Dr. Rachel Skubel Interdisciplinary environmental scientist and resource manager

I’m an interdisciplinary scientist and conservation practitioner working with coastal communities and the ecosystems they rely on. I use applied quantitative and qualitative research to identify resources and resource use trends over time, and design programs to fill those gaps. By managing multiple fast-paced projects and teams, I am growing and sharing knowledge bases of policy-relevant data while facilitating stakeholder engagement through educational programming and communications planning to build sustainable, equitable ecosystems.

publications

1. Johri S, Carnevale M, Porter L, Zivian A, Kourantidou M, Meyer EL, ... & Skubel RA (2021). Pathways to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Marine Science and Conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.696180.
2. Skubel RA, Wilson K, Papastamatiou YP, Verkamp HJ, Sulikowski JA, Benetti D, & Hammerschlag N (2020). A scalable, satellite-transmitted data product for monitoring high-activity events in mobile aquatic animals. Animal biotelemetry, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-020-00220-0.
3. Shiffman DS, … Skubel RA, Wetherbee BM, Whitenack LB, Wyffels JT. (2020) Trends in Chondrichthyan Research: An Analysis of Three Decades of Conference Abstracts. Copeia, https://doi.org/10.1643/OT-19-179R.
4. Kough AS., … Skubel RA, Weiler AC, Stoner AW. (2019). Ecological spillover from a marine protected area replenishes an over‐exploited population across an island chain. Conservation Science and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.17.
5. Skubel RA, Maranto GM, Shriver-Rice M. (2019) Introducing relational values as a tool for shark conservation, science, and management. Frontiers in Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00053.
6. Hammerschlag N, Schmitz OJ Flecker A, Lafferty K, Sih A, Atwood T, Gallagher AJ, Irschick DJ, Skubel RA, Cooke SJ. Ecosystem Function and Services of Aquatic Predators in the Anthropocene. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.005.
7. Hammerschlag N, Skubel RA, Sulikowski J, Irschick DJ, Gallagher AJ. (2018). A comparison of reproductive and energetic states in a marine apex predator (the tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, https://doi.org/10.1086/698496.
8. Skubel RA, Kirtman B, Fallows C, Hammerschlag N. (2018) Patterns of long-term climate variability and predation rates by a marine apex predator (the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias). Marine Ecology Progress Series, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12424.
9. Chan FCC, Arain AM, Khomik M, Brodeur JJ, Peichl M, Restrepo-Coupe N, …& Skubel RA. (2018) Carbon, water and energy exchange dynamics of a young pine plantation forest during the initial fourteen years of growth. Forest Ecology & Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.12.024.
10. Kough AS, Cronin H, Skubel RS, Belak CA, Stoner AW. (2017). The efficacy of an established marine protected area at sustaining a queen conch (Lobatus gigas) population during three decades of monitoring. Marine Ecology Progress Series, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12163.
11. Cooke SJ, Gallagher AJ, Sopinka NM, Nguyen VM, Skubel RA, Hammerschlag N, ... & Danylchuk A J. (2017). Considerations for effective science communication. FACETS, https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2016-0055.
12. Gallagher AJ, Skubel RA, Pethybridge HR, Hammerschlag N (2017) Energy metabolism in mobile, wild-sampled sharks inferred by plasma lipids. Conservation Physiology, https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/cox002.
13. Hammerschlag N, Skubel RA, Calich H, Cain S, Enchelmaier A, Jennings L, MacDonald C, Nelson ER, Shiffman DS,Wester J, Gallagher AJ. (2016). Nocturnal and crepuscular behavior in elasmobranchs: a review of habitat use, foraging, reproduction, abundance, and movement in the dark. Bulletin of Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2016.1046.
14. Skubel RA, Khomik M, Brodeur J, Thorne RF, Arain MA. Short-term selective thinning effects on hydraulic functionality of a temperate pine forest in eastern Canada. Ecohydrology, https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1780.
15. Skubel RA, Arain MA, Peichl M, Brodeur J, Khomik M, Thorne R, Trant J, Kula M. (2015). Age effects on the water use efficiency and water balance of temperate pine plantation forests. Hydrological Processes, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10549.

Education

Ph.D., Environmental Science and Policy (May 2016-May 2021) [Abess Centre for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA]; M.Sc., Earth and Environmental Science (2013-2015) [McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada]; B.Sc., Honors Specialization in Environmental Science (2008-2013) [The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada]

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