|
 Tom
Okey's work focuses on the effects of human activities (e.g., fisheries and
pollution) on the structure and resilience of marine communities. His
background in benthic disturbance ecology complements the skills of
traditional fishery scientists when addressing issues such as
ecosystem-based management, marine protected areas, and interactions of
species and communities with habitat. His construction of whole-system
trophic models in Prince William Sound, the West Florida Shelf, a Galapagos
rocky reef, and two U.S. Atlantic continental shelves (using
Ecopath
with Ecosim) frames the principal challenge of modern ecology - to
distinguish the relative importance of physical forces (anthropogenic or
natural) from biotic forces in shaping communities. His analyses of
management systems address the second crucial challenge, and his public
outreach addresses the third.
In
addition to founding Conservation Science Institute and serving as its
Science Director, Tom is a Senior Quantitative Marine Ecologist with CSIRO
Marine and Atmospheric Research in Queensland, Australia. These pictures of
Tom were taken in British Columbia while he was working in the University of
British Columbia's Fisheries Centre and Department of Zoology. |
69KB