Julia Kathleen Baum (born 1976) is a Canadian marine biologist. In 2017, she was named to the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. She was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 2017 and an EWR Steacie Fellowship in 2018.

Julia K. Baum
Academic background
EducationBsc, McGill University
MSc, 2002, PhD, Biology, 2007, Dalhousie University
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Victoria

Early life and education edit

Baum was born in 1976.[1] She received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from McGill University[2] and enrolled at the University of British Columbia for her graduate degrees. Baum eventually transferred to Dalhousie University to work alongside Ransom A. Myers and complete her MSc and PhD.[3] Baum wrote her thesis on the declining shark population[4] and subsequently received the Governor General's Academic Medal.[5] Upon graduating, Baum completed a two year David H. Smith Conservation Research post-doctoral fellowship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography,[6] followed by a Schmidt Ocean Institute postdoctoral fellowship at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.[7]

Career edit

In 2009, Baum began studying the effects that fishing practices have on coral reefs in Kiritimati.[8] As a professor at the University of Victoria, she was named among 126 recipients of the 2012 Sloan Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowship included a $50,000 grant, which she would use to explore the impact of fishing on the life of predatory species.[9] Later that year, she was one of three co-organizers of the Ecology@UVic group to plan bi-weekly meetings for journal-group discussions and informal seminars on the topic of ecology.[10] A few days later, Baum received A $72,000 grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to create a marine ecology and conservation centre.[11]

Following the 2015–2016 Marine heatwave that caused mass coral bleaching and mortality on reefs around the world, Baum began researching how to assist the different species of reef fishes in recovering.[12] As a result of her efforts, Baum was elected a Member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists[13] and Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.[14] She was also one of six university faculty members to be awarded the 2018 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for "outstanding and highly promising faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research."[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-authored a study in Ecological Applications which identified 170,000 individual fishes of 245 different species of reef fishes at 16 reefs on Christmas Island, before, during, and after the heatwave.[16] Later, Baum led the first study that found the reefs could recover from the bleaching when they were not simultaneously exposed to other types of human-caused stressors, such as water pollution.[17][18] In July 2020, Baum released a study claiming that sharks were "functionally extinct" in nearly 20 per cent of the world's coral reefs.[19]

References edit

  1. ^ "Baum, Julia Kathleen, 1976-". id.loc.gov. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "Julia Baum". globalyoungacademy.net. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "Facing an uncertain future?". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Revkin, Andrew C. (January 17, 2003). "Atlantic Sharks Found in Rapid Decline". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  5. ^ "Julia Kathleen Baum". gg.ca. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "2006 The David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program" (PDF). conbio.org. 2006. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  7. ^ "Past Winner 2007 NSERC Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize". nserc-crsng.gc.ca. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Wheeling, Kate (January 20, 2018). "How climate change is starving our coral reefs". theweek.com. The Week. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Shark Researcher Wins Prestigious Sloan Award". uvic.ca. February 22, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Wright, Mitch (October 4, 2012). "UVic ecologists form their own academic ecosystem". uvic.ca. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "CFI Grants Awarded To Five UVic Researchers". uvic.ca. October 16, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "El Niño devastates coral reefs in Pacific Ocean". uvic.ca. April 19, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "Three UVic scholars named to "rising star" national college". uvic.ca. September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  14. ^ "Julia Baum, Ph.D." pewtrusts.org. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  15. ^ "Marine ecologist's global impact earns national award". uvic.ca. May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  16. ^ "Ocean warming halves coral reef fish communities". uvic.ca. April 24, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  17. ^ "Coral recovery during a prolonged heatwave offers new hope". uvic.ca. December 8, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  18. ^ Skrypnek, Jane (January 3, 2021). "UVic biologists discover glimmer of hope for world's coral reefs". Victoria News. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  19. ^ "Dalhousie study reveals sharks 'functionally extinct' in 20% of world's coral reefs". cbc.ca. July 22, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.

External links edit