Lab Manager
2013 to 2019
Kevyn began as a Research Associate, focusing on the Atlantic salmon study. She assists all members of the lab with their projects, including project development and troubleshooting, software training, and developing video analysis methods. Her background includes using colour spectrophotometry methods and comparative analyses.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2015-2019
Cody was co-supervised by Dr. Grant Gilcrest at Environment Canada’s National Wildlife Research Centre. Cody studied the movements of Polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. After collecting data in the wild, Cody used modelling techniques predict habitat usage patterns of this declining species based on resource availability. Cody was a recipient of a prestigious Liber Ero Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2015-2017
natsopinka@gmail.com
Natalie is co-supervised by Drs. Love and Heath in addition to Dr. Semeniuk. Natalie comes from a history of graduate work examining the ecological aspects of wild and hatchery Pacific salmon, and she will continue similar work on Chinook salmon at YIAL.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2015 - 2017
Kora is co-supervised by Len Hunt and is based at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Her interests lie in socio-ecological modelling, and especially in the human dimensions of wildlife interactions.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2018 to Present
Kathleen recently completed her PhD in Jim Grant’s lab at Concordia looking at behaviour and personality in Atlantic salmon and cichlids. Kathleen is currently assessing the personality of Atlantic salmon over multiple tests with different stimuli, and aims to ultimately link personality traits to metabolic rates and anti-predator behaviours in a naturalized mesocosm.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
2020 to 2022
andrew.f.barnas@gmail.com
Andrew joined the lab in January 2020 after completing his PhD at the University of North Dakota on Lesser snow geese and drones. Andrew’s research interests involved understanding nesting bird behaviour, primarily in the context of how naïve prey species respond to novel predators. Andrew uses drones to observe interactions between nesting Common eiders (prey) and polar bears (predators), and he will use these observations to build simulation models of nesting eider behaviour under forecasted climate change scenarios.
PhD Candidate
2011-2015
david.yurkowski@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Dave was co-supervised by Dr. Aaron Fisk, tracking the movements and feeding ecology shifts of ringed seals in the Arctic and Eastern Canada. Dave is now a post-doc for Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
PhD Candidate
2014 to Present
rsolis@sfu.ca
Rodrigo is co-supervised by Dr. Sean Cox, and is based at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Rodrigo’s work examines migration patterns of the Monarch butterfly throughout North America using social-ecological modelling.
MSc Student
2013-2015
Adriana examined the relationship between environmental and genetic effects on jacking rates in Chinook salmon. She used a study system of Chinook salmon pre-smolts with hook and jack sires, different feeding regimes, and raised in different densities to determine what factors can predict jacking rates. Adriana is supported by an OGS award and is co-supervised Dr. Trevor Pitcher.
MSc Student
2013-2016
mccloskm@uwindsor.ca
Meagan started as the Semeniuk lab’s first Research Associate in 2013, establishing our aquatic holding tanks and testing arenas in GLIER’s aquatic facility. She developed protocol to successfully collect and transport wild perch and bring them into captivity. Her work examines the ontogeny of behaviour in young of the year Yellow perch raised in different conditions, and has collaborated with the Fisk labs to examine stable isotopes and determine feeding strategies, and the Heath lab to examine genetic differences between focal populations. Meagan’s graduate work is supported by an NSERC CGS-M award.
Meagan was the first graduate student from the Semeniuk lab. She is currently working for Environment Canada with Grant Gilcrest in the arctic, assisting with Cody’s research.
MSc Student
2014-Present
mayrandj@uwindsor.ca
Jessica is measuring the behavioural and gene expression differences between different outbred stocks of Chinook salmon at Yellow Island Aquaculture Inc. (YIAL) in British Columbia, Canada. Jessica’s work is part of a large, collaborative NSERC SPG project, and has the opportunity to examine behavioural phenotypes in fresh and salt water stages.
MSc Student
2014-2017
dender@uwindsor.ca
Mitch began as a Research Associate stationed at YIAL in 2014. His observations and preliminary documentation of feeding behaviour of Chinook salmon in barrels were the starting point for his data collection and other side projects. Mitch is combining behavioural data of fish raised in aquaculture with physiological data to identify optimal stocks for captivity. Mitch is part of a large, collaborative NSERC SPG project and is co-supervised by Dr. Oliver Love.
