HRI Science Seminar Series - Will Patterson

Dr. Will Patterson
Associate Professor
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
University of Florida

Age is a fundamental parameter in population ecology and fisheries given the estimation of population dynamics rates is often contingent upon accurate age estimates. Describing a species’ life history, thus resistance to or resilience from anthropogenic sources of mortality, also relies on unbiased age estimation. In this talk, novel approaches to validating age, growth, and longevity estimates of western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea reef fishes via natural biogeochemical tracers in their otoliths and eye lenses will be presented. Application of these methods to pressing fisheries and ecosystem management and conservation problems will also be discussed.

Will Patterson is a marine fisheries ecologist who examines questions related to population dynamics, population connectivity, and food web structure. Geographically, his work is centered in the Gulf of Mexico, US Atlantic waters, and the Caribbean Sea. Among these regions, his research team utilizes or develops novel technological approaches to examine otherwise intractable fisheries ecology questions, with an emphasis on exploited as well as non-exploited reef, coastal pelagic, and estuarine fishes.