Members of my lab are collaborators. With that, I strive to provide my students with a considerable amount of freedom to pursue ideas, while also expecting them to work responsibly and professionally. I also very much understand that ‘life happens’, and that we’ve gotten into this profession to have fun, not just grind away. In addition to expecting my graduate students to be active in formal academia, I also strongly encourage them to make their research accessible to the general public, stakeholder, and rightsholders as a means to affect positive change when it comes to fish conservation
Dr. Grace Casselberry
Postdoctoral Research Associate, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Intersection of marine animal movement, specifically elasmobranchs, with fisheries management and conservation. She applies acoustic and satellite telemetry to improve our understanding of shark spatial ecology and mitigate human-wildlife conflict in recreational fisheries.
Bryan Legare
PhD Candidate, UMass Amherst, Co-Advised by Dr. Greg Skomal
Research Interests: Understanding spatial patterns in the marine environment, linking habitat mapping, fish ecology, movement, and species abundance to better understand the relationship between ecological functions and spatial patterns. Current research includes using acoustic telemetry and habitat mapping to track white sharks in shallow water Cape Cod, MA.
Danielle Morley
PhD Candidate, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Movement patterns and reproductive ecology of marine fishes; translation of science into policy and management action. Current project is using acoustic telemetry to quantify the spatial ecology of hogfish.
Luc LaRochelle
PhD Candidate, Carleton University, Co-Advised by Dr. Steven Cooke
Research Interests: The post-release fate of sport fish after angling interactions. The main focus of his research looks to identify how different angling practices influence the physiology and post-release behaviour of freshwater fish.
Evan PraskY
PhD Student, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Human-wildlife conflicts in aquatic ecosystems, with a focus on depredation events where predators consume hooked fish before anglers can retrieve them. His work integrates ecological and social dimensions of recreational fisheries to inform conservation policy and stakeholder engagement strategies. Currently, Evan is characterizing depredation within the Northeast U.S. Large Marine Ecosystem and investigating how freshwater anglers perceive threats within their ecosystems using large-scale participatory modeling research methods.
Lab Alum
Fernandez, N.B. 2025. PhD. Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst. Co-advised by L. Komoroske.
Dinkelacker, O.T. 2025. MS. Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.
Goodenough, A.M. 2025. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Holder, P.E. 2024. PhD. Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Madden, J. 2024. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Casselberry, G.A. 2023. PhD. Intercampus Marine Science Grad Program, UMass Amherst. Co-advised by G. Skomal.
Cormier, R. 2022. MSc. Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.
Chhor, A. 2021. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Trahan, A. 2021. MSc. Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Griffin, L.P. 2019. PhD. Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, UMass Amherst.
Haak, C. 2019. PhD. Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, UMass Amherst.
Filous, A. PhD. 2019. Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.
Twardek, W. 2018. MS, Carleton University, Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Ryan, K. 2018. PhD. Environmental Conservation. UMass Amherst. Co-advised by A. Jordaan.
Gagne, T.O. 2017. MS. Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.
Brownscombe, J. 2016. PhD. Carleton University, Canada, Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Becker, S. 2016. MS. Intercampus Marine Science Graduate Program, UMass Amherst. Co-advised by A. Jordaan.
Snook, E. 2014. MS. School of Marine Science, UMass Amherst.
St-Louis, F. 2014. MS, Carleton University. Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
Tyrrell, H. 2014. MS. School of Marine Science, UMass Amherst.
Hart, E. 2013. MS. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Brooks, E. 2012. Ph.D., University of Plymouth, UK.
Martinez, S. 2012. MS. Department of Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst.
Murchie, K. 2010. Ph.D., Carleton University, Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.
O’Toole, A. 2010. M.Sc. Carleton University, Canada, Co-advised by S.J. Cooke.