Sara Iverson

Sara Iverson
Alma mater	Duke University
Awards	Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Life Sciences Division, Academy of Science
Scientific career
Fields	animal physiological and biochemical mechanism, biology and ecology of marine vertebrates, marine animal tagging and tracking

Sara Iverson is a professor of biology at Dalhousie University, and the scientific director of the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). ^[1]

Iverson was selected by Mattel Inc. and National Geographic as an influential Canadian scientist and role model for Barbie's You Can Be Anything campaign as part of the doll's 60th anniversary. This effort is aimed at helping young girls can have a career in a scientific fields where women have historically been underrepresented. ^[2]

Early life and education

Iverson was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. ^[3] She has a bachelors of science in Zoology from Duke University, 1979. She received her Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of Maryland, College Park MD in Nutritional Sciences. She began her career as a Graduate Research Fellow, Max-Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, Wuppertal, West Germany. She held teaching positions and research positions at University of Maryland, Oregon State University, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC; Technical University of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS. Iverson joined the Department of Biology, Dalhousie University.in 1994 as an Assistant Professor and rose to her current position as Professor in 2004. Iverson was selected as the Scientific Director of the Ocean Tracking Network Canada, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2008 and is in that role today. She is also a professor of biology in Affiliate Professor, Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks. ^[3]

Career and research

Iverson's research interests are focused on how animals adapt to and exploit their environments and in the physiological and biochemical mechanisms which constrain or provide opportunities for them to do so. Her research program is inter-disciplinary, combining comparative physiology and ecology with lipid biochemistry and metabolism in vertebrates, and integrating laboratory and field studies on fundamental issues of interest to both zoological and medical communities, as and which also have implications for the conservation and management of mammal, seabird, and fish populations. Iverson supervises and mentors a number of graduate students both as a Professor and through her leadership within OTN. ^[4]

Honors and awards

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Life Sciences Division, Academy of Science, 2018 – present ^[5]
• (As leader of OTN), Nature Inspiration Award to OTN (Not-for-Profit Large category), Canadian Museum of Nature, November 2016 ^[6]
• (As leader of OTN) International Conservation Achievement Award to OTN, American Fisheries Society, July 2016 ^[7]
• University Research Professor, distinction in scholarship, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, 2009–2014. ^[8]
• Killam Prize, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.  2000. ^[9]
• NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship July 1998 – June 2000. ^[10]

