Hui, Tabitha
Research
Competition between marine mammals and fisheries
A leading hypothesis to explain the decline of Steller sea lions (SSL) throughout the western portion of their Alaskan range is the reduction of prey abundance or change in prey distribution caused by commercial fisheries. I am comparing SSL population trends with spatially-explicit distributions of prey to assess whether the observed rates of SSL decline are related to the availability of prey and/or the amount of commercial catch.
I hope that my research will enable government departments, fisheries managers and wildlife conservationists make better decisions regarding the protection of endangered species (specifically pinnipeds), so that conflicts between fisheries and marine mammals can be minimised.
Career wise, I need postgraduate qualifications if I'm going to set up my own lab one day. But personally, I have an inquisitive nature and enjoy conducting research.
Mainly because I can do the kind of research I want to do here (fisheries impacts on marine mammals). The Zoology Department here also has a long history of outstanding research. Oh, and the campus setting and city of Vancouver are beautiful to boot!
It's cooollllddd in winter, but the plus side is that the skiing and snowboarding are excellent. There aren't many Singaporean eateries here, so you might want to learn how to make all those hawker centre favourites before coming over. Just come here with an open mind and be willing to try out new things.
Cycling along the seawall from Kitsilano Beach to Coal Harbour and hiking the Baden-Powell Trail from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove. I got to feel the laid-back lifestyle here in the former and see wildlife up close in the latter.
Flying, diving and hiking
I plan to do a PhD on South American marsupials and set up a research lab focussing on the conservation of Southeast Asian wildlife after that.