MSc Student
2014-2016
capelle@uwindsor.ca
Pauline has manipulated the exposure of stress hormone cortisol in Chinook salmon eggs at YIAL to examine the long-term effects of maternal stress on behaviour, morphology, physiology, and survival in stressful and non-stressful environments. She is co-supervised by Dr. Oliver Love and is supported by an NSERC CGS-M award.
MSc Student
2019 to 2023
frankc@uwindsor.ca
Chelsea has been a member of the Semeniuk Lab since she joined as a volunteer in the fall of 2016 when she was in second year. After completing her undergraduate thesis with the lab, Chelsea is continuing behaviour work at the Master’s level in the Semeniuk Lab. Chelsea will be working with hatchery salmon that have undergone triploidy or left as diploids, and raised with or without probiotics. Using a behavioural challenge, Chelsea will link favourable hatchery behaviours and brain gene expression to give new insights into Chinook salmon farming.
MSc Student
2017 to 2020
Patrick has spent two summer field seasons on East Bay Island, Nunavut. Patrick used a trail camera network and drone footage to establish how polar bears are moving across the island and if their foraging results in a net metabolic gain or loss. This research will give insight into polar bear foraging ecology on land. He is co-supervised by Cody Dey and supported by a MITACS grant.
MSc Student
2018 to 2021
geldart@uwindsor.ca
Erica moved to Windsor from New Brunswick, where she recently completed her undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University. Her Honour’s thesis at Mount Allison investigated the movement patterns of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers within Eastern New Brunswick. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Christina Semeniuk and Dr. Oliver Love, Erica’s Master’s research will aim to link behaviour, ecophysiology, and evolutionary ecology in the common Eider, and to study the effects changing environment has on their fitness.
MSc Student
2019 to Present
stlouisb@uwindsor.ca
Brendyn will be working with YIAL hatchery salmon in British Columbia that have undergone triploidy or left as diploids, and raised with or without probiotics. Using a behavioural challenge, Brendyn will link favourable hatchery behaviours and physiological profiles to give new insights into Chinook salmon farming.
MSc Student
2019 to present
wilder11@uwindsor.ca
Alex is our first MSc. to be working with Brook Trout! She will be examining survival and behaviour performance in fish reared under different temperature regimes. Her fish will be tested at multiple stages in a new set of mazes to mimic trade-offs in a simulated environment.
MSc Student
2019 to present
tabouno@uwindsor.ca
Omar is working with our collaborator Eddie Halfyard from the Nova Scotia Salmon Association. The West River Atlantic Salmon population has experienced liming dosage to mitigate the effects of acidification. Omar is assessing the behavioural responses of Atlantic Salmon smolts migrating downstream to a novel predator and food. This behavioural data will be paired with acoustic tracking data as the salmon migrate through the river mouth and into the ocean.
Research Associate
2014 to present
Lida measured behavioural and gene expression differences between established and invasion front populations of the Round goby in the Great Lakes. She completed her genetic work with guidance from her co-supervisor, Dr. Daniel Heath. She is currently in the process of revising and re-submitting her manuscripts, as well as training and assisting Love Lab member Colin Finerty with his genetic expression work in Lake Ontario Chinook salmon. Lida’s work was supported by a CAISN project grant.
Research Associate
Summer 2013
Matt joined the lab as a Research Assistant prior to medical school. He help Tina set-up her lab in preparation for graduate students, writing protocols and ordering equipment in preparation for the first set of behavioural trials.
