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Research

My fields of research include conservation, aquatic ecology and the impacts of human disturbance on ecosystem functioning. I'm particularly interested in knowledge co-production and developing our ability to manage biodiversity and  sea- and land-use decisions in sustainable and just ways.

My current PhD research is concerned with salmon pathogen community composition and spread associated with salmon farming in coastal British Columbia. I combine field studies, molecular analyses with environmental DNA and mathematical modeling to inform better management approaches for aquaculture and sea-use.

 

I earned my BSc at the University of British Columbia in biology and oceanography, and my MSc in biology at McGill University.

Featured Research

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Impacts of invasive crayfish depend on the population source and the presence of competitors

Photos by Raina Fan

A research project as part of my MSc focused on identifying factors that can lead to the context-dependence of invasive species' impacts. I used crayfishes as model organisms and functional response experiments to measure per capita effects as a proxy for field impacts. I was curious about how impacts might differ between geographically-disparate populations of a species. To figure it out, my collaborators and I compared the feeding behaviour of American spiny-cheek crayfish from populations in its native and invaded ranges in Canada, the USA, Germany and Belgium to use in laboratory experiments.

To import the crayfish used in my experiments, I  created a AQC-2 small-scale containment facility at McGill University, which was inspected and approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This innovation was necessary because most North American crayfish species are potential carriers of Aphanomyces astaci, a water mold that causes crayfish plague, a disease fatal to European crayfishes. To limit the potential spread of crayfish plague, import of American spiny-cheek crayfish into Canada is highly regulated, and for research use, requires a safe quarantine facility.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

6. Krkosek M, Bateman A, Bass A, Bugg W, Connors B, Deeg C, Di Cicco E, Godwin E, Grimm J, Krichel L, Mordecai G, Morton A, Peacock S, Shea D, Riddell S, \& Miller K. 2024. Disease risks of salmon aquaculture to wild Pacific salmon in Canada. Science Advances. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adn7118 *Middle authors in alphabetical order

5. Semeniuk CAD, Church K, Eissenhauer F, Grimm J, Hechler RM, Howell B, Ivanova SV, Kirkwood A, Klemet-
N’guessan S, Madliger C, Reid J, Thompson-Kumar K, Arismendi I, Penaluna B, Kirkwood AE, & Febria C. 2024.
On increasing Equity and Inclusion of Early-Career Professionals in Canadian Fisheries and Aquatic Science
Societies. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. doi:10.1139/cjfas-2024-0033
*Middle authors in alphabetical order

4. Currie-Olsen D, Hesketh AV,  Grimm J, Kennedy J, Marshall KE, & Harley CDG. 2023Lethal and sublethal implications of low temperature exposure for three intertidal predators. Journal of Thermal Biology 114. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103549. PDF

3. Ray JC, Grimm J, & Olive A. 2021. The biodiversity crisis in Canada: failures and challenges of federal and sub-national legal frameworks. FACETS. doi:10.1139/facets-2020-0075 

2. Grimm J, Dick JTA, Verreycken H, Jeschke J, Linzmaier S & Ricciardi A. 2020. Context-dependent differences in the functional responses of conspecific native and non-native crayfishes. NeoBiota 54: 71–88. doi:10.3897/neobiota.54.38668

1. Hersh E, Grimm J, & Whitton J. 2016. Attack of the Clones: reproductive interference between sexuals and asexuals in the Crepis agamic complex. Ecology and Evolution 6(18): 6473–6483. doi:10.1002/ece3.2353

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