Nicola S. Smith
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
About me
I obtained a Hons. B.Sc. with High Distinction from the University of Toronto in 2006, where I double majored in English and Zoology. In 2010, I received a M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia while in 2020 I obtained a Ph.D. in Biology from Simon Fraser University.
I have 10 years of experience researching various aspects of biological invasions, coral reef ecology, and data-limited fisheries. I have published several studies on the Indo-Pacific lionfish invasion of the Caribbean and on unreported fisheries catches, particularly in the tropics. I have received numerous awards, including the Bullitt Environmental Prize, a graduate scholarship from the Organization of American States, and a professional development scholarship from the Society for Conservation Biology, Latin America and Caribbean Section. I headed two Global Environment Facility/United Nations Environment Programme (GEF/UNEP) funded projects on invasive species. My first project involved creating a series of pilot experiments to control invasive, Indo-Pacific lionfish in coastal waters of The Bahamas. My current project involves conducting a risk assessment of potential marine invasive species for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
Research
Invasive species
I am interested in both conceptual and applied approaches to marine invasions.
Learn MoreData-limited tropical fisheries
I use data from a variety of non-traditional information sources to reconstruct fish and invertebrate catches from typically unreported sectors and/or taxa over time periods ranging from 50 to almost 200 years.
Learn MoreCoral reef ecology
Broadly, I am interested in the factors that shape community structure on coral reefs.
Learn MoreOutreach
In celebration of Black History Month, listen to this brief interview with Science World, Vancouver, about how and why I became a Marine Ecologist. I promise that there will be interesting anecdotes!
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In this 'sneak peak' to the movie, "An Ocean Mystery: The Missing Catch," I talk about the impact of tourism on the demand for local fish in The Bahamas.
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This movie highlights some of my research done in collaboration with the Sea Around Us at the University of British Columbia, BC, Canada. It shows some of the process involved in gathering data to reconstruct unreported fisheries for The Bahamas from 1950 to 2010.
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My research on the ecological effectiveness of culling lionfish on coral reefs in The Bahamas is featured in an article written by Brandon Keim for Anthropocene Magazine.
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In an interview with the BBC World Service, CrowdScience radio and podcast series, I talk about some of the nuisances about creating a commercial fishery for invasive lionfish in the Caribbean.
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Sponges have been a target of commercial fisheries for more than a century in The Bahamas and worldwide. At its peak, the fishery was the primary industry in The Bahamas and was ranked third globally. However, the history of sponging in The Bahamas is riddled with periods of fantastic growth, overexploitation, and population collapse. I aim to reconstruct the sponge fisheries of The Bahamas from its inception to present-day to better understand drivers of growth and decline, and finds ways to make the fishery sustainable. See the link below for a brief webinar (starting at 50:20) outlining my current research on reconstructing the sponge fishery in The Bahamas.
Read MorePublications
Smith NS and Côté IM. Potential biotic resistance on coral reefs? Direct and indirect effects of native predators on invasive lionfish. Coral Reefs (in review)
Smith NS, Côté IM and Shurin JB. Effective marine invaders are slow colonizers of newly created habitat. Ecology (In revision)
Freire KMF, Belhabib D, Espedido JC, Hood L, Kleisner KM, Lam VWL, Machado ML, Mendonça JT, Meeuwig JJ, Moro PS, Motta FS, Palomares MLD, Smith N, Teh L, Zeller D, Zylich K and Pauly D (2020) Estimating global catches of marine recreational fisheries. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:12. doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00012
Francis FT, Howard BR, Berchtold AE, Branch TA, Chaves LCT, Dunic, JC, Favaro B, Jeffrey KM, Malpica-Cruz L, Maslowski N, Schultz JA, Smith NS and Côté IM (2019) Shifting headlines? Trends in sizes of newsworthy fishes. PeerJ 7:e6395 doi:10.7717/peerj.6395
Smith NS and Côté IM (2019) Multiple drivers of contrasting diversity-invasibility relationships at fine spatial grains. Ecology 100(2): e02573
Côté IM and Smith NS (2018) The lionfish invasion: Has the worst-case scenario come to pass? Journal of Fish Biology 92:660-689. doi:10.1111/jfb.13544
Smith NS, Côté IM, Martinez-Estevez L, Hind-Ozan E, Quiros A, Johnson N, Green SJ, Cornick L, Shiffman D, Malpica-Cruz L, Gleason Besch A and Shiel-Rolle N (2017) Diversity and inclusion in conservation: a proposal for a marine diversity network. Frontiers in Marine Science 4:234. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00234
Malpica-Cruz L, Haider W, Smith NS, Fernández-Lozada S and Côté IM (2017) Heterogeneous attitudes towards lionfish in the Mexican Caribbean: implications for invasive species management. Frontiers in Marine Science 4:138. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00138
Smith NS, Green SJ, Akins JL, Miller S and Côté IM (2017) Density-dependent colonization and natural disturbance limit the effectiveness of invasive lionfish culling efforts. Biological Invasions 19:2385-2399. doi: 10.1007/s10530-017-1449-6
Smith NS and Zeller D (2016) Unreported catch and tourist demand on local fisheries of small island states: the case of The Bahamas, 1950-2010. Fishery Bulletin 114:117-131. doi:10.7755FB.114.1.10
Hind EJ, Alexander SM, Green SJ, Kritzer JP, Sweet MJ, Johnson AE, Amargós FP, Smith NS and Peterson AM (2015) Fostering effective international collaboration for marine science in small island states. Frontiers in Marine Science 2:86. doi:10.3389/fmars.2015.00086
Côté IM, Darling ES, Malpica-Cruz L, Smith NS, Green SJ, Curtis-Quick J, Layman C (2014) What doesn’t kill you makes you wary? Effect of repeated culling on the behaviour of an invasive predator. PLoS ONE 9(4): e94248. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094248
Other contributions
Smith NS and Zeller D (2016) Bahamas. In: D. Pauly and D. Zeller (eds) Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries: A Critical Appraisal of Catches and Ecosystem Impacts. Island Press, Washington D.C.
Smith NS and Zeller D (2013) Bahamas reconstruction: fisheries trends in a tourism-driven economy (1950-2010). UBC Fisheries Centre Working Paper #2013-08, Vancouver (Canada). 29 p.
Ramdeen R, Harper S, Frotté L, Lingard S, Smith N, Zylich K, Zeller D and Pauly D (2012) Reconstructed total catches by the marine fisheries of small island states in the wider Caribbean (1950-2010) In: Proceedings of the 65th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, pp. 69-75.
Smith NS (2011) Lionfish invasion: an opportunity for collaboration, creativity and growth in marine conservation. Sea Around Us Newsletter, Jan./Feb. (63): 3-4.
Sullivan Sealy K, Anderson L, Stewart D and Smith N (2008) The invasion of Indo-Pacific lionfish in The Bahamas: Challenges for a national response plan. In: Proceedings of the 61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, pp. 404-408.
Smith NS and Sullivan Sealey KS (2007) The lionfish invasion in The Bahamas: What do we know and what to do about it? In: Proceedings of the 60th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, pp. 419-423.