Graduate Student Projects
Past and Present

Scientific Research on Triangle Island

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Obtaining reliable scientific information to enable the Canadian Wildlife Service to achieve its conservation objectives for marine birds is a key objective of the Centre for Wildlife Ecology's research program at Triangle Island. A second, related, and equally important objective is to provide opportunities for high quality graduate student research, be it pure or applied.

Over the 10 years of the CWE's Triangle Island program, several MSc degree projects and one undergraduate honours thesis have been completed based on research conducted at the station, and two more MSc's are in progress. The abstracts to theses that have been completed and information on ongoing theses can be obtained by following the links below. A broad range of research topics has been addressed; the excellence of the theses produced testifies to the high quality of students who have conducted graduate research at Triangle.
Name Degree / Year / University Title
Yolanda Morbey MSc / 1995
SFU		 Fledging variability and the application of fledging models to the behaviour of Cassin's Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) at Triangle Island, British Columbia. (Abstract)
Hugh Knechtel MSc / 1998
SFU		 Effects of age, gender, and condition on the reproductive effort of Cassin's Auklets (Ptychorampus aleuticus) on Triangle Island, British Columbia. (Abstract)
Louise Blight MSc / 2000
SFU		 Egg neglect and its implications for egg predation in the Rhinoceros Auklet. (Abstract)
Carina Gjerdrum MSc / 2001
SFU		 Nestling growth and parental provisioning of Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) on Triangle Island, British Columbia. (Abstract)
Karen Zimmermann Diplom 2003
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität		 The evolutionary relationship between eggshell porosity and incubation period in Alcids (Abstract)
Gwylim Blackburn MSc / 2004
SFU		 Ornaments and overflight behaviour of Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) breeding on Triangle Island, Britsh Columbia. (Abstract)
Eric Davies MSc / In progress
SFU		 Investigating the foraging ecology of seabirds breeding on Triangle Island using stable isotope analysis
Shaye Wolf MSc / In progress
UC Santa Cruz		 Linking seabird life history with oceanographic variability: a multi-population study of the Cassin’s Auklet (Abstract)
Jessica Beaubier MSc / In progress
UBC		 Forage fish quality and implications for rhinoceros auklet chick growth. (Abstract)