Diana Shores
Background
BiographyIn 2007 I left an unfulfilling yet successful management career in sales and marketing to pursue my ambition to work in Marine Fish Biology. Prior to achieving my BSc. degree I successfully completed a foundation programme in Biological & Chemical Science at Liverpool John Moor University in 2008. My PhD title is: Carbon isotopes in otoliths: a new palaeoecological proxy?
Research Interests
Research ProjectMy PhD research involves development of a new geochemical proxy method to measure relative field metabolic rate using stable isotope analysis of otolith carbonate. To validate my results to date I need to compare otolith-based measurements with alternative enzyme-based measures of relative metabolic rate. I am lucky enough to be undertaking the enzyme assays at the University of Hawaii in the laboratory of Dr Jeff Drazen, a leading deep-sea fish ecologist.
The isotopic composition of carbon in otoliths has been linked to metabolic rate in several previous studies but to date this link has not been exploited to infer metabolic rates in wild fishes. Deep-water fishes in particular are poorly studied due to their inaccessible nature and the inability to maintain in laboratory conditions. This study will combine metabolic traits with morphological and trophic data, obtained from fishes sampled along a depth transect on the continental slope, to provide the most complete picture of deep-water fish ecology available to date. Contact |