Dr Villy Christensen
M.Sc. (Copenhagen), Ph.D (Copenhagen)
Professor, UBC Fisheries Centre
v.christensen (at) fisheries.ubc.ca
Office phone: +1 604 822 5751
No fish is an island
Lookup in Google Scholar; in Web-of-Science:
New book: Toward ecosystem-based management of fisheries. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Link
I work with ecosystem modeling and have a background in fisheries research. My research has since 1990 been centered on understanding how human exploitation impacts marine ecosystems, and utilizes ecosystem modeling as the main tool. As part of this I have been central to the development and dissemination of the Ecopath approach and software, and have through cooperation with scientists worldwide focused on trophic dynamics of aquatic resources. I have led a large number of training courses and workshops throughout the world, centered on developing ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. Ecopath modeling is the de-facto standard for ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, and is being applied throughout the world. There are more than 350 derived models and publications, and more than 6000 registered users in 150 countries. Close to a hundred degrees using this form for modeling as a central element have been awarded at universities globally. My focus is now on how we communicate science and how we use science as input to the decision-making process. This involves use of advanced gaming technology and visualizations combined with research on the decision-making process.
Notable research activities:
2008-: Integration of ecological and value modeling: value chain approach integration in EwE
2009: Co-author of study of fishes contribution to the marine inorganic carbon cycle (Science 2009) providing a first estimate of global fish biomass.
2006- Leading development of new EwE6, including coupling to 3D-gaming engine for visualization, design of decision-support system, single-player game, and videos (Chesapeake)
2004- Developing methodology for database-driven ecosystem model generation; applied to all the world’s large marine ecosystems (Christensen et al. 2008, 2009)
2001-3: Developed methodology for quantification of how fish biomass and exploitation pressure has changed regionally; applied to the North Atlantic, West Africa, and the South China Sea (Christensen et al., 2003, 2004, 2003)
1998: Co-author of “fishing down marine food webs” (Pauly et al. 1998)
1996: First published description of "fishing down the food web" concept (Christensen 1996)
1995: First quantification of ecosystem maturity (Christensen 1995), since then applied and elaborated further by many researchers
1995: Co-author of “primary production required to sustain global fisheries” (Pauly & Christensen 1995)
1993: Published description of how to calculate ‘primary production required for fisheries’ (Christensen & Pauly 1993)
1992: Published description of Ecopath II (Christensen & Pauly 1992). This paper was recognized by Ecological Modelling in Dec 2008 as the third-most cited paper in the journal (out of 5020).
1991: Evaluation of fisheries potential for tropical and subtropical areas globally (Christensen et al. 1991)
1990: Project leader for Ecopath development since 1990
Current project activities:
Recent project activities:
Courses taught at UBC:
I recently taught the graduate ecosystem modeling course Fish 501, with a course in the Autumn Session (Sep - Dec 2010). I regularly teach ecosystem modeling at other places, see www.ecopath.org or contact me.
Publications:(see link to ResearcherID above for online list)
Graduate student activities:
I have an opening for a Nippon Foundation Fellowship for Ph.D. study with focus on scenario development for the global oceans. Start will be September 2011. Enrollment through UBC Zoology. Application deadline is 13 February 2011. Here are the details:
Nippon Foundation Fellowship for PhD study at UBC
The ‘Nereus – Predicting the Future Ocean’ Program is a new research program, established in cooperation between The Nippon Foundation and The University of British Columbia. The program will develop scientific capability for predictions of how the future global seafood production may develop, and of what we as a society can do to impact that development. The program builds on international networking between scientists to communicate and bring about change to how we exploit the oceans in order for our children and grandchildren to enjoy seafood and experience a healthy ocean.
The Nereus Program (www.nereusprogram.org) is based at the Fisheries Centre (www.fisheries.ubc.ca) of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada, and involves close cooperation with other scientific organizations, initially in North America and Europe. We currently have a Nippon Foundation Fellowship for PhD studies at UBC open with start in September 2011, and invite interested to submit applications as detailed below.
We offer an inspiring environment and a challenging task. We expect applicants to be interested in interdisciplinary work and being able to spend extended periods at network partner organizations during their study time. The work is involves model development, data analysis, and evaluation. There will be no field component to the work.
The successful applicant will develop scientifically credible simulations of future fish populations and policy options for the world oceans, and this work will be conducted as part of an interdisciplinary team involving program members at UBC and partner institutions, covering climate, hydrography, marine biology and ecology, fisheries, economics and social aspects of modeling. We expect the candidate to have modeling experience with fish population dynamics, ecosystem modeling, or food security. Programming experience, preferably with the .NET environments is desirable. A Masters degree (or corresponding qualifications) in a related discipline is a requirement for admission.
Admission to UBC, preferably through UBC Zoology is a requirement. In addition applicants must submit a letter of application to Prof. Villy Christensen, Nereus Program Director, by email (v.christensen@fisheries.ubc.ca) by February 13, 2011. Please also contact Prof. Christensen with any inquiries about this fellowship.
Other thesis topics related to ecosystem modeling may work as well, contingent on funding.