Kevin Wight, MSc Student
Hello! My name is Kevin Wight and I am from Red Deer, Alberta. I am an MSc student in the Tierney Lab co-supervised by Karen Dunmall of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. My project examines the trophic ecology of Pacific salmon and endemic northern fishes in the Mackenzie River system and assesses the potential for diet overlap and competition between them, using stomach contents and stable isotopes. This work is part of the Arctic Salmon project, a community-led monitoring program that uses Pacific salmon in Canada’s Arctic as indicators of ecosystem change. My second chapter will focus on the characterization of gut microbiomes in Dolly Varden char to provide a baseline across life history types and help monitor fish health in the face of climate change. This project will allow me to harness both my lifelong obsession with fish and my desire to participate in community-led research in some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems.