Research Interests
Co-supervised by Dr. Mark Servos (Biology) and Dr. Simon Courtenay (Environment and Resource Studies), Jess’s research evaluated the sampling design of the long-term Community Aquatic Monitoring Program (CAMP), a community-based estuary monitoring program operating throughout the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Her work focused on assessing whether the CAMP sampling design, developed to support volunteer participation, produced comparable ecological information to a more traditional scientific sampling approach. Using littoral nekton assemblage data collected from ten estuaries, the study compared existing CAMP stations with stations selected using a stratified random design.
The research demonstrated that nekton assemblages were generally not significantly different between the two sampling approaches, indicating that the existing CAMP design was sufficient to detect major differences in species abundances associated with estuary condition. The work helped validate the scientific utility of CAMP data and supported the value of community-based monitoring programs for long-term ecological assessment in coastal ecosystems.
Following completion of her MSc, Jess continued her research at the University of Waterloo, where she went on to pursue a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Simon Courtenay.