Selected publications

• Landovskis, S., Bailey, M., Iverson, S., Jeddore, S., Lennox, R.J., Murray, C. and Whoriskey, F., 2024. Habitat and movement selection processes of American lobster/jakej within a restricted bay in the Bras d’Or Lake/Pitu’paq, Nova Scotia, Canada. Movement Ecology, 12(1), p.48. ^[11]
• Lennox, R.J., Whoriskey, F.G., Verhelst, P., Vandergoot, C.S., Soria, M., Reubens, J., Rechisky, E.L., Power, M., Murray, T., Mulder, I. and Markham, J.L., Lowerre-Barbieri, S.K., Lindley, S.T., Knott, N.A., Kessel, S.T., Iverson, S., Huveneers, C., Heidemeyer, M., Harcourt. R., Griffin, L.P., Friess, C., Filous, A., Fetterplace, L.C., Danylchuk, A.J., Daly, R., Cowley, P., Cooke, S.J., Chávez, E.J., Blaison, A., Whoriskey, K. (2024). Globally coordinated acoustic aquatic animal tracking reveals unexpected, ecologically important movements across oceans, lakes and rivers. Ecography, 2024(1), p.e06801. ^[12]
• Remili, A., Dietz, R., Sonne, C., Iverson, S.J., Roy, D., Rosing-Asvid, A., Land-Miller, H., Pedersen, A.F. and McKinney, M.A., 2022. Validation of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis for estimating the diet composition of free-ranging killer whales. Scientific Reports, 12(1), p.7938. ^[13]
• Cooke, S.J., Lennox, R.J., Brownscombe, J.W., Iverson, S.J., Whoriskey, F.G., Millspaugh, J.J., Hussey, N.E., Crossin, G.T., Godley, B.J. and Harcourt, R., 2021. A case for restoring unity between biotelemetry and bio-logging to enhance animal tracking research. Facets, 6(1), pp.1260-1265. ^[14]
• Jay, C.V., Iverson, S.J. and Fischbach, A.S., 2021. Variability of lipids and fatty acids in Pacific walrus blubber. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, p.603065. ^[15]
• Jory, Cabrol, Véronique Lesage, Alexandra Leclerc, Janie Giard, Sara Iverson, Martine Bérubé, Robert Michaud, and Christian Nozais. "Individual and population dietary specialization decline in fin whales during a period of ecosystem shift." Scientific reports 11, no. 1 (2021): 17181. ^[16]
• Brownscombe, J.W., Griffin, L.P., Chapman, J.M., Morley, D., Acosta, A., Crossin, G.T., Iverson, S.J., Adams, A.J., Cooke, S.J. and Danylchuk, A.J., 2020. A practical method to account for variation in detection range in acoustic telemetry arrays to accurately quantify the spatial ecology of aquatic animals. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11(1), pp.82-94. ^[17]
• Brownscombe, J.W., Griffin, L.P., Morley, D., Acosta, A., Hunt, J., Lowerre‐Barbieri, S.K., Crossin, G.T., Iverson, S.J., Boucek, R., Adams, A.J. and Cooke, S.J., 2020. Seasonal occupancy and connectivity amongst nearshore flats and reef habitats by permit Trachinotus falcatus: considerations for fisheries management. Journal of Fish Biology, 96(2), pp.469-479. ^[18]
• Nowak, B.V.R., Bowen, W.D., Lidgard, D.C. and Iverson, S.J., 2020. Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) as bioprobes: Fine-scale measurements of oceanographic properties using an instrumented large marine predator. Progress in Oceanography, 189, p.102453. ^[19]
• Lidgard, D.C., Bowen, W.D. and Iverson, S.J., 2020. Sex-differences in fine-scale home-range use in an upper-trophic level marine predator. Movement Ecology, 8, pp.1-16. ^[20]
• Iverson, Sara J., Aaron T. Fisk, Scott G. Hinch, Joanna Mills Flemming, Steven J. Cooke, and Frederick G. Whoriskey. "The Ocean Tracking Network: Advancing frontiers in aquatic science and management." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76, no. 7 (2019): 1041-1051. ^[21]
• Harcourt, Rob, Ana MM Sequeira, Xuelei Zhang, Fabien Roquet, Kosei Komatsu, Michelle Heupel, Clive McMahon et al. (including Sara Iverson) "Animal-borne telemetry: an integral component of the ocean observing toolkit." Frontiers in Marine Science 6 (2019): 326. ^[22]
• Studholme, K.R., Hipfner, J.M., Domalik, A.D., Iverson, S.J. and Crossin, G.T., 2019. Year-round tracking reveals multiple migratory tactics in a sentinel North Pacific seabird, Cassin’s auklet. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 619, pp.169-185. ^[23]
• Bourque, Jennifer, Rune Dietz, Christian Sonne, Judy St Leger, Sara Iverson, Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid, Martin Hansen, and Melissa A. McKinney. "Feeding habits of a new Arctic predator: insight from full-depth blubber fatty acid signatures of Greenland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, and managed-care killer whales Orcinus orca." Marine Ecology Progress Series 603 (2018): 1-12. ^[24]
• Hussey, N.E., Kessel, S.T., Aarestrup, K., Cooke, S.J., Cowley, P.D., Fisk, A.T., Harcourt, R.G., Holland, K.N., Iverson, S.J., Kocik, J.F. and Mills Flemming, J.E., 2015. Aquatic animal telemetry: a panoramic window into the underwater world. Science, 348(6240), p.1255642. ^[25]

