Past Students
GRADUATE and POST DOCTORAL
UNDERGRADUATE
Emilie was co-supervised by Shawn Craik, and completed her MSc examining brood parasitism in red-breasted mergansers.
Sarah completed two post-docs during her time with the Mallory Lab, focused on Arctic seabirds and then American common eiders. She is presently a Quantitative Biologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Ingrid did a post-doc with the lab focused on Leach's storm-petrels, and has continued as a research associate collaborating on issues of seabird bycatch and environmental contamination.
Chantel undertook at post-doc with us, co-supervised by Kyle Elliott and with Melissa McKinney and Jennifer Provencher, looking at specific stable isotopes in archived seabird samples.
Molly completed her MSc on mercury in coastal invertebrates, co-supervised by Dr. Nelson O'Driscoll
Kristen completed her MSc with the lab, co-supervised by Dr. Shawn Craik, looking at the use of nesting shelters for common eiders in Atlantic Canada
Julia did her MSc with our lab on plastic pollution policy, and trends in plastic pollution as monitored by seabirds, in the Arctic. She was co-supervised by Dr. Jennifer Provencher.
Dr. Kristin Bianchini completed an initial post-doc on threats to loons in Ontario, and started a second post-doc before getting a job with the Canadian Wildlife Service!
Nick completed his MSc examining habitat selection by tern species in southern Nova Scotia, co-supervised by Shawn Craik.
Beatriz completed her MSc at University of Lisbon and was co-supervised by Drs. Nelson O'Driscoll and Joao Canario. She examined mercury in aquatic invertebrates in lakes and wetlands.
Lauren did her MSc, co-supervised by Ian Spooner, examining the paleo history of Gaspereau Lake in Nova Scotia.
Jessie did a bang-up MSc examining biotransport of Hg, Cd and As by colonial gulls nesting on islands around SW Nova Scotia. She now works for the Coastal Action foundation in Nova Scotia.
Joanna did her MSc based at UBC and was co-supervised by Marie Auger-Methe. Joanna modelled annual movements of Arctic terns from colonies across North America.
Liam completed his MSc looking at adult survival and seasonal movements of American Black Ducks wintering in Nova Scotia. He was co-supervised with Greg Robertson. Liam now works in aquaculture in BC.
Sarah completed (at least) 2 post-doctoral projects in the lab, collaborating with Carina Gjerdrum at ECCC and supported by a Weston Award, MEOPAR and NSERC pdfs, and is now a wildlife biologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada
Claudia completed her MSc at University of Lisbon, co-supervised by Joao Canario, on biotransport of contaminants by breeding marine birds at the Berlengas Nature Preserve in Portugal
Molly completed her MSc on declining eiders, changing habitat characteristics and booming predator populations in the Eastern Shore Islands Wildlife Management Area in Nova Scotia. She is currently a Conservation Biologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Adam completed his MSc with the using paleo methods to assess the history of the Avon River, especially links to marine systems
Jenn completed her first post-doctoral research project with the lab before becoming a Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada
Jocelyn finished her MSc looking at the effects of nesting gulls on mercury in bog water at Big Meadow Bog, Brier Island, NS.
Kaja is an international student who joined our lab for some Directed Studies research on behavior of Arctic birds.
Erika completed her BSc(honours) at Acadia, and worked on plastic ingestion in birds for her MSc. She solicited contributions of freshwater bird carcasses from hunters, government agencies and non-government organizations from across the country, and has completed over 350 dissections to date. Her results were both impressive and alarming, showing that even Canadian freshwater birds are ingesting human garbage. Erika was co-supervised by Dave Shutler.
Christine's M.Sc. used satellite telemetry to track Herring Gulls from their breeding colony on Southampton Island, and she examined local habitat use as well as year-round movements. She compared this to movements of gulls breeding in the Great Lakes and Atlantic Canada. She was co-supervised by Grant Gilchrist, and was funded through a MITACs grant related to the Baffinland Iron Mine in Nunavut. Other gull researchers like Rob Ronconi were closely involved in this project.
