[Coral-List] Introduction to Bioenergetics Modeling of Fish Workshop

[Norman Quinn]

Introduction to Bioenergetics Modeling of Fish WorkshopDiscovery Bay Marine
LaboratoryNovember 29-30, 2005 Dr. Jim Petersen, from the U.S.  Geological
Survey, will visit Discovery  Bay  Marine  Laboratory (DBML) and conduct a
2-day workshop on bioenergetic modeling of fish on November 29-30, 2005.
Bioenergetic models are  used  to  predict  consumption needs and growth of
fish, and have been useful  in  exploring  a  variety of basic and applied
questions, including predator-prey  relationships,  competition for food,
the effects of climate change  and  global  warming,  and  many other
examples.  The workshop will provide an introduction to bioenergetic
principles and modeling, examples, and familiarize students with a
user-friendly software package called "Fish Bioenergetics 3.0".  The
workshop  will be a combination of lecture, discussion, and exercises
designed to demonstrate  the flexibility and application  of bioenergetic
modeling.  Parameterization methods and use of bioenergetic  principles  in
other  types  of  models  will  be discussed. Examples  and  exercises  will
include  local Caribbean fish populations as much as possible,  although
the  great  majority of models have been developed for North  American  and
European freshwater fishes (bass, Cyprinids,salmonids,etc.).  The workshop
will  be  conducted  from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Software and computers necessary
for the workshop will be supplied. This is  an  introduction, so a great
deal of mathematical training is not required.   A  post-secondary
introduction to statistics and basic algebra should be sufficient.      Dr.
Petersen  works  at  the  Columbia  River  Research  Laboratory (Washington
State, USA) where he has used bioenergetic and individual based models  to
study  predation  on  juvenile salmon,  long-term changes  in temperature
on  predation patterns, and management of humpback chub in the Grand  Canyon
of  the  Colorado  River.   He is currently the Laboratory Director but is
still involved in the development and use of bioenergetic models of desert
fishes, suckers in the Klamath River Basin, and endangered bull  trout  in
the  Pacific Northwest.  For more information, contact Dr. Petersen
(jim_petersen at usgs.gov)  or  Dr. Norman Quinn, Director of DBML
(norman.quinn at uwimona.edu.jm).