Rosenstiel School student wins best student poster award

December 6, 2010 - Mandy Karnauskas, a Ph.D. student at the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, won the best student poster award at the 2010 Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) meeting held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Karnauskas' presentation, titled "Comparison between abundance estimates from underwater visual census and catch per unit effort in a patch reef system," is based on her graduate research in Glover's Reef in Belize to help understand why fishers and scientists often have different perceptions of change in fish abundance around marine reserves. The $1500 award will be put toward travel to the 2011 GCFI conference in Mexico.

A former Peace Corps volunteer in Haiti, Karnauskas' study in collaboration with her advisor, Rosenstiel assistant professor Elizabeth Babcock, focuses on identifying new scientific indicators to measure the effectiveness of marine reserves to improve fisheries. Karnauskas' research will help improve marine resource management programs in developing countries.

Karnauskas co-authored a second presentation at this year's GCFI conference based upon work with RSMAS alumnus Peter Chaibongsai and NOAA Fisheries scientist Juan Agar. The presentation, titled "High-profit pelagic fisheries lure artisanal fishers into cycles of debt, risk, and climate vulnerability," aims to improve sustainability of ocean fisheries by working with small fishing communities in the Dominican Republic.

Provided by University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science