Brett Van Poorten

Education

• BSc, Biology, University of Guelph
• MSc, Fish Ecology, University of Calgary
• PhD, Fisheries, University of British Columbia
  

Biography

Brett is a fisheries scientist who studies fisheries management decisions by merging concepts from recreational and commercial fisheries with human dimensions and management science. Prior to joining the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, he was the Senior Aquatic Scientist with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, where he worked with fisheries managers to approach an array of issues affecting fisheries and aquatic systems. These included how to manage fisheries as social-ecological systems, how to address invasive species, deciding between setting regulations and improving habitat to prevent overfishing and addressing impacts to proposed and existing hydroelectric dams.

Brett’s research includes decision analysis and structured decision making to address management issues, development of novel techniques for monitoring fishing effort, and developing and applying social-ecological systems models to better understand interrelationships between management, fish and fishers.