Claudio is a Portuguese/South African researcher investigating visual systems in fish. The aquatic light environment is unique because water differentially absorbs light spectra relative to depth, with a corresponding decrease in light intensity due to water molecules and dissolved particles, causing a scattering effect. Changes in genes associated with visual systems have the potential to disproportionately drive evolutionary change because they can simultaneously contribute to ecological adaptation and reproductive isolation in species where mate choice is based on nuptial colours (“magic traits”). With the development of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and the significant genomic data available on fish visual systems, Claudio has been able to test hypotheses regarding the adaptive significance of specific genomic changes and their ecological and reproductive consequences, while also defining visual plasticity. Haplochromine cichlids provide an ideal system for this research. The East African Great Lakes are home to several thousand endemic cichlid species, shaped by both natural and sexual selection.

c.f.silva-de-freitas-2018@hull.ac.uk

As a PhD student at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Maisie is collaborating with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) to assess impacts of commercial fisheries on sharks and rays listed on the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species. Aiming to aid species management in British waters, Maisie is working to determine bycatch levels, assess mortality rates, and determine future habitat suitability of the UK shelf, extending to British Overseas Territories, under different climate scenarios. Whilst working with Cefas, Maisie has gained experience on the RV Cefas Endeavour collecting stock assessment data in the English Channel and North Sea. Prior to her PhD, Maisie worked as a Tutor with the Field Studies Council, in finance for Operation Wallacea, and as Volunteer Coordinator at their field site in Honduras. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Conservation from Nottingham Trent University and a Master’s degree in Ecology and Conservation from UEA.

m.evans5@uea.ac.uk

Mar's research interests include understanding how individuals and groups respond to anthropogenic stressors and environmental change in aquatic ecosystems. Using both lab and field-based approaches, she employs multi-disciplinary approaches to explore relationships between ecology, behaviour, and physiology. While Mar’s research has previously focussed on marine and temperate freshwater species, her more recent work has focused on tropical ecosystems. Her PhD, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Amazonian Research, investigates the impacts of artisanal fishing in the Amazon. Specifically, her thesis explores the potential selective impact of capturing fish for the ornamental fishing industry, and how the relationship between an individual’s vulnerability to capture and its individual traits can be modulated by differences in environment. Mar’s work aims to shed light on a growing but underexplored trade and contribute to a broader understanding of fisheries selection in a changing world.

m.pineda.1@research.gla.ac.uk