Researcher Profile

Dr. Amanda C.J. Vincent

Job Title: Assistant Professor and Director, Project Seahorse
Employer: McGill University
Place of Birth: Vancouver, BC, Canada
High School attended: Sir Fredrick Banting SS, London, Ontario
Further Education: University of Western Ontario (B.Sc.), University of British Columbia (M.Sc. - incomplete), University of Cambridge (Ph.D.).
Geographic focus of research: Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, China, Australia, Spain, UK, USA, .... and anywhere else that seahorses are found.

Brief synopsis of current research:
My interests in marine conservation centre around issues affecting seahorses, their relatives and their habitats. I lead a programme called Project Seahorse, which is based around a team of 35 biologists and social workers carrying out conservation research and management in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Philippines, Spain, UK, USA, and Vietnam. Our vision is a world in which populations of seahorses and their relatives are secure in well-managed marine ecosystems. We work in reproductive ecology, community-based coastal management, marine protected areas, management of small-scale tropical fisheries, habitat protection and rehabilitation (of seagrasses, mangroves, coral reefs and estuaries), adjusting trade in traditional medicines, marine policy, environmental education, and extraordinary fisheries (defined as those fisheries not directed at dead table food). We also conduct basic research in behavioural ecology, biogeography, fisheries and conservation genetics.

Mailing address:
Dept Biology, McGill University, 1205 ave Dr. Penfield, Montreal, H3A 1B1, Canada

E-mail:
projectseahorse@hotmail.com

Websites:
ww2.mcgill.ca/biology/faculty/vincent.htm OR
www.projectseahorse.org

Recent Publications:

Lourie, S.A., Vincent, A.C.J. & H.J. Hall. 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the world's species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London, UK. x + 214 pp. ISBN 0 9534693 0 1

Vincent, A.C.J. & Y.J. Sadovy. 1998. Reproductive ecology in the conservation and management of fishes. pp 209-245 In: Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Biology. T. M. Caro, ed. Oxford University Press, NY.

Pajaro, M., A.C.J. Vincent, N. Perante & D. Buhat. 1997. Role of seahorse fishers in community based management of seahorses. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference in Marine Conservation, Hong Kong, 1996: 118 - 126.

Vincent, A.C.J. 1996. The International Trade in Seahorses. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK. vii + 163 pp. ISBN 1 85850 098 2

Vincent, A.C.J. & L.M. Sadler. 1995. Faithful pair bonds in wild seahorses, Hippocampus whitei. Anim. Behav. 50: 1557-1569

Comments:
Resist the temptation to rush into a graduate degree. You will make a far more significant contribution to conservation if you pause to get several years experience (as a volunteer or in paid positions) in related fields and sort out what you really want to do. This is true whether your marks are excellent or mediocre. Try to work overseas for a while too.