After completing her BSc thesis on metals in wetland biota, Amanda started her MSc on wetlands in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Specifically, she examined how rapidly constructed wetlands decline in productivity, how this compares to natural wetland production dynamics, and what factors might contribute to this. She defended her thesis like a pro in February 2016 and is jumping into a Ph.D. at UofT!
Isabeau is coming from Université du Québec à Rimouski. She is a climber, has a cool french accent, and previously worked with the field team at Bylot Island in Nunavut and also at Nasaruvaalik Island and PLI. Starting in 2014, she worked in Labrador, looking at foraging movements and resource partitioning among four alcid species. Her field work was conducted at the Gannet Islands off coastal Labrador.
Matthew came to the lab from his undergrad at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and he worked on overwintering American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) in the Maritimes. Matthew's focus was on diet, food supplies, and assessing the relative influence of urban vs. natural food supplies on condition and possibly survival. Matthew was co-supervised by Greg Robertson at Environment Canada, and he now is a Data Co-ordinator with that organization.
Karissa joined the lab in 2014, and was completing her MScAG in applied geomatics here at Acadia. Her project examined changes in land cover on northern Coats Island, Nunavut, over the past ~ 2 decades, as it relates to increasing snow goose populations in the Arctic. She is co-supervised by David Colville at Nova Scotia Community College, and her project is tied to that of Paul Smith, research scientist with Environment Canada, who runs the field station at Coats Island.
Nathalie's MSc follows her B.Sc. thesis on mitochondrial DNA in Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima). She used data from across the species' range to link breeding populations to wintering populations in this declining species. Natural Resource personnel from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Maine are collaborators in this project. Nathalie is co-supervised with Don Stewart.
Dani did her MSc examining survival in two trans-equatorial migrant seabird species
Shanti completed her M.Sc. studying the beautiful Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini). She used geolocators to track the species' annual movements, key marine habitat sites and breeding phenology in High Arctic Canada. Shanti was based at Memorial University of Newfoundland and was co-supervised with Ian Jones.
Mark completed his MSc studying the breeding behaviour and migration of Ross's Gull (Rhodostethia rosea), the rarest breeding marine bird in North America, as it relates to Arctic polynyas. His work used geolocators and satellite transmitters to track the gulls, and work took him to the High Arctic and to Barrow, Alaska. He was based at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and was co-supervised by Ted Miller.
Christine did her M.Sc. at Acadia University, working in the Tantramar Region of Nova Scotia/New Brunswick. She examined the temporal abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates in brackish and freshwater ponds through the summer to compare across wetland types, and then comparing use of these wetlands by waterbirds in relation to food supplies. Nic McLellan (Ducks Unlimited Canada) and Al Hanson (Environment Canada) are collaborators in this project.
Sam came to the lab from Dalhousie University, and is a fish guy through-and-through, formerly working as a guide in northcentral Canada. He has already managed to find some sweet fishing sites in the area, but has yet to show those to Mark ... (well, actually, he hooked a lovely striped bass with Mark). Sam worked on multispecies fish passage across man made barriers to identify specific obstacles to movement and migration. He was co-supervised with Mike Stokesbury here at Acadia.
Nora completed her M.Sc. at Acadia University, investigating the annual movements and marine habitat use by Ivory Gulls (Pagophila eburnea) breeding in Nunavut, Canada. This project used data from gulls tracked using satellite telemetry, as well as data from at-sea surveys, and served to define critical habitat in the winter for this species. Grant Gilchrist, Karel Allard and Jason Duffe. She now works at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Kelly successfully defended her M.Sc. in March 2012, where she examined the breeding ecology of Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) breeding at Nasaruvaalik Island, Nunavut, in the Canadian High Arctic, and compared that to what we know on this species from Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick (Bay of Fundy) and elsewhere. She was based at University of New Brunswick (Fredericton) and was co-supervised by Tony Diamond and Mark Mallory.
Seth undertook his BSc thesis, co-supervised by Dr. Nelson O'Driscoll, on mercury in coyotes in Nova Scotia
Zoe completed her BSc thesis looking at plastic pollution on beaches around Nova Scotia.
