Lab alumni

Past Graduate Students

PhD Student: Joey Bernhardt (she/her)
Thesis: The thermal ecology of populations and ecosystem services in a changing world.
2018
Currently: Nereus Postdoctoral Fellow. Check out Joey's website.

PhD Student: Matt Siegel
Thesis: "Heat wave impacts across scales in the splash pool copepod, Tigriopus californicus". Co-supervised by Rick Taylor.
2017
Currently: Essa Consulting, Vancouver.

PhD Student: Dana Haggarty
Thesis: "Community structure and availability of primary producers to herbivores along a temperature gradient". Co-supervised by Jon Shurin.
2015
Currently: Inshore Rockfish and Lingcod Program Head, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

MSc Student: Natalie Caulk
Thesis: "An evaluation of the effectiveness of rockfish conservation areas in British Columbia, Canada".
2015
Currently: Associate Director at California Coastkeeper Alliance

MSc Student: Natalie Stafl
Thesis: "Quantifying the effect of hiking disturbance on the American pika (Ochtona princeps) foraging behaviour".
2013
Currently: Executive Director for the Columbia-Shuswap Invasive Species Society.

MSc Student: Ross Whippo
Thesis: "Seagrass epifaunal communities of Barkley Sound: Epifaunal diversity varies across small spatial and temporal scales".
2013
Currently: PhD student and NSF Fellow at Aaron Galloway's lab at OIMB. Biologist at the Smithsonian, Tennenbaum Marine Observatory Network, MarineGEO. Check out Ross' website here.

Past Visiting Students

Visiting Undergraduate Student: Dominik Bahlburg
University of Oldenburg
2016

Visiting PhD Student: Jessica Garzke
IMF-GEOMAR; Kiel, Germany
2012

Visiting Scientific Illustrator and Undergraduate Student: Frances Ratcliffe
Pippa Moore's group in Wales
Check out Frances' website here.
2012

Past Postdoctoral Researchers

Sarah Joy Bittick

Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow
Project title: Identifying nutrient thresholds for sustainable management of British Columbia seagrass beds

2017-2019

Currently: Assistant Professor, Loyola Marymount University, Seaver College of Science and Engineering, Department of Biology

Sarah Joy's website

Jennifer Sunday (2015-2017)

Currently: Assistant Professor and William Dawson Scholar at McGill University.

Robin Elahi (2014-2015)

Currently: Lecturer at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.

Adrian Stier (2012-2013)

Currently: Assistant Professor and PI of the Ocean Recoveries Lab at UC Santa Barbara

Past Research Assistants

Michelle Tseng, PhD

Currently: Assistant Professor at UBC

Devin Lyons, PhD

Currently with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Maritimes

Past Undergraduate Students

Cori-Anne Huisman, BSc. Honours (2017)

I did my undergraduate honours thesis with the O’Connor Lab as part of my BSc in animal biology. With the support of Matthew Siegle (alumni PhD student), my research project focused on thermal tolerance in intertidal copepods and their potential for adaptation to rising temperatures and heat spikes. It investigated the potential impact of climate change on population-level adaptation and it set me on the path to where I am today.

Currently, I am a third-year veterinary medicine student at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario. I am enthusiastic about wildlife and exotic animal medicine and hope to be a zoo and wildlife veterinarian when I graduate next year!

Gwendolyn Griffiths, BSc. Honours (2016) and Field Assistant

Thesis: "From red to green: Controls of Smithora naiadum colonization of Zostera marina meadows"

I live in Halifax with my partner and two doggies. I am currently finishing up teacher's college and starting a masters in mathematics at Waterloo. I am doing some ocean career education research through MITACS. I think research and teaching are pretty strongly related (both involve a passion for solving problems). If you are extroverted (like me!) teaching is a wonderful way to connect research to the lives of others.

Check out Gwendolyn's webpage here.

Sachiko Ouchi, Directed Studies student (2015-2016)

The natural beauty of the north has always drawn me in and taken my breath away, and after many enjoyable but laborious years of education, I relocated to Terrace and am currently employed by Kitselas First Nation as the Marine Resource Stewardship Officer. My days are filled with Marine Protected Area Network planning and Marine Plan Partnership (MaPP) marine plan implementation on the North Coast. Looking back at it all, the O’Connor lab was integral in fostering critical thinking and communication skills that have proved invaluable throughout all areas of my life.

Nicole Knight, BSc. Honours (2014) and Lab Assistant

Thesis: "The variable impacts of predation on seagrass mesograzer communities in Trevor Channel, British Columbia"

Currently: PhD student in Frederic Guichard's lab at McGill University

Jemma Titheridge, BSc. Honours (2014-2015)

Sarah Amundrud, BSc. Honours (2011-2012)

Thesis: "The relative importance of predators and nutrients on eelgrass benthic food webs in British Columbia. Ecology and Environmental Biology".
Currently: PhD Student in Diane Srivastava's lab at UBC

Andrew Huang, Directed Studies student (2011-2012)

Currently a biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Service working as a Joint Venture Coordinator. The Joint Venture is a regional conservation partnership composed of government and non-government organizations with the collective goal of conserving birds and bird habitat. We do things ranging from land acquisition, to habitat restoration, to species monitoring, to working with private landowners to encourage stewardship actions. Find out more about us: https://pacificbirds.org/ and http://cijv.ca/. My research experience at the O’Connor lab was what kick started me into the world of birds, conservation, and perhaps most importantly, learning how to work collaboratively with others!

Carolyn Prentice, BSc. Honours (2011-2012)

Thesis: "The relative impacts of three mesograzer species on eelgrass (Zostera marina) epiphyte abundance in Barkley Sound, B.C."
Currently: Nearshore Research Technician at Hakai Institute

Past Directed Studies Students

Zander Chila (2016-2017)
Amir Gohari (2016-2017)
Scott Brydle (2015-2016)
Theodore Back (2015-2016)
Melanie Overhill (2013-2014)
Stephanie Connor (2011-2012)
David Xiao Song (2012-2013)
Coreen Forbes (2010-2011; currently a PhD student in the lab)
Patricia Sun (2010-2011)

Past Lab Techs and Volunteers

Marcus Campbell (2016-2017)
William Ou (2016-2017)
Allison Dennert (2015-2016)
Melinda Yogendran (2014-2015)
John Cristiani (2012-2013)
Winnie Cheung
Nick Uthaikhaifar (2011-2012)
Sanjna Hothi (2012)
Boaz Hung (2011)