Jess Ericson, Post-doctoral Researcher

Jess Ericson

Marine Scientist – Shellfish Aquaculture and Climate Change

Role at Cawthron

Jess’s role at Cawthron is to investigate how external stressors affect shellfish physiology and health. These include climate change stressors (e.g. increasing ocean temperature and acidification) and/or present-day challenges (e.g. handling stress in aquaculture systems). Jess mainly works alongside the team at the Cawthron Aquaculture Park, but regularly collaborates with industry partners on site and with external collaborators.

Previous roles include; working in a mussel and oyster hatchery for four years, conducting climate change research on invertebrates in Antarctica, and most recently Jess was based in Tasmania working with Antarctic krill for her PhD studies. Although her research history can be divided into two distinct parts (aquaculture science and Antarctic marine science), she has found that both backgrounds to be complimentary. Both involve working in complex, dynamic and challenging environments, and both involved an industry link in some way. Jess is particularly drawn to research that answers key biological questions, but also has practical applications for industry.

Technical skills, experience and interests

  • Marine invertebrate physiology (early life stages, juveniles & adults; temperate & polar species)
  • Lipid biochemistry (e.g. fatty acids as dietary biomarkers, lipid class analysis)
  • Shellfish aquaculture research and development
  • Climate change research (ocean acidification and ocean warming)

Qualifications

  • PhD in Quantitative Marine Science, University of Tasmania, 2019
  • MSc in Marine Science, University of Otago, 2010
  • BSc in Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, 2008

 

Jess Ericson, Post-doctoral Researcher