Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Expected Autumn 2009
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Title: “The role of squid within food webs, fisheries, and the environment”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Timothy Essington

M.S., Marine and Environmental Sciences, Spring 2004
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Title: “Linking size-limited predation and the patterns of piscivory of the longfin inshore squid”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Timothy Essington

B.S., Biology, Spring 1997
Lafayette College, Easton , PA

 

 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Spring 2007-Winter 2008

• Quantified the magnitude of predation and cannibalism interactions in the tropical Pacific food
  web to explore their implications for tuna population dynamics and the tuna fisheries.
• Developed Access database of historical and contemporary food habits data and used statistical models to identify factors that influence apex predator feeding habits.
• Project collaborators: Dr. Timothy Essington, Dr. Robert Olson, Dr. Mark Maunder, Leanne Duffy

Research Assistant, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, Winter 2005-Winter 2006

• Quantified the demands on cephalopods as both a direct and indirect resource to fisheries catches and ex-vessel prices in 22 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) and six oceanic ecosystems.
• Project entailed extensive literature searches, creation and manipulation of data sets.
• Project collaborators: Dr. Timothy Essington, Dr. Reg Watson, Dr. Rashid Sumaila

Research Assistant, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, Spring 2002-Spring 2004

• Evaluated the role of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii in the food web of the U.S. mid-Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem.
• Project responsibilities included extensive diet analysis of fish and squid, bioenergetics and population modeling, participation on the trawl surveys, and dissemination of project findings.
• Project collaborator: Dr. Timothy Essington

Research Technician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, Autumn 1997-Spring 2000

• Assisted researchers in a study to determine the functional significance of structural alteration of T cell co-receptor CD4-class II MHC interaction in vivo.
• Studied the role of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) super family death receptor, DR3, in thymocyte apoptosis.
  
  

RESEARCH AWARDS / GRANTS

•  Best Ph.D. Oral Presentation, Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Winter 2009
Award sponsored by the North Pacific Research Board.

•  W.F. Thompson Award for Best Student Paper, Autumn 2009
Awarded by the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists to recognize the best student paper
in fisheries science published during 2006.

•  Graduate Student Research Award, North Pacific Research Board, Spring 2008
An award of $20,000 to be applied toward graduate student stipend and standard benefits, tuition,
specific research expenses including travel, etc.

•  Best Ph.D. Oral Presentation, Graduate Student Symposium, Autumn 2007
Award sponsored by the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences.

•  Graduate Research Assistantship, University of Washington, Summer 20 06 and Autumn 2009
Victor and Tamara Loosanoff Fellowship to cover tuition and stipend costs

•  Student Travel Awards, University of Washington, 2006 & 2007
Financial assistance for conference fees, accommodations and transportation

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Mentor, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, Winter and Spring 2008
Supervised fisheries undergraduate student on research project regarding the identification of the seasonal prey composition and prey size spectra of the commander squid, Berryteuthis magister. Project results presented in manuscript in preparation for peer-reviewed publication.

Guest Lecturer, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Methods and Approaches in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Autumn 2004, 2005 & 2006
“Methods for Cephalopod Research”

Teaching Assistant, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Methods and Approaches in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Autumn 2004, 2005 & 2006
Organized and led weekly lab sessions, including field trips. Graded lab reports and term papers.

Teaching Assistant, Biology Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Biology of Algae, Spring 2006
Prepared and led weekly lab sessions, wrote exams, graded lab notebooks and exams.

Teacher, Acadia Institute of Oceanography, Seal Harbor, Maine
Biological Oceanography, Summer 2004
Planned and taught lectures to junior high and high school students, and organized daily lab and field activities.

Teaching Assistant, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
Introductory Biology, Autumn 2001
Instructed weekly lab sessions, prepared and graded quizzes and exams.

INVITED SEMINARS

"Are tuna mesopredators? Evaluating the potential for top-down control on skipjack and yellowfin tunas in the tropical Pacific Ocean "
Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Winter 2009

"Evaluating the ecological role of squid in marine ecosystems"
Shannon Point Marine Laboratory, Western Washington University, Winter 2008

PUBLICATIONS

Hunsicker, M.E., Essington, T.E., Watson, R., and Sumaila, R. The value of cephalopods to global marine fisheries. In Review Fish and Fisheries

Hunsicker, M.E., Essington, T.E., Aydin, K, and Ishida, B. The predatory role of the commander squid, Berryteuthis magister, in the eastern Bering Sea: insights from stable isotopes and food habits. In Review Marine Ecology Progress Series

Hunsicker, M.E. , Essington, T.E., Olson, R., Maunder, M., Duffy, L, and J.F. Kitchell. Are tuna mesopredators? Evaluating the potential for top-down control on skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) tuna. In prep for the Marine Ecology Progress Series

Hunsicker, M.E. and Essington, T.E. 2008. Evaluating the potential for trophodynamic control of fish by the longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii) in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 65(11):754-765.

