Leah Pengelly
Leah joined the Davoren lab in September 2020 after completing her B.Sc. Honour at Dalhousie University in 2014 and then working as a biologist in Nunavut. Her Masters research will focus on the soundscape ecology of the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, in Nunavut. She will use passive acoustic recordings to determine the amount of noise in the ecosystem from biological, geological, and anthropogenic sources. Leah will incorporate Inuit traditional knowledge and conduct cooperative knowledge production with local communities during her research.
Kristina McOmber
I grew up and attended undergrad in California, and started my Master's in May 2022 looking at the pre-breeding behavior and diet of Razorbills and Atlantic Puffins in the north Atlantic. In the past, I have worked with seabirds in the Gulf of Maine, the Bering Sea, and the eastern and central Pacific.
Katrina Wilcox (they/them)
Katrina joined the Davoren Lab in fall 2022 after completing a B.Sc. in biology at the University of Winnipeg with an honours thesis focused on the influence of foraging strategies of bird-window collision susceptibility. For their M.Sc., Katrina is investigating seabird vocalisations at deep water capelin spawning sites on the Newfoundland coast. Katrina is specifically interested in how the use of seabird vocalisations change within social and behavioural contexts.
Dr. Matthew Legard
Matthew completed his M.Sc. in 2017 at the University of Hull, UK where he studied the effects of personality in captive Gentoo penguins. He then worked as an aquarist at an aquarium, The Deep, before moving to Winnipeg to start a Ph.D. in the Davoren Lab at the start of 2021. He is interested in examining personality in populations of seabirds found in Newfoundland and how this effects things like foraging behaviour and breeding success.
Laura moved from Austin, Texas, USA to Winnipeg, MB in the fall of 2017 to began her Ph.D. Her M.Sc. research focused on using ArcGIS to create predictive habitat suitability maps and to explore habitat patch connectivity and distribution for an uncommon kangaroo rat. She applied her ArcGIS and R skills to predict persistent predator (i.e. seabirds and whales) foraging habitat off the coast of Newfoundland and used her people skills to explore the relationship between Newfoundland Traditional Ecological Knowledge and local ecological research. Laura continues to support marine protected area policy and maintenance in her current job.
Dr. Laura M. Bliss
@LauraBlissEco
Previous Students
M.Sc. & Ph.D. Students
Legard, M (2025) Seabird personality and individual behavioural consistency in the Canadian North Atlantic. PhD, Biological Sciences.
​
Wilcox, K (2025) Alcid communication at sea: vocal repertoire and individual chick signatures. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
McOmber, K (2025) Niche partitioning between sympatrically breeding razorbills and Atlantic puffins during the pre-laying period in coastal Newfoundland. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Pengelly, L (2025) Investigating the soundscape ecology of Tremblay Sound, Nunavut. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Faulkner, C (2024) Spatiotemporal variation in anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) foraging ecology and its influence on muscle pigmentation along western Hudson Bay, Nunavut, Canada. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Bliss, L (2023) Habitat selection and the spatial distribution of forage fish and marine predators in Atlantic Canada and the California Current. PhD, Biological Sciences.
​
Pontbriand T (2022) Individuals matter: investigating individual-level foraging variability in Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Morrison S (2021) Sand lance (Ammodytes spp) on the Newfoundland shelf: habitat selection, diet behaviour, and synchrony of dynamics with other forage fish. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Lescure L (2021) Foraging flexibility of seabirds (Family Alcidae) under varying prey biomass. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Mikhailitchenko A (2020) Temporal patterns of humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, non-song calls on their Newfoundland foraging grounds. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Zhao S (2020) Individual variation in nursing duration and resource use among narwhals (Monodon Monoceros) from eastern Canadian Arctic using stable isotopes (d13C and d15N) of dentine from embedded teeth. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Epp M (2019) The call repertoire of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on a Newfoundland foraging ground (2015, 2016) with comparison to a Hawaiian breeding ground (1981, 1982). MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Gulka J (2018) From populations to individuals: understanding foraging niche dynamics, individual specialization, and behavioural plasticity in the common murre and razorbill in northeastern Newfoundland. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Johnson K (2018) Humpback whale foraging ecology under shifting prey abundance. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Carvalho Calabria P (2018) Coexistence of two sympatric migratory shearwaters species during their non-breeding season on the east coast of Newfoundland. PhD, Biological Sciences. Science Without Borders Scholarship
​
Jenkins E (2018) Dietary niche breadth and niche overlap of multiple marine predators under shifting prey abundance. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Scharffenberg (2018) Passive acoustic monitoring to identify drivers of Beluga whale habitat use in the Mackenzie Estuary. MSc, Biological Sciences.
