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Research Interests
Increasing pressures on marine ecosystems, including climate change, resource exploitation, ocean acidification, and pollution threaten to create imbalances that will drive ecological change in the ocean. Sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems, including both natural and social resilience, relies on understanding, predicting and adapting to these changes. To achieve sustainability we must first understand how ecosystems change: this is the motivation of my research. Larval dispersal dynamics and population connectivity are the primary vehicles for change in marine populations. The ways in which populations are connected determines how populations shift in response to climate or anthropological pressure, how evolution occurs, how effective restoration efforts can be, and how society can sustainably harvest marine resources. In my laboratory, I study these complex interactions using economically and ecologically important coastal invertebrate species.
Short History
I came to Rutgers from colder, more northern climes. The Canadian west coast, where I grew up, is also where I did my undergraduate and graduate training. I was fortunate to be awarded a JSPS postdoctoral fellowship that allowed me to conduct research in Northern Japan.
Teaching Efforts
Undergrad
11:628:125:90 Exploring the World’s Oceans
Byrne Seminar: Oysters Then and Now: Revolutionary Seafood Research at Rutgers
Graduate
co-teaching Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Seminar
Select Publications
Munroe, D.M., Powell, E.N., Ford, S.E., Hofmann, E.E., Klinck, J.M. 2015. Consequences of asymmetric selection pressure and larval dispersal on the evolution of disease resistance: a metapopulation modeling study with oysters. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. doi:10.3354/meps11349
Narváez, D., D. Munroe, E. Hofmann, J. Klinck, E. Powell, R. Mann, and E. Curchitser. 2015. Long-term dynamics in Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) populations: The role of bottom water temperature. J. Mar. Sys. 141: 136-148. http://dx.doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2014.08.007
Powell, E. N., J. M. Klinck, D. M. Munroe, E. E. Hofmann, P. Moreno, and R. Mann. 2015. The Value of Captains’ Behavioral Choices in the Success of the Surfclam (Spisula solidissima) Fishery on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coast: a Model Evaluation. J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci., 47: 1–27. http://journal.nafo.int/47/47.html
Zhang, P., Haidvogel, D., Powell, E., Klinck, J., Mann, R., Castruccio, F., Munroe, D. 2015. A coupled physical and biological model of larval connectivity in Atlantic surfclams along the Middle Atlantic Bight. Part I: Model development and description. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sci. 153: 38-53. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2014.11.033
Munroe, D, J M. Klinck, E E. Hofmann & E N. Powell 2014. A modelling study of the role of marine protected areas in metapopulation genetic connectivity in Delaware Bay oysters. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 24: 645–666. DOI/10.1002/aqc.2400
Munroe, D., J. Klinck, E. Hofmann, and E.N. Powell. 2013. How do shellfisheries influence genetic connectivity in metapopulations? A modeling study examining the role of lower size limits in oyster fisheries. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 70(12): 1813-1828,
Munroe, D.M., E.N. Powell, R. Mann, J.M. Klinck, and E.E. Hofmann. 2013. Underestimation of primary productivity on continental shelves: evidence from maximum size of extant surfclam (Spisula solidissima) populations. Fisheries Oceanography, 22: 220–233. doi: 10.1111/fog.12016.
Munroe, D., A. Tabatabai, I. Burt, D. Bushek, E. N.Powell & J. Wilkin. 2013. Oyster mortality in Delaware Bay: Impacts and recovery from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 135:209-219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.10.011.