publications
Janelle is a Project Seahorse graduate who received her PhD from McGill University for her study of the life history, ecology and conservation of the long-snouted seahorse (H. guttulatus) and the short-snouted seahorse (H. hippocampus) in Europe. As an NSERC postdoctoral fellow (Centre for Applied Conservation Research, University of British Columbia), she collaborated on a Parks Canada project to develop and evaluate quantitative tools for assessing critical habitat for species at risk in Canada. Janelle is now a Research Scientist position at the Pacific Biological Station with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and anticipates developing collaborative research with Project Seahorse and other members of the Fisheries Centre to address aquatic conservation issues in the Pacific region. Publications
Scott comes to us from the Vancouver Aquarium. He took a degree in Business Administration then worked for many years as a tour guide leading camping tours around North and Central America. He moved to the Vancouver Aquarium in 2009 to lead its AquaVan work. This community outreach education program brings a 32’ truck full of live marine animals, teaching tools and conservation messages to schools and communities all over Western Canada. Nearly a year ago, he was head-hunted (as a result of his fund raising work with AquaVan) for the Development Office at the Aquarium, where he looked after the grant application process, with lots of database experience.
Sarah's research and conservation work spans the areas of trade and bycatch - specifically the listing of marine species on the international trade convention CITES, and the issue of small fish species in bycatch. Sarah recently obtained her PhD from UBC. Her thesis examined bycatch in tropical shrimp fisheries, which are believed to be a major cause of population decline in many species, including seahorses. She has a BSc and an MSc in marine biology from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. Publications
Kyle’s interests lie at the intersection of marine ecology and coastal conservation. His research will tackle questions surrounding marine invertebrate ecology, their response to varying protection regimes and how their recovery or depletion factor into coastal food web resilience. Kyle has previously worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada on northern salmon ecology and with Parks Canada and the Government of Grenada on marine protected area and coastal health assessment projects. Most recently he has worked at the NGO level, collaborating with marine resource users developing marine use plans.
Danika received her BSc from Tufts University, where she undertook a double major in biology and women’s studies. She recently completed her MSc on song sparrow breeding biology at the Department of Forestry, UBC. Danika has field experience with several species, including lobsters and fur seal pups, in a number of countries and contexts. She has conducted research on a variety of marine conservation issues, and is fascinated by the intersection of gender and conservation biology. Publications
Ting-Chun joined Project Seahorse to investigate topics regarding seahorse (and other Traditional Chinese Medicine species) trading flow and their ecological impact. She received her BSc and MSc from National Taiwan University, where she studied how fishing and climate change influence on fishes' spatial distribution shift.
Julia completed her Bachelor of Science at Dalhousie University where she was also a student in the Science Co-op Program. She spent two semesters interning at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences where she completed her honours research in coral reef reproduction and recruitment. After graduating in 2010 she went on to work as a research assistant in the Bahamas looking at invasive lionfish, she analyzed ancient deep sea sponges on the Flemish Cap with DFO, and she worked most recently on Heron Island in Australia where she assisted a University of Queensland PhD student in examining algal growth and surgeonfish grazing impacts. Julia’s interests lie in the reproductive patterns, juvenile development and life histories of coral reef fish.
Tse-Lynn is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, working closely in collaboration with Project Seahorse on the conservation of seahorse populations in Southeast Asia. She recently completed her PhD at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, studying the cascading effects of overfishing on coral reef communities within the Caribbean region. With Project Seahorse, Tse-Lynn plans to conduct a series of rapid assessments in Southeast Asia to identify the distributions of seahorse species there and estimate their population levels. She will also be training and setting up local monitoring networks with in-country partners to provide long-term data for seahorse population trends.
Sara Lourie has been involved with Project Seahorse since 1996. She has written an identification guide to the seahorses of the world based on original taxonomic research and has described several new species of seahorses, including four of the world's smallest. Her PhD focused on genetic connections among seahorses in SE Asia, and the application of biogeography to marine conservation. Post-PhD she has worked on developing a set of Marine Ecoregions of the World in collaboration with scientists from the The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund and others, and is also a contributing author to a textbook on conservation biogeography. She is currently a research associate and lecturer at the Redpath Museum at McGill University. Publications
Sian completed her PhD thesis with Project Seahorse on movement and dispersal of exploited populations of the seahorse Hippocampus comes and graduated from McGill University, Quebec. She holds a BSc(Hons) in ecology and environmental biology from the University of British Columbia. Sian is currently Director of Science at Fishwise in California. Publications
Nishan is doing his PhD with the University of Kalmar, Sweden with Heather Koldewey as one of his co-supervisors. Nishan is working on the sustainability of seahorses in the aquarium trade and will be primarily working in Sri Lanka. Prior to this Nishan was the Senior Marine and Coastal Programme Manager with IUCN in Sri Lanka.
Jenny is interested in the relationship between habitat quality and fisheries, using the Central Philippines as an example. Jenny previously studied marine protected areas at the Friday Harbor Laboratories in Washington and worked on fishing policy at The Ocean Conservancy. Jenny holds an MSc from San Diego State University, California, and two BA degrees (in Environmental Science and Dance) from Wesleyan University, Connecticut. Publications
Tyler has a wealth of experience in communicating social/environmental issues. He has worked in media and non-profit sectors, working as a communications manager for NGOs in Canada, Africa, and Europe while also reporting on topics as diverse as climate change, ecotourism, and HIV/AIDS for the Globe and Mail, the Walrus, and CBC Radio.
Stefan moved to Vancouver a few months ago from South Africa, where he most recently worked as a Project Coordinator for a sustainable energy NGO (Sustainable Energy Africa, Cape Town). He has a research background in botany and zoology, specifically stress physiology and systematics - but as an avid diver and ocean enthusiast, he is very excited to be breaking in to the world of marine conservation. In addition, he has traveled in Europe, India, Nepal and Tibet.
Lucy is a conservation geneticist, and is interested in using the analysis of DNA to answer ecological questions. She completed a PhD entitled ‘Population genetics and mating systems of European Seahorses, Hippocampus guttulatus and Hippocampus hippocampus’ from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research involved diving in over 30 locations across Europe and as well as studies at Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Lucy continues work with European Seahorses and in marine conservation. Publications
Mai is investigating both the conservation and development issues that surround the fisheries and ecotourism of Viscaino Biosphere Reserve in Baja California. Maï joined the Project Seahorse team following the completion of her PhD studies at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), where she studied the impacts of tourism on shorebird nesting in marine protected areas in Thailand. Her most recent research involves examining changes in coral reef fish and seahorse abundance in around MPAs as well as the economic importance of seahorses to local fishers. Publications
Senlin has joined us from the Marine Biology and Ecology Department in the Third Institute of Oceanography in Xiamen, China, where he is Staff Scientist and an Associate Research Professor. He has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Xiamen University and a PhD in Ecotoxicology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Senlin has a very varied skill set. His experience involves leading projects on red tide algae in China, risk assessment of marine pollutants, regulation of MPAs, estuarine ecological security, marine biodiversity conservation based on integrated coastal zone management. He was on China's 4th Arctic expedition team for three months, took part in joint ecological survey in Indonesia, and spent six months at Deakin University in Australia.
Last reviewed: 10-May-2011
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