Rhyl was a Dalhousie student co-supervised with Rob Ronconi and Sarah Wong. She examined diet and plastic ingestion in Leach's Storm-petrels from colonies around Maritime Canada.
David did his BSc on mercury in recently fledged Leach's Storm-petrels in NL. He was a student at Dalhousie University, co-supervised by Rob Ronconi and Sarah Wong.
Alex completed his BSc thesis on plastic ingestion by gulls in St. John's, NL. He was co-supervised by Jennifer Provencher.
Safyha did her BSc on blood chemistry of Leach's Storm-petrels breeding at Bon Portage Island, NS. She was co-supervised by Dave Shutler.
Julia examined paleolimnology of lakes in the Gaspereau watershed, looking at the effects of dams on elemental deposition. She was co-supervised by Ian Spooner.
Heather completed her BSc looking at the paleo history of Layton's Lake near Amherst, NS.
Gillian completed her BSc (honours) thesis at Acadia University, co-supervised by Dr. Russell Easy. She identified protein biomarkers to indicate the presence of stress in the Great Black Backed and Herring Gull. As little is known about the stress response in birds, this research can further our understanding of the stress cascade in avian models.
Max finished his BSc in the lab, looking at seasonal water chemistry in ponds in experimental wetlands constructed at the Beaubassin Research Station at Aulac, NB, and he assisted Amanda Loder with her M.Sc. research. Max is co-supervised by Ian Spooner.
Savannah undertook her BSc (honours) thesis at Acadia, she looked at organ mass change in long-tailed duck during migration. Savannah is co-supervised by Dave Shutler. Savannah also collaborated on a research project on tropical seabirds at Christmas Island with Janos Hennicke from Germany.
Bernice is a visiting student scholar in the Mallory Lab, doing her MSc at the University of Utrecht in Holland. She is working in Nova Scotia with the Department of Natural Resources, looking at tracking of furbearers (notably lynx) in Cape Breton Island in relation to habitat. Lead supervisors are Randy Milton and Mike O'Brien ... but she comes back from the field to our lab for intellectual stimulation :)
Amy worked with the lab in the summer of 2014 on a variety of projects, as part of her co-op placement through Acadia. Her principle tasks involved dissections of waterfowl that were collected on Ontario in lakes differentially affected by acid rain, as a prelude to analyses on trace element uptake in young birds. She was also involved in the work with common eiders on the Eastern Shore Islands; the wetlands of Beaubassin and geolocators deployment on the willets of Country Island.
Amanda is an Earth & Environmental Sciences student who is following up on Pat Englehardt's research in 2012. She is examining trace element levels in aquatic macroinvertebrates from certain wetlands at the Beaubassin Field Station, to assess if higher sediment or water levels of non-essential trace elements is reflected in levels in biota. This has implications for dietary uptake of top predators at the station, including waterfowl.
Ellen's B.Sc. (honours) thesis looks at foraging trips of Leach's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), and how those relate to colony location and marine habitats along Nova Scotia's eastern shore. She is also assisting Molly Simon (MSc) in her project examining declining eider populations. The project receives support from Randy Milton (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources).
Taylor is working on her B.Sc. (honours) thesis, looking at corticosterone (CORT) levels in eggs of common eiders (Somateria mollissima dresseri). The premise for her work is that CORT levels reflect stress in the laying female, and this may differ depending on the female's assessment of the relative security of her nest site. Randy Milton (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources) and Brian Wilson are collaborators in this project.
Nathalie worked on her B.Sc. (honours) thesis developing mitochondrial DNA primers for Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima). This species is the northernmost wintering shorebird in North America, with many around Nova Scotia. She has developed the project now into an MSc, looking at population differentiation in this species. Natural Resource personnel from Nova Scotia and Maine are collaborators in this project. Nathalie was co-supervised with Don Stewart.
Julia completed her B.Sc. (honours) project at the Beaubassin Field Station, where she explored the breeding biology of Nelson's Sparrows (Ammodramus nelsoni) in saltmarsh and inland habitats. Nic McLellan (Ducks Unlimited Canada) was a key collaborator with this work. Julia is currently at optometry school in the UK.