Kieran Cox, PhD

       I am a marine community ecologist whose interests are at the nexus of ecology and conservation. My research has three pillars: biodiversity science, aquatic pollutants, and conservation policy. I apply these topics to various fields, including intertidal resource cultivation, habitat-forming foundation species, and soundscape ecology.  This broad focus has allowed me to work within ecosystems ranging from temperate kelp forests to equatorial coral reefs. 

        I received my Ph.D. in 2021 from the University of Victoria, studying under Drs. Francis Juanes and Sarah Dudas. My doctoral research was conducted in collaboration with the Hakai Institute and focused on identifying how intertidal resource use over millennia shapes coastal ecosystems. Specifically, I investigate how First Nation’s clam gardens and contemporary shellfish farming influence biological communities throughout the northeast Pacific.
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        I am currently a Liber Ero and NSERC Fellow at Simon Fraser University, working with Dr. Isabelle Côté. My postdoctoral research applies a three-tiered approach to integrating bioacoustics into conserving marine ecosystems. I am conducting this research in collaboration with several academic collaborators and conservation practitioners. Together, we aim to identify the ecological implications of anthropogenically modified marine soundscapes and construct an evidence-based framework for mitigating the impacts of this pollutant.
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       ​I also co-founded and co-led the FishSounds project. This cross-disciplinary approach combines expertise in fish ecology, bioacoustics, and data management to consolidate fish acoustic research into a publicly available web portal. Our global inventory of research on fish sound production is searchable by taxa, sound characteristics, or reference. We have launched FishSounds Educate to increase scientific literacy, FishSounds Fisheries to encourage the use of passive acoustic monitoring, and are exploring how our cyberinfrastructure can be used to advance data science across a range of disciplines. 

Click here for a copy of my most recent C.V