I have a wide background within fisheries science with experience ranging from fish physiology (MSc) to fisheries management and fish ecology (BSc and PhD). I am currently focused on understanding how abiotic and biotic conditions (e.g., habitat availability, anthropogenic disturbances, and species diversity) drive ecological processes for fish in freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are currently experiencing rapid changes caused by anthropogenic stressors (e.g., pollution, development, and climate change) which alters fish communities, resulting in changes to fisheries. How fish communities adjust to their changing environment and the mitigation of these impacts is of interest to me with hopes of improving conservation efforts and fisheries management practices. Specifically, I find cold-water to be fascinating and am intrigued by how they are adjusting their movements and behaviours, trophic relationships and positions, and bioenergetics in response to their changing environment. For further information about my current and past research, please check out my OTN research profile. I have experience in collecting, processing, and analyzing quantitative data (programming) and publishing results in peer-reviewed scientific literature (publications). Additionally, I have reviewed several peer-reviewed manuscripts for publication. I have experience working in a laboratory with tasks ranging from fish culture and fish age estimation to colorimetric assays, solid phase extractions, and HPLC. I also have experience in the field that ranges from boat maintenance and operation, fish collection methods (e.g., gill netting, electrofishing, etc.), acoustic telemetry tagging, acoustic receiver deployment and retrieval, and fish tissue sampling. I am passionate about fish and aquatic ecosystems and love researching and learning all things fishy!

Contact Info: benjamin.hlina@gmail.com