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Biography: Kathleen E. Conlan

Kathy Conlan.

Susan Goods © Canadian Museum of Nature

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Kathy Conlan

Research Scientist, Life Sciences
Research Services
Tel.: 613.364.4063
Fax: 613.364.4027
Email: kconlan@mus-nature.ca

Education

  • Ph D., Carleton University, 1988.
    Thesis Title: Systematics and sexual dimorphism: reclassification of the crustacean amphipod genus Jassa (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae).
  • M.Sc., University of Victoria, 1977.
    Thesis Title: The effects of wood deposition from a coastal log handling operation on the benthos of a shallow sand bed in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia.
  • B.Sc. (Honours), Queen's University, 1972.

Specialties

  • Marine benthic ecology.
  • Amphipod systematics.

Projects

  • The Canadian Healthy Oceans Network
    An analysis of benthic biodiversity in the Canadian Arctic Ocean with the intent of understanding how ecosystem function and health are linked to biodiversity and agents of disturbance, including natural and anthropogenic sources. (funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Canadian Museum of Nature: K. E. Conlan, E. Hendrycks and J.-M. Gagnon in collaboration with P. Snelgrove).
  • International Polar Year: Canada’s Three Oceans (C3O)
    C3O will use two Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, whose current mission tracks encircle Canada, to obtain a snapshot of large-scale ocean and ecosystem properties, and thus establish a scientific basis for sustained monitoring of Canada's Sub-Arctic and Arctic seas in the wake of global warming. C3O will measure ocean and ecosystem properties from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia, including the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the deep Canada Basin, the Northwest Passage from Amundsen Gulf to Lancaster Sound, Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. In all, approximately 12,000 km of ocean track will be covered. (funded by International Polar Year and Canadian Museum of Nature; K.E. Conlan, E. Hendrycks and A. Aitken in collaboration with E. A. Carmack).
  • Acoustic mapping of the Beaufort shelf and analysis of associated macrobenthic community pattern.
    An examination of the response of benthic faunal communities to such seafloor processes as ice scour disturbance, methane venting and glacial lag deposits as well as oceanographic processes such as upwelling and shelf edge currents. (funded by Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Geological Survey of Canada and Canadian Museum of Nature; Conlan, K. E. and S. M. Blasco).
  • Recovery of the benthos following sewage treatment at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
    The longest time series sampling of the seafloor-living fauna of the Antarctic is telling us how the fauna fluctuate in abundance in relation to ice regime and pollution from the United State’s McMurdo Station. Recovery after installment of secondary sewage treatment in 2003 is now being followed. (funded by the National Science Foundation and Canadian Museum of Nature; K.E. Conlan, and S. Kim).
  • Trophic linkage to the annual phytoplankton bloom in Antarctic crustaceans: significance for synchrony of mating and offspring release.
    An examination of the reproductive strategies of various crustaceans in the Antarctic (funded by the National Science Foundation and the Canadian Museum of Nature).
  • Gradients of change in the Rideau River benthos. A relationship to zebra mussel abundance?
    Examination of benthic community patterns in the Rideau River from Ottawa to Kilmarnock along a gradient of zebra mussel abundance (funded by the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Ivy Foundation; K.E. Conlan, and E. Hendrycks).

Professional Services

  • Chief Officer (2008-present) and Secretary (2004-8), Life Sciences Scientific Standing Group for SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research).
  • Member, Canadian Committee for Antarctic Research (1998-present).
  • Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Carleton University (2004-present).
  • Section Head, Life Sciences Program, Canadian Museum of Nature (2006-present).

