Andrew is a freelance marine biologist in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.
David is a graduate student in Florida. He studies the ecology and conservation of sharks.
Amy is a graduate student in North Carolina studying local ecological knowledge within small scale fisheries.
Chuck is a graduate student in North Carolina focusing on apex predators and how they interact with fisheries.
Lyndell is a graduate student in North Carolina, studying the feeding ecology of cownose rays.
Iris is a graduate student in Washington studying habitat use and feeding habits of juvenile Pacific salmon and herring in Puget Sound.
Michael is a graduate student in Maryland investigating the visual systems of mantis shrimp.
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By Amy Freitag, on July 15th, 2010
This is a reposting from our old website. I encourage you to take a look at the comments here before writing your own new ones.
Living among a community comprised largely of scientists and fishermen has recently made me wonder where the dividing line between scientist and citizen falls. A recent discussion at Science Online 2010 also raised the question of what is the role of the Ivory Tower in research? Should we consider the scientific community more broadly or is there really something to be said for the role of the ‘expert’ as certified by degrees and a corner office at an academic institution? Continue reading Beyond the Ivory Tower: Experts in the Masses
By Amy Freitag, on July 6th, 2010
Just some food for thought – a picture really says 1000 words here. What you may not be able to see is the conservation areas completely covered up by the dots representing hog lagoons.
By Southern Fried Scientist and Bluegrass Blue Crab, on May 13th, 2010
  Menhaden were the most important fisheries throughout American history. When the first settlers learn to farm corn, it was with menhaden that they fertilized the seeds. When the whaling industry reached its height, it was outweighed by menhaden oil. Menhaden ruled the ocean from the middle of the food chain, they were the dominant prey of most large predatory fish. They swarmed the sea in schools several miles long and millions of fish deep. Their huge biomass supported by plankton, they regulated algal blooms, mediated the transfer of primary production up the food chain, filtered the ocean.
Continue reading The Menhaden of History
By Amy Freitag, on April 27th, 2010
The discipline of geography is one that most people likely dismiss as mapmaking. Gone is the stodgy cartographer and here is the GIS tech wizard. But outside of very particular applications, do most people really give geography a second thought? I hope to show through a famous fishery example that the world should give geography more attention – the Peruvian anchovy fishery.
First a bit of context. Geography is a diverse discipline, spanning applications from environment to physics to cultural anthropology. At the core of the discipline is the importance of place – something very simple yet very often forgotten.
Continue reading Geography of Fishes
By Amy Freitag, on April 23rd, 2010
My research is embedded in political ecology. Though no one can agree on an exact definition, suffice it to say that it’s an outgrowth of geography that focuses on human-environment interactions with specific emphasis on the role of power. It’s a field that is deeply academic and there’s nothing like a week of political ecology discussions to send your head spinning. Also, as the field is new, we like to create terms to help define a disciplinary jargon. In addition, the field’s methodology relies on discourse analysis and units of analysis defined by epistemic communities. Therefore at the recent annual meeting of the Annual Association of Geographers, I spent more time than I was willing thinking about word usage and incorporating some new ones into my syntax.
My favorite quote:
“given it’s mainly men climbing, I’d be interested in starting a rumor that it decreases virility but I thought it would be unethical to start a rumor” on feeling the need to help the Australian aboriginal group, the Anangu people, in keeping climbers off their sacred rock formation (Uluru/Ayer’s Rock)
But read on for my collection of a few gems from my colleagues…
Continue reading Epistemological Idioms
By Amy Freitag, on April 20th, 2010
 When I first moved to coastal North Carolina, my garden yielded miniature sweet potatoes, a handful of blueberries, and an abundance of mustard greens. That’s it. After trying pretty much every vegetable under the sun. Turns out, not many plants like to grow in our soil… wait, I mean sand.
Coastal gardening and farming presents some unique challenges that I thought would mean the end of my quest to become a locavore. But after a year of learning and connecting with our local farms, which aren’t necessarily the type to market to the local buyer, I have resumed my quest. And I think I’ve succeeded, at least for today.
My dinner included only a few things not from the coast: champagne vinegar, olive oil, gin, and avocado.
Continue reading local coastal dinner
By Amy Freitag, on February 9th, 2010
 A visit to my old stomping grounds of Forks, WA this past summer made me realize how much things had changed since I lived in the area. It wasn’t an abundance of second homes and big box stores one might expect to come over time to a coastal community. One thing had changed and Forks will never be the same: Twilight.
Intricately linked to life in Forks, now and before, are the Quileute people, who live in the nearby town of LaPush where the Ho River meets the Pacific Ocean. Across from their square kilometer reservation is one of the most scenic views Olympic National Park has to offer.
Continue reading Twilight, Forks, and the Quileute — cultural identity theft?
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