The ecology of the twilight zone is not well understood. Before we exploit it, it’s best to know how it works.
About Our Team
Dr. S. Kim Juniper
My interest in the ecology of marine microbes has taken my lab in many directions over the course of my career, from beginnings uncovering gastropod-microbial interactions in New Zealand intertidal mudflats, to studying chemosynthesis-based food webs and microbe-mineral interactions at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, not to mention forays into cold seep, sea ice, fjord and seabed sediment ecosystems. For the past decade my lab’s research has focussed on microbial nitrogen cycle processes in low oxygen habitats, on the role of protists in hydrothermal vent ecosystems, and on strain-level population characteristics of bacteria symbionts of hydrothermal vent tubeworms. The low-oxygen and nitrogen cycle work is supported by my British Columbia Research Chair in Ocean Ecosystems and Global Change. We are developing a new area of research under the Chair that will examine the contribution of the zooplankton gut microbiome to nutrient cycling in the upper ocean.
I have contributed to the leadership of a number of Canadian marine research networks including the Canadian mid-ocean ridge research network (CanRidge; 1993-1996), Canada’s contribution to the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS; 1995-1999), the NEPTUNE Canada cabled observatory network (2000-2011), the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (2008-present), and Ocean Networks Canada (2011-present). At the international level, I’ve contributed to understanding the environmental impact of future deep-sea mining, and current discussions about the sustainable use of the genetic resources of the deep sea. In my present capacity as Chief Scientist with Ocean Networks Canada, I serve as member of the Executive team, and am responsible for the development of international collaborations.
Dr. Catherine Stevens
I am a marine zooplankton ecologist who loves playing in the lab. A lot of my work has involved using lipids to understand food web relationships among the plankton in Arctic, temperate, and tropical locations in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The lipids contained in an organism’s tissues can provide clues about their life history, mode of reproduction, diet, and the health of their own flesh for the predators that eat them. For our new twilight zone project, I’m excited to use lipids in combination with DNA metabarcoding to investigate both the digestibility of mesopelagic fish and their role in local food webs. I’m particularly interested to see how much gelatinous material these fish have ingested; jellyfish are considered trophic “dead ends”, but new evidence suggests that more fish ingest gelatinous prey than previously thought. The study of gelatinous zooplankton has been hampered by the fact that they are easily damaged and quickly digested. When I’m not nerding out on plankton I am probably sewing.
Dr. John Dower
I am a Professor at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Research in my lab spans the fields of biological oceanography and marine ecology. I am particularly interested in the mechanisms through which biology and physics interact to structure marine ecosystems and, more specifically, how such biophysical interactions drive variability in the growth and survival of zooplankton and young fish. Most of the work in the lab is ship-based, and so my graduate students and I usually spend several weeks at sea each year.
Diana Varela
Marine phytoplankton contribute ~50% of the annual carbon fixed by primary producers on Earth, and can therefore control the carbon balance in the surface ocean, which in turn influences atmospheric CO2 concentrations and modifies global climate.
The goals of my research program are to understand the causes and consequences of variations in marine primary production, and the links between phytoplankton physiology and biogeochemical cycling in the ocean. In particular, we study the eco-physiology of carbon, nitrogen and silicon acquisition in marine phytoplankton, and the sensitivity of the individual uptake mechanisms to changing environmental conditions.
Research in The Varela Lab involves both field sampling and experimentation, and laboratory culture studies. Fieldwork on ships or seashore stations predominantly takes place in high latitude oceans, which are experiencing the most dramatic effects of climate variability, while culture work is done with ecologically relevant cold-water phytoplankton.
I hold a joint faculty position with the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UVic.
Monique Boulanger
I am a third-year undergraduate student at Acadia University and a Co-Op student at UVIC. My work is focused on social media outreach, web design, and myctophids. I curate all the media and research into easy to read pieces for the general public. I also do a kind of preservation called Clear and Stain, which dyes the cartilage and bones of organisms and clears the flesh in a way that we can easily visualize the underlying structures of the organism, and it looks pretty cool too. I am also helping around the lab, dissecting, cataloging gut content, and doing other things as needed.
Emily Fricksa
I am a third-year undergraduate student at UVic working as a research assistant. My work is primarily focused on myctophid fish and their life histories, behaviours, and diets. Using traditional barcoding, I will be contributing to knowledge concerning the population structure of mesopelagic fish in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. I will also be using fatty acid analysis to look at the wax ester and triacylglycerol contents in mesopelagic fish, including the proportions of omega-3 fatty acids relative to other fish species.