Links

Canadian Committee for Antarctic Research

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

Publications

  • Conlan, K.E., Aitken, A., Hendrycks, E., Melling, E. and McClelland, C. (2008). Distribution Patterns of Canadian Beaufort Shelf macrobenthos Journal of Marine Systems 74(3-4): 864-886.
  • Heilmayer, O., Thatje, S., McClelland, C., Conlan, K. and Brey, T. (2008). Changes in Biomass and Elemental Composition during Early Ontogeny of the Antarctic Isopod Crustacean Ceratoserolis trilobitoides. Polar Biology 31(11): 1325-1331.
  • Conlan, K.E. (2007). Alatajassa (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Corophiidea), a New Genus from the Pacific Coast of North America. Crustaceana 80(11): 1339-1354.
  • Kim, S., Thurber, A., Hammerstrom, K. and Conlan, K.E. (2007). Seastar Response to Organic Enrichment in an Oligotrophic Polar Habitat. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 346: 66-75.
  • Barnes, D.K.A. and Conlan, K.E. (2007). Disturbance, Colonization and Development of Antarctic Benthic Communities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 362: 11-38.
  • Conlan, K.E., Rau, G. H. and Kvitek, R. G. (2006). δ13C and δ15N Shifts in Benthic Invertebrates Exposed to Sewage from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52: 1695-1707.
  • Pawlowski, J., Fahrni, J.F., Guiard, J., Conlan, K.E., Hardecker, J., Habura, A. and Bowser, S.S. (2005). Allogromiid foraminifera and gromiids from under the Ross Ice Shelf: morphological and molecular diversity. Polar Biology 28: 514-522.
  • Kim, S. L., Conlan, K.E., Malone, D.P. and Lewis, C.V. (2005). Possible Food Caching and Defence in the Weddell Seal: Observations from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 17(1): 71-72.
  • Conlan, K.E. and Kvitek, R.G. (2005). Recolonization of Ice Scours on an Exposed Arctic Coast. Marine Ecology Progress Series 286: 21-42.
  • Conlan, K. E., Kim, S.L., Lenihan, H.S. and Oliver, J.S. (2004). Benthic Changes over Ten Years of Organic Enrichment by McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Marine Pollution Bulletin 49: 43-60.
  • Lenihan, H.S., Peterson, C.H., Kim, S.L., Conlan, K.E., Fairey, R.C., McDonald, C., Grabowski, J.H. and Oliver, J.S. (2003). Variation in Marine Benthic Community Composition Allows Discrimination of Multiple Stressors. Marine Ecology Progress Series 261: 63-73.
  • Hendrycks, E.A. and Conlan, K.E. (2003a). Monoculodes curtipediculus (Amphipoda, Oedicerotidae), a New Species from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Crustaceana 76(1): 49-63.
  • Hendrycks, E.A. and Conlan,K.E. (2003b). New and Unusual Abyssal Gammaridean Amphipoda from the North-east Pacific. Journal of Natural History 37(19): 2303-2368.
  • Conlan, K.E., Kim, S.L., Lenihan, H.S. and Oliver,J.S. (2003). Benthic Community Changes at McMurdo Station: a Response to Sewage Abatement? pp. 264-270 In . Huiskes, A.H.L, Gieskes, W.W.C., Rozema, J., Schorno, R.M.L., van der Vies, S.M. and Wolff, W.J. (eds.) Antarctic Biology in a Global Context. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  • Conlan, K.E., Rau, G.H., McFeters, G.N.A. and Kvitek, R.G. (2000). Influence of McMurdo Station Sewage on Antarctic Marine Benthos: Evidence from Stable Isotopes, Bacteria, and Biotic Indices. pp. 315-318 In Davison, W., Howard-Williams, C. and Broady, P. (eds.) Antarctic Ecosystems: Models for Wider Ecological Understanding. New Zealand Natural Sciences, Caxton Press, Christchurch, New Zealand.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1998). Influence of the McMurdo Station Sewage Outfall on Coastal Marine Fauna. New Zealand Natural Sciences 23 (Supplement): 36.
  • McFeters, G.A., Edwards, D.D., Smith, J.J., Jones, W.L., Barry, J.P., Howington, J.P., Venakatesan, M.I. and Conlan, K.E. (1998). Distribution, Fate and