Lecture on Fishing and Fish Communities

Lingcod in its habitat.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

Chelsea Wood, an assistant professor in the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, will speak on “Ghosts of Oceans Past: How Fishing Reshapes Communities of Fishes and their Parasites” as part of the Summer Seminar Series at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB).  Her presentation takes place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in the OIMB Boathouse Auditorium.  It is free and open to the public.

Dr. Wood’s research program explores the ecology of parasites and pathogens in a changing world, addressing questions with practical applications to marine and freshwater conservation, as well as essential value for ecological theory. For instance, does loss of biodiversity generally increase or decrease parasite transmission? In other words, do human impacts on biodiversity increase the prevalence of parasites by eroding natural “checks and balances” on transmission or decrease prevalence when they remove the free-living biodiversity on which parasites depend? The answer to the question is urgently needed as global change accumulates and as the perceived threat of infectious disease grows.

She works primarily in marine ecosystems, where biodiversity change is driven in large part by fishing. 

To reach the OIMB Boathouse Auditorium, park on Boat Basin Rd. near the campus and walk down the road past the Coast Guard housing.

For more information, call (541) 888-2581 or e-mail oimb@uoregon.edu.