Research Associate
2016 to present
warrinet@uwindsor.ca
Theresa joined in 2016, and had a background of undergraduate research with contaminants and the Round Goby in Dr. Sigal Balshine’s lab at McMaster University. For her MSc, Theresa examined how maternal effects may influence behaviour and physiology of juvenile Lake Ontario Chinook salmon under elevated water temperatures with co-supervisor Dr. Oliver Love. Currently, she assists lab members with fieldwork, equipment training, software training, and statistical analysis while prepping and submitting manuscripts.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2014-2015
Sean (foreground) joined our team to complete an undergraduate Honours thesis, co-supervised by Dr. Oliver Love. Sean extracted the stress hormone cortisol from water samples so we can relate cortisol concentrations to colouration and behaviour of Atlantic salmon parr. This type of hormone collection is non-invasive and allowed us to examine an individual’s behaviour again. Sean continued in Dr. Love’s lab as a Master’s student.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2014-2015
For his Honours thesis, Mehdi examined Atlantic salmon yearling behaviour in a predation sensitive foraging context. Mehdi used advanced techniques to characterize and quantify behavioural changes to an individual before and after a simulated predator attack. Since completing his undergraduate thesis, Mehdi has been accepted to the University of Waterloo as a Master’s student.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2014-2015
Sabrina is quantifying the genetic differences between the different populations of Yellow perch Meagan behaviourally tested. She is an honours thesis student co-supervised by Dr. Daniel Heath and mentored by Sarah Lehnert. After her undergraduate thesis, Sabrina joined Dr. Heath’s lab as a Master’s student.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2013-2016
As a volunteer, Maya has helped multiple graduate students by preparing stable isotope samples, taking measurements using ImageJ, and analyzing Chinook salmon barrel feeding videos. For her undergraduate thesis, Maya examined behaviours in Chinook salmon parr related to metabolism, which will be linked to thyroid hormone levels in the future.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2014-2016
As a volunteer, JP is assisted Lida with literature review, then continued in our lab as an undergraduate Honour’s thesis student to complete an elaborate a behavioural experiment to test learning capabilities in the Round goby. JP successfully trained his gobies to a light as Pavlov trained his dog to a bell, and found that invasive gobies could navigate to food faster than established populations!
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2015-2016
Nadeen joined the lab to complete an undergraduate thesis. Her passion is computer programming, so Nadeen modelled fish predation in a shoal with hungry individuals of different personalities (bold/shy). A mixed shoal of bold/shy individuals do best!
Nadeen won presentation awards at Ontario Biology Day and University of Windsor Biology colloquium.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2016-2017
Taylor is an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Environmental Science. She is working on creating informative layers in GIS of stream characteristics of the 8 British Columbia rivers in the SPG project. To supplement open source data, she is also completing a literature review of other salmonid studies.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2016
Nicholas is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa, but wanted to get a head start on lab experience over the summer break. He is using video analysis software Solomon coder to identify aggressive and shoaling behaviour of juvenile Chinook salmon at a mirror.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2016 to 2019
Ian was a Biology and Biotechnology double major, but dove into ImageJ and behavioural analyses for the Jacking project. Ian spent the summer of 2017 researching predator and alarm cue training in hatchery-reared fish, and ran a large behavioural experiment with Atlantic salmon. He completed the behavioural analyses from that experiment for his undergraduate thesis.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
May 2017 to 2019
Mackenzie’s thesis focused on differences in behavioural responses of new stimuli that could be attributed to priming with a stress (cortisol) signal and/or egg rearing temperature in Chinook salmon fry.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
2017 to 2019
Eric used ecological models, with traits based on an extensive literature review, to predict fish behaviour and survival under different environmental conditions. Eric’s avatars were given bold/shy personalities and had to gain energy while avoiding predators in group settings with varying habitat complexities.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
May 2018 to 2019
Emilie’s undergraduate thesis explored Chinook salmon fry group responses to new stimuli that can be attributed to priming with a stress (cortisol) signal and/or egg rearing temperature.
Undergraduate Thesis Student
May 2018 to 2019
Shelby analyzed the behaviour of Atlantic salmon fry, some of which were primed with an alarm cue, to examine if this practice can help post-release survival through anti-predator behaviour.
Volunteer
2013-2017
Eve has helped us produce and maintain large data sets, morphological measurements using ImageJ, and barrel feeding video analysis. She is currently working on analyzing Chinook salmon behaviour during mirror tests, as a part of a large study on jacking rates.
Volunteer
2014-2015
Patricia helped us develop analytical methods for barrel feeding videos by making careful observations of fish behaviour before, during, and after feeding. She has since moved on to start graduate work in Biology at the University of Windsor.
