| Project title: |
Prediction and visualization of the spatial and vertical (3D) distribution of walleye pollock and environmental covariates in the Eastern Bering Sea.
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| Hypothesis or objectives: |
The main goal of this project is visualize variation in walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus; hereafter referred to as pollock) distribution in the 3D environment of the eastern Bering Sea (EBS) shelf.
Pollock are a dominant species with important commercial and ecological roles in the North Pacific. Pollock account for ~5% of global fish harvest, with annual harvests ranging from 4-7 million metric tons, and were ranked second in the world among marine species in capture production in 2008. Pollock are also considered a semipelagic species, with a fraction of the population in midwater, and the reminder associated with the bottom.
Both pollock spatial and vertical distribution will be modeled using data from bottom trawl and acoustic surveys conducted in the EBS. Single-species analysis using Vector Autoregressive Spatio-Temporal (VAST; FishStats software; https://james-thorson.github.io/ ) models will be used to model spatial distribution in relation to environmental covariates. Vertical distribution will be modelled using ordinal regression models such as ordered logistic regression or ordered generalized additive models (GAM).
Model results will be used to visualize predicted (spatial and vertical) distributions over the EBS shelf under different environmental conditions. 2D, 3D visualizations and animations are desirable to present changes in pollock distribution in changing environment. Visualization of seasonal changes and future projections under climate change scenarios in the EBS will be important part of this project.
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| Duration: |
3 - 12 months
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| Area(s) of discipline: |
Computer And Information Sciences, Earth Science, Ecology, Environmental Science Studies, Fisheries Science, Instructional Design Or Development & Technology, Living Marine Resources, Marine And Aquatic Sciences, Oceanography, Spatial Analysis
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| Internship location: |
Seattle, WA
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| Duties and responsibilities: |
Development of function library in R (or other software) to visualize predicted (spatial and vertical) distributions of Pollock over the EBS shelf under different environmental conditions. The preferred product format would either be developed as an R package or other software package which would interface with R output from statistical models.
2D and 3D visualizations and animations are desirable to present changes in Pollock distribution in changing environment. Visualization of seasonal changes and future projections under climate change scenarios in the EBS will be important part of this project.
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| Special skills/training required: |
Proficiency in R or other software which can be used to visualize 2D and 3D data and statistical model outputs
Familiarity in statistical modeling.
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| Expected outcomes: |
Visualizations and/or animations of data and model results from the analysis of the effects of environmental conditions on the distribution of pollock in the EBS.
R package, or function library for data visualization or a stand-alone software package that is interfaced with R statistical model output.
Poster/animation to be presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in January 2018
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| Point of contact (Mentor): |
Stan, Kotwicki
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| Organization: |
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
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| Program office: |
AFSC
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| Mailing address: |
7600 Sand Point Way Ne, Bldg 4
Seattle, WA 98115
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| Phone number: |
206-526-6614
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| Fax number: |
None
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| Email: |
stan.kotwicki@noaa.gov
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| Co-Mentor name: |
Steve Barbeaux
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| Co-Mentor email: |
steve.barbeaux@noaa.gov
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| Co-Mentor gency or organization: |
NOAA/ AFSC
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