KATLEEN ROBERT
PhD Seafloor and Habitat Mapping
Assistant Professor, Marine Institute
​My research aims at developing quantitative and repeatable approaches to map seafloor habitats. My focus has been on examining fine-scale species-environment relationships using benthic imagery, sidescan and multibeam sonars to build full coverage predictive maps. I am also looking at mapping deep-sea habitats at even greater resolutions using 3D point clouds and photogrammetry reconstructions.
Ana Belén Yánez Suárez
Ph.D. candidate
I am a marine biologist and a National Geographic Explorer. I graduated with an International Master of Marine Biological Recourses (IMBRSea) at UGent (Belgium) and Sorbonne University (France), where I was awarded an Erasmus Mundus Join Master Scholarship. I collaborated on the Seamounts Project at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands, where I contributed to developing the first systematic characterization of deep-sea benthic invertebrate communities of the Islands.
Through these experiences, I developed a strong interest in coral ecology. My doctoral research at 4D Oceans focuses on the dynamics of deep-water vertical habitats in the Galapagos Islands and the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Through my PhD research, I aim to understand the links between environmental settings, cold-water coral habitat complexity, and the biodiversity of associated communities in vertical walls that are generally overlooked due to technological limitations.
Emmeline Broad
Ph.D. Candidate
I am an early career benthic ecologist with a particular interest in the conservation of deep-sea vulnerable habitats.I graduated in 2020 with an MSci in Marine Biology from the University of Southampton (UK). My dissertation focused on using fine scale multibeam bathymetry and imagery obtained from an ROV, to map deep sea vulnerable marine ecosystems off Southwest Greenland.After graduating, I held a position in the benthic ecology team in the Institute of
Zoology, Zoological Society of London. My research focused on evaluating several years of drop video imagery and multibeam bathymetry to map polar seabed habitats on the Western Greenland shelf. This work provided baseline information on the distribution, structure and abundance of habitat forming organisms in the region, which will help support the sustainable management of Greenland’s cold water prawn fishery.
My PhD project sits in the wider BEcoME project (WP2) which aims to evaluate the role that geomorphology plays in predicting shifting species patterns in the NW Atlantic in response to the effects of climate change. Using recently obtained high resolution multibeam bathymetry, I will focus on building a number of habitat suitability models under present and future climate change conditions. These predictions may help us understand if there is suitable habitat available which could support vulnerable taxa that are predicted to migrate poleward in response to climate change.
CURRENT STUDENTS
Antonia Kotliarov
MSc. Student
I received my BSc in Marine Sciences from the University of Maine, where I looked at differences in benthic community make-up at active and peripheral areas of a methane seep site for my honors thesis. This project sparked my interest in benthic ecology and led me to pursuing my masters in Fisheries Science and Technology with the 4D Oceans lab and the SEAM at Dalhousie, where I will be characterizing the benthos of northern PEI around a potential area of freshwater discharge and exploring possible influences on the benthic community.
​Esther Marcayata Vaca
MSc. Student
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I received my BSc in Biological Sciences from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in 2021. Since then, I have been involved in marine conservation projects in Ecuador as a volunteer field assistant and researcher. I worked with Machalilla National Park on green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting and hatching monitoring activities, as well as on blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) nesting projects. I also collaborated with the Galapagos National Park Directorate on coral restoration, marine megafauna monitoring, and a shark juvenile nursery project. In 2023, I joined the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos Islands, where I have been participating in the Deep Ocean Project, a research initiative focused on deep-sea benthic fauna.
​I am currently enrolled as an MSc student in Fisheries Science and Ocean Technology at the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, and I am affiliated with the 4D Oceans Lab. My master’s thesis research centers on an ecological study of the first cold-water coral reef discovered in the Galapagos Islands, aiming to characterize its biodiversity, community composition, and the spatial distribution of both the reef and the seamount Cacho de coral where it was found.
Maryjune Cabiguin
Ph.D. Student
I am a community ecologist with an interest in marine invasive ecology, invertebrate and reef fish ecology. My research has always been anchored on resource use and management, with particular emphasis on sustainable practices balancing ecological integrity with community needs.
My PhD research is one of the sub-projects within a broader project in partnership with MITACS and Qikitaaluk Corporation (QC). I will focus on investigating the seabed habitat preference and determining the harvestable potential of three bivalves including Iceland scallop, soft shell clam and cockle in Nunavut. The output of this project will help inform rotational sustainable harvesting of bivalves in Canada’s northern territories, specifically in Nunavut.
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