Volunteer
2014-2016
Joseph helped Sean process water samples, extracting the stress hormone cortisol. Joseph was also part of the team that developed the methods for analysing barrel feeding videos, and is currently helping Mitch and Jessica analyze behavioural videos of yearling Chinook salmon.
Congratulations to Joseph on his acceptance to dental school! We are sad he has left the team after two years of volunteer work but incredibly happy for him!
Volunteer
2014-2015
Vicki has helped multiple students by digitizing field data. She was part of a team of volunteers that is producing and maintaining an extremely large data set for thousands of Chinook salmon that are part of the NSERC SPG project.
Volunteer
2013-2015
Nicole joined the lab as a field assistant to Meagan, collecting perch at Balsam Lake and Leadly Farms Inc.
Volunteer
2015
Kieran’s background in videography has broadened the lab’s capabilities for filming behavioural trials in difficult low-light and underwater conditions. He divides his time volunteering between literature review and updating a large database for the Chinook salmon SPG project. Currently, Kieran is helping Mitch examine surface activity behaviours.
Volunteer
2015-2016
As an Environmental Studies student, Anthony brings a different set of skills to the lab. In combination with one of Dr. Greg McDermid’s students, he will be using GIS to examine the spatial and temporal environmental variables that exist for juvenile and adult Chinook salmon in tributaries throughout British Columbia.
Volunteer
2016
Akbal helped with data entry and organization, and used ImageJ to measure body morphometrics on yearling Chinook salmon from the final part of the Jacking project.
Volunteer
2016
Rachel started with helping Mitch quantify excess food during salt water feeding in the SPG Chinook salmon pens. Since then, she has been using ImageJ to measure body morphometrics of Chinook salmon that will be included in Maya’s analyses.
Volunteer
2016, 2017
Jacob worked with the Jacking project parr photos to measure pixel brightness to calculate dorsal to midline contrast. We’ll use this data to see if darker individuals were more submissive in Adriana’s dominance trials.
Volunteer
2016-2017
Hannah is an Environmental Science major, and is helping Taylor collect information on the 7 British Columbian streams of the SPG Chinook salmon project. After that, she is interested in gaining experience with the computer modelling program NetLogo.
Volunteer
2016
Amanda’s consistent measurements in ImageJ contributed data to Lida’s Round goby project, the Jacking project, and the final sampling of the Yellow Perch.
Volunteer
September 2017 - June 2018
Michael is taking the final morphometrics of the current and elevated temperature Chinook salmon using ImageJ. Everyone is hoping there will be some interesting differences, and it looks like we won’t be disappointed!
Volunteer
December 2017 to 2019
Chelsea is an Environmental Science student and is currently working on the Atlantic salmon predator training experiments, quantifying morphology in imageJ and organizing the large data set.
Volunteer
June 2018 to Dec 2018
Japmeet is completing the final morphometric measurements from the Jacking project. This will help us determine if different feeding regimes during salt water grow-out phase influences jacking rate, size distribution, or overall body shape.
Volunteer
May 2018 to August 2018
Before starting her Master’s in Jeff Dason’s lab in Biology, Claire is exporting and compiling a large data set that examines environmental enrichment of juvenile Chinook salmon, and learning how to analyze videos in Solomon Coder as part of the data validation process.
Volunteer
2020
Sophie is a third year Honours Biology student. She is currently working with graduate student Alex Wilder, assisting with Brook trout care and analyzing juvenile Brook trout morphology using ImageJ.
Volunteer
2019 to Present
Cassie is a Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience student and is currently going through trail camera footage to locate and situate polar bears on a map of East Bay Island in order to recreate their foraging path and relay this to eider hen responses to a novel predation threat.
Volunteer
2019 to Present
Allie is a second year Neuroscience student and is currently assisting Brendyn St Louis and Chelsea Frank with their morphometric analyses of their diploid and triploid Chinook Salmon. She is using ImageJ to quantify morphological and growth differences in diploids and triploid juvenile salmon being fed control or probiotic-supplemented diets.
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