Barnes, C., D.M. Bethea, R.D. Brodeur, J. Spitz, V. Ridoux, C. Pusineri, B.C. Chase, M.E. Hunsicker , F. Juanes, A. Kellermann, J. Lancaster, F. Ménard, F.-X. Bard, P. Munk, J. K. Pinnegar, F.S. Scharf, R.A. Rountree, K.I. Stergiou, C. Sassa, A. Sabates, and S. Jennings . 2008. Predator and prey body sizes in marine food webs. Ecology 89:881. Ecological Archives E089-051 .

Hunsicker, M.E. and Essington, T.E. 2006. Size-structured patterns of piscivory of the longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii) in the mid-Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63(4): 754-765.

Hunsicker, M.E. 2004. Linking size-limited predation and the patterns of pisicovory of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, in the mid-Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem. M.S. thesis, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York .

Sakihama, T., Hunsicker, M.E. , Hussey, R.E., and Reinherz, E.L. 2000. Human CD4 residue Phe 43 is critical for repertoire development and maturation of MHC class II restricted CD4 single positive T lineage cells in vivo. European Journal of Immunology 30(1): 279-90.

 

PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS

Hunsicker, M.E , Essington, T.E., Watson, R., and Sumaila, R. The direct and indirect contribution of cephalopods to global marine ecosystems. R.J. Olson and J.W. Young (eds). 2007. The role of squid in open ocean ecosystems. Report of a GLOBEC- CLIOTOP/PFRP workshop, 16-17 November 2006; Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA. Globec Report No. 24: vi, 94pp.

 

PRESENTATIONS

Hunsicker, M.E., Essington, T.E., Aydin, K.Y., and Ishida, B. A three-tiered approach for evaluating the predatory role of the commander squid, Berryteuthis magister , in the eastern Bering Sea . Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage, Alaska, January 19-23, 2009. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E. The trophic position of the commander squid, Berryteuthis magister, in the eastern Bering Sea. North Pacific Fisheries Management Council Plan Team Meeting, Seattle, Washington, September 22-24, 2008. Oral Presentation.

Hunsicker, M.E, and Essington, T.E. Developing a bioenergetics model to estimate seasonal prey consumption by the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. American Fisheries Society meeting, San Francisco, California, September 2-6, 2007. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E., and Essington, T.E. Developing a bioenergetics model to estimate seasonal prey consumption by the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, in the northwest Atlantic Ocean . UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Graduate Student Symposium, Seattle, Washington, February 2007. Oral Presentation

Essington, T.E, Hunsicker , M.E., Olson, R., Maunder, M., Kitchell, J.F., and Cortes, E. Intra-guild predation and cannibalism in pelagic predators: implications for the dynamics, assessment and management of Pacific tuna populations. Pelagic Fisheries Research Program meeting, November 14-15, 2006. Honolulu, Hawai'i. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E., Essington, T.E., Watson, R., and Sumaila, R. The direct and indirect contribution of cephalopods to global marine ecosystems. GLOBEC-CLIOTOP/PFRP workshop, Honolulu, Hawai'i, November 16-18, 2006. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E., Essington, T.E., Watson, R., and Sumaila, R. The direct and indirect contribution of cephalopods to global marine ecosystems. American Fisheries Society meeting, Lake Placid, New York, September 10-15, 2006. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E., and Essington, T.E. Size-structured patterns of piscivory of the longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealei) in the mid-Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem. UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Graduate Student Symposium, Seattle, Washington, February 2006. Oral Presentation

Hunsicker, M.E, and Essington, T.E. Linking size-limited predation and patterns of piscivory of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealei , in the mid-Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem. Ecological Society of America meeting, Montreal, Quebec, August 7-12, 2005. Poster

Hunsicker, M.E, Staudinger, M.D., and Essington, T.E. Quantifying the diet composition and consumption rates of squid in the mid-Atlantic Continental Shelf Ecosystem. American Fisheries Society meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, August 10-14, 2003. Poster

 

SKILLS

Experience working with the following programs:

• Office (w/ Access)
• Visual Basic (Excel)
• R programming language
• Dreamweaver
• ArcGIS
  

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

• Reviewer, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
• Reviewer, North American Journal of Fisheries Management
  
  

ACADEMIC SERVICE

• Treasurer, Fisheries Interdisciplinary Network of Students, 2005-2007
• Social officer, Fisheries Interdisciplinary Network of Students, 2004-2005
• Steering committee, Conference of Graduate Students, 2005 & 2006
• Mentor, Washington State Achievers Scholarship Program, 2005-2007

 

MEMBERSHIPS

• American Fisheries Society
• American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists

 

CRUISE EXPERIENCE

• NJ Department of Environmental Protection Bottom Trawl Survey, June 2002, R/V SeaWolf
• NOAA Fisheries Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey, September 2002, R/V Albatross IV
• NOAA Fisheries Winter Bottom Trawl Survey, February 2003, R/V Delaware II