Magnaye M (2018) Growth and post-spawning survival in capelin (Mallotus villosus) on the Northeast coast of Newfoundland. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Ogloff W (2018) Climate change-related shifts in species interactions and diet in an Arctic marine ecosystem. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Maynard L (2018) Internal and external factors influencing foreign ecology of North Atlantic large Laridae. MSc, Biological Sciences.
​
Loeppky A (2016) Otolith chemistry as a natural tag indicating natal habitat of capelin (Mallotus villosus). MSc, Biological Sciences.
McNicholl (2016) Life history of capelin Mallotus villosus and dietary overlap with Arctic Cod Boreogadus saida in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. MSc, Biological Sciences.
Crook K (2015) Investigating the impact of green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) predation on capelin eggs at deep-water spawning sites in coastal Newfoundland. MSc, Biological Sciences.
Maxner E (2014) Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the timing of arrival of capelin (Mallotus villosus) to the spawning grounds. MSc, Biological Sciences.
Penton P (2013) Life history variation in capelin – a forage fish in the North Atlantic. PhD, Biological Sciences.
Sheppard K (2013) Food web dynamics in Lake Winnipeg: trophic linkages among invasive rainbow smelt and commercially important piscivorous fish. MSc, Biological Sciences (co-supervisor with Dr B Hann).
Olynyk A (2013) Food web dynamics in Lake Winnipeg: trophic linkages among zooplankton and the invasive rainbow smelt along with intraguid competition among planktivores. MSc, Biological Sciences (co-supervisor with Dr B Hann).
Elliott K (2007) Foraging behaviour of Thick-billed Murres in northern Hudson Bay. MSc, Zoology.
Harter B (2007) Black Guillemots as indicators of change in Arctic marine ecosystem. MSc, Zoology.
Penton P (2006) Demersal spawning in capelin on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. MSc, Zoology.
Undergraduate B.Sc Honours Students
Currie C (2024) Stable isotopes reveal primary flight feather moult patterns at Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica). BSc Honours, Biological Sciences.
​
Vonderbank K (2024) Energy density of capelin (Mallotus villosus) and sand lance (Ammodytes americanus and Ammodytes dubius) during the summer in coastal Newfoundland. BSc Honours, Biological Sciences.
​
Irvine A (2020) Hatching success of common murres Uria aalge is linked to the number of neighbours and resource availability. BSc Honours, Biological Sciences.
​
Berard M (2019) Influence of capelin (Mallotus villosus) availability on the diet of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in coastal Newfoundland. BSc Honours, Biological Sciences.
​
Epp M (2017) Characterization of non-song vocalizations of humpback whales on their North Atlantic foraging grounds. BSc Honours.
Johnson K (2016) Variation in growth and age of sexual maturity in spawning capelin (Mallotus villosus) on the northeast Newfoundland coast. BSc Honours.
Bone B (2015) Egg cannibalism at spawning sites of capelin (Mallotus villosus) in the Northwest Atlantic. BSc Honours.
Genier G (2015) Growth rates of Arctic charr Salvenius alpinus among various stocks within the Cumberland Sound region determined by back-calculation from otoliths. BSc Honours.
Woloschiniwsky C (2014) Investigating natal philopatry in Newfoundland capelin (Mallotus villosus) using otolith elemental chemistry. BSc Honours.
Crook K (2013) Underwater foraging behaviour and search strategies of common murres (Uria aalge) and the influences of capelin (Mallotus villosus) density and antipredator behaviour. BSc Honours.
Wild K (2013) Relationships between predator density and prey density: multiple marine predator species and capelin (Mallotus villosus) in coastal Newfoundland. BSc Honours.
Sheppard K (2010) Trophic study of invasive rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and native walleye (Sander vitreus) in the north basin of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. BSc Honours.
Olynyk A (2009) Prey selection of the invasive rainbow smelt in Lake Winnipeg. BSc Honours.
Arlt M (2007) Historical distribution of boreal caribou in the Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem in relation to landscape change. BSc Honours.
Reinfort B (2006) Biotic and abiotic factors affecting egg and pre-emergent larval mortality of capelin on a northeast Newfoundland beach. BSc Honours
