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Profile
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My main interests are ecosystem modelling and theoretical ecology and the use of these tools to investigate the impacts of fishing and other anthropogenic effects on marine ecosystems.
I have worked extensively with Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecological Network Analysis and am very interested in the use of these tools for marine spatial planning as well as ways to combine ecological and social network analysis for ecosystem based management.
At the Scottish Marine Institute I am a member of the ...
I am also joint course leader for the MRes Ecosystem-based Management of Marine Systems with St Andrews.
Career
2007-present
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Lecturer at SAMS
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2000-2006
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Post doctoral fellow and research associate, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada, various projects including:
- historical reconstruction for the Bird’s Head functional seascape for the Sea Around Us
- the decline of Steller sea lions with the Marine Mammal Research Unit
- the comparison of different ecosystems on the east coast of Canada for CDEENA
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the reconstruction of ecosystem models for the Coasts Under Stress
and the Back to the Future project in Newfoundland and northern British
Columbia
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1999-2000
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Post doctoral fellow: Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of
Maryland, USA – Ecological Network analysis of the gramminoid marshes of
the Everglades |
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Research
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Research projects
I am currently working on a GEF project on "Enhancing the use of Science in International Waters projects to improve project results" and am part of the Biomara project, where I will be looking at the impact of macroalgae extraction for biofuel with Shona Magill and my PhD student, Kyla Orr.
I am also co-supervisor to a Supergen PhD student, Karen Alexander, who is looking at the spatial and social implications of renewable devices in the ocean.
I have some involvement with the FP7-project Knowseas that looks at the knowledge based sustainable management of Europe's Seas. For this project I will be part of a case study on spatial management of fisheries and habitats on the West Coast of Scotland.
I just finished a project on the impact of fishery subsidies on the North Sea ecosystem, and its report is available here. The DeepFish project (Sustainable management of deep-water fisheries and their impact on marine biodiversity) run by the University of Plymouth on the impact of fishing on the deep sea ecosystem of the West Coast of Scotland has just been completed, and the Deepfish report is now available.
In 2009, I ran the EuroCoML project office for Bhavani Narayanaswamy.
The paper on policy explorations of the Northern Benguela ecosystems for the INCOFISH project has just been published here. INCOFISH has been recognised as a 'star' project by the EU.
In 2008, I ran the Euroceans summer school in modern methods for ecosystem modelling sponsored by Eur-Oceans, Quest and Oceans 2025 (30 June to 9 July 2008).
Research grants
- Oak Foundation
- Euro-Oceans
- Oceans2025
- Quest for summer school
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Publications
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Heymans JJ, Howell KL, Ayers M, Gordon JDM, Jones E, Neat F. 2010. Do we have enough information to apply the ecosystem approach to management of deep sea fisheries? An example from the West of Scotland. In press ICES Journal of Marine Science.
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Heymans JJ, Sumaila UR, Christensen V. 2009. Policy options for the northern Benguela ecosystem using a multispecies, multifleet ecosystem model. Progress in Oceanography, 83: 417-425. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2009.07.013
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Bundy A, Heymans JJ, Morisette L, Savenkoff C. 2009. Seals, cod and forage fish: A comparative exploration of variations in the theme of stock collapse and ecosystem change in northwest Atlantic ecosystems. Progress in Oceanography, 81 : 188-206 doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2009.04.010.
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Mackinson S, Daskalov G, Heymans JJ, Neira S, Arancibia H, Zetina-Rejón M, Jiang H, Cheng HQ, Coll M, Arreguin-Sanchez F, Keeble K, Shannon L. 2008. Which forcing factors fit? Using ecosystem models to investigate the relative influence of fishing and changes in primary productivity on the dynamics of marine ecosystems. Ecological Modelling doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.10.021.
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Heymans JJ, Christensen V, Guénette S. 2007. Evaluating network analysis indicators of ecosystem status in the Gulf of Alaska. Ecosystems 10(3): 488-502 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-007-9034-y)
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Guénette S, Heymans JJ, Christensen V, Trites AW. 2007. Ecosystem models of the Aleutian Islands and southeast Alaska show that Steller sea lions are impacted by Killer Whale predation when sea lion numbers are low, in Piatt, J.F., and Gende, S.M., eds., Proceedings of the Fourth Glacier Bay Science Symposium, October 26–28, 2004: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5047, p. 150–154.
For a full list of Sheila Heyman's publications, please use the search box on the right.
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External
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Committee/panel activities
- Member of the ICES Working Group on Holistic Assessment of Marine Ecosystems
- Member of the ICES Working Group on Large Marine Ecosystems
Invited lectures
- Invited keynote speaker to 25 years of Ecopath, Vancouver, Canada, 31 August – 1 September, 2009
- ICES WGHAME meeting (Copenhagen 12-16 October, 2009)
- World Biofuels Markets (Brussels; 16 March 2009)
- Resilience Institute, Stocholm (5 March 2009)
- Effects of climate change on the world’s ocean (Gijon,19-23 May 2008)
- International Ecological Network Analysis Conference (Athens GA, 23-25 April 2008)
- Use of remotely-sensed data for fisheries research and management (Halifax NS, 26-28 March 2008)
- Fisheries Ecology MSc, University of Aberdeen, 15-16 December 2008
- MARBEF summer school on diversity and functioning of coastal habitats, Wadden Sea Station, Sylt, Germany, Alfred-Wegener Institut, 17-27 July 2007
Other conference presentations
- ICES International Symposium on Issues Confronting the Deep Oceans (Azores; 27-30 April, 2009)
- 5th Humboldt Conference (Cape Town, 12-16 January 2009)
- World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (11-16 September 2008, Valencia)
- Eastern boundary upwelling ecosystems (2-6 June 2008, Las Palmas)
- European conference on ecological modelling (Trieste, 27-30 November 2007)
- European symposium on marine protected areas (Murcia, 25-28 September 2007)
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Teaching
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Current postgraduate research students
- Module Leader: Marine Modelling (year 4)
- Programme leader
- Module Leader: Advanced Modelling in the MRes
Lecturing
- Fisheries (year 3 BSc)
- Sustainable Resources (MRes)
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Dr Sheila JJ Heymans
E: sheila.heymans@sams.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1631 559 418
F: +44 (0)1631 559 001
Scottish Marine Institute
Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK
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