References

1. "Sara J. Iverson". scholar.google.ca. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
2. "Dalhousie biologist chosen as mentor for Barbie's 60th anniversary You Can Be Anything campaign". Global News. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
3. "Curriculum Vitae | Lab of Sara Iverson" . Retrieved 2021-07-11.
4. "People | Lab of Sara Iverson" . Retrieved 2021-07-11.
5. "OTN scientific director elected to the Royal Society of Canada" . Retrieved 2021-07-11.
6. "Ocean Tracking Network receives Canadian Museum of Nature Inspiration Award". Dalhousie News. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
7. "Conservation Achievement Award – AFS Fisheries Management Section" . Retrieved 2021-07-11.
8. "University Research Professors". Dalhousie News. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
9. "Killam Laureates". Killam Laureates. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
10. Government of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2016-06-28). "Government of Canada makes bold moves to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in research". Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Retrieved 2021-07-11.
11. Landovskis, Shannon; Bailey, Megan; Iverson, Sara; Jeddore, Skyler; Lennox, Robert J.; Murray, Caelin; Whoriskey, Fred (2024-07-02). "Habitat and movement selection processes of American lobster/jakej within a restricted bay in the Bras d'Or Lake/Pitu'paq, Nova Scotia, Canada". Movement Ecology. 12 (1): 48. Bibcode:2024MvEco..12...48L. doi: 10.1186/s40462-024-00486-6 . ISSN   2051-3933. PMC   11221045 . PMID   38956641.
12. Lennox, Robert J.; Whoriskey, Frederick G.; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Vandergoot, Christopher S.; Soria, Marc; Reubens, Jan; Rechisky, Erin L.; Power, Michael; Murray, Taryn; Mulder, Ingeborg; Markham, James L.; Lowerre-Barbieri, Susan K.; Lindley, Steven T.; Knott, Nathan A.; Kessel, Steven T. (2024). "Globally coordinated acoustic aquatic animal tracking reveals unexpected, ecologically important movements across oceans, lakes and rivers". Ecography. 2024 (1): e06801. Bibcode:2024Ecogr2024E6801L. doi:10.1111/ecog.06801. ISSN   1600-0587.
13. Remili, Anaïs; Dietz, Rune; Sonne, Christian; Iverson, Sara J.; Roy, Denis; Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu; Land-Miller, Haley; Pedersen, Adam F.; McKinney, Melissa A. (2022-05-13). "Validation of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis for estimating the diet composition of free-ranging killer whales". Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 7938. Bibcode:2022NatSR..12.7938R. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-11660-4. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   9106655 . PMID   35562583.
14. Cooke, Steven J.; Lennox, Robert J.; Brownscombe, Jacob W.; Iverson, Sara J.; Whoriskey, Frederick G.; Millspaugh, Joshua J.; Hussey, Nigel E.; Crossin, Glenn T.; Godley, Brendan J.; Harcourt, Robert (January 2021). "A case for restoring unity between biotelemetry and bio-logging to enhance animal tracking research". FACETS. 6: 1260–1265. doi:10.1139/facets-2020-0112.
15. Jay, Chadwick V.; Iverson, Sara J.; Fischbach, Anthony S. (2021-01-27). "Variability of Lipids and Fatty Acids in Pacific Walrus Blubber". Frontiers in Marine Science. 8. Bibcode:2021FrMaS...803065J. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.603065 . ISSN   2296-7745.
16. Jory, Cabrol; Lesage, Véronique; Leclerc, Alexandra; Giard, Janie; Iverson, Sara; Bérubé, Martine; Michaud, Robert; Nozais, Christian (2021-08-25). "Individual and population dietary specialization decline in fin whales during a period of ecosystem shift". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 17181. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1117181J. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-96283-x. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   8387503 . PMID   34433851.
17. Brownscombe, Jacob W.; Griffin, Lucas P.; Chapman, Jacqueline M.; Morley, Danielle; Acosta, Alejandro; Crossin, Glenn T.; Iverson, Sara J.; Adams, Aaron J.; Cooke, Steven J.; Danylchuk, Andy J. (2020). "A practical method to account for variation in detection range in acoustic telemetry arrays to accurately quantify the spatial ecology of aquatic animals". Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 11 (1): 82–94. Bibcode:2020MEcEv..11...82B. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13322. ISSN   2041-210X.
18. Brownscombe, Jacob W.; Griffin, Lucas P.; Morley, Danielle; Acosta, Alejandro; Hunt, John; Lowerre-Barbieri, Susan K.; Crossin, Glenn T.; Iverson, Sara J.; Boucek, Ross; Adams, Aaron J.; Cooke, Steven J.; Danylchuk, Andy J. (2020). "Seasonal occupancy and connectivity amongst nearshore flats and reef habitats by permit : considerations for fisheries management" . Journal of Fish Biology. 96 (2): 469–479. doi:10.1111/jfb.14227. ISSN   1095-8649.
19. Nowak, B. V. R.; Bowen, W. D.; Lidgard, D. C.; Iverson, S. J. (2020-11-01). "Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) as bioprobes: Fine-scale measurements of oceanographic properties using an instrumented large marine predator". Progress in Oceanography. 189: 102453. Bibcode:2020PrOce.18902453N. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102453. ISSN   0079-6611.
20. Lidgard, D. C.; Bowen, W. D.; Iverson, S. J. (2020-02-13). "Sex-differences in fine-scale home-range use in an upper-trophic level marine predator". Movement Ecology. 8 (1): 11. Bibcode:2020MvEco...8...11L. doi: 10.1186/s40462-020-0196-y . ISSN   2051-3933. PMC   7020581 . PMID   32082578.
21. Iverson, Sara J.; Fisk, Aaron T.; Hinch, Scott G.; Mills Flemming, Joanna; Cooke, Steven J.; Whoriskey, Frederick G. (July 2019). "The Ocean Tracking Network: Advancing frontiers in aquatic science and management". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 76 (7): 1041–1051. Bibcode:2019CJFAS..76.1041I. doi:10.1139/cjfas-2018-0481. ISSN   0706-652X.
22. Harcourt, Rob; Sequeira, Ana M. M.; Zhang, Xuelei; Roquet, Fabien; Komatsu, Kosei; Heupel, Michelle; McMahon, Clive; Whoriskey, Fred; Meekan, Mark; Carroll, Gemma; Brodie, Stephanie; Simpfendorfer, Colin; Hindell, Mark; Jonsen, Ian; Costa, Daniel P. (2019). "Animal-Borne Telemetry: An Integral Component of the Ocean Observing Toolkit". Frontiers in Marine Science. 6: 326. Bibcode:2019FrMaS...6..326H. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00326 . hdl: 10536/DRO/DU:30128163 . ISSN   2296-7745.
23. Studholme, Katharine R.; Hipfner, J. Mark; Domalik, Alice D.; Iverson, Sara J.; Crossin, Glenn T. (2019-06-04). "Year-round tracking reveals multiple migratory tactics in a sentinel North Pacific seabird, Cassin's auklet". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 619: 169–185. Bibcode:2019MEPS..619..169S. doi:10.3354/meps12965. ISSN   0171-8630.
24. Bourque, Jennifer; Dietz, Rune; Sonne, Christian; Leger, Judy St; Iverson, Sara; Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu; Hansen, Martin; McKinney, Melissa A. (2018-09-17). "Feeding habits of a new Arctic predator: insight from full-depth blubber fatty acid signatures of Greenland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, and managed-care killer whales Orcinus orca" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 603: 1–12. Bibcode:2018MEPS..603....1B. doi:10.3354/meps12723. ISSN   0171-8630.
25. Hussey, Nigel E.; Kessel, Steven T.; Aarestrup, Kim; Cooke, Steven J.; Cowley, Paul D.; Fisk, Aaron T.; Harcourt, Robert G.; Holland, Kim N.; Iverson, Sara J.; Kocik, John F.; Mills Flemming, Joanna E.; Whoriskey, Fred G. (2015-06-12). "Aquatic animal telemetry: A panoramic window into the underwater world" (PDF). Science. 348 (6240). doi:10.1126/science.1255642. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   26068859. S2CID   206558668.

External links

• Sara Iverson publications indexed by Google Scholar