Project – To determine if spatial and temporal variation in upwelling is recorded in the otoliths fishes?

I am based at the University of San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador.  Mike is co-supervising my project, based at the Galapagos Islands, and my supervisor is Dr Margarita Brandt from USFQ.  The islands are well known for great temporal (e.g., with ENSO) and spatial variation in upwelling.  My project focuses on determining what are the biological consequences of upwelling on the growth rates and elemental chemistry of fishes?  Specifically, (i) does spatial variation in upwelling reflect differences in patterns of growth; (ii) do elemental loads in whole otoliths would vary according to predicted levels of upwelling.  See the gallery for one of the species I work on – Stegastes beebei.

In 2023 Juan Manuel will commence his PhD at JCU and will be working on reef fishes of the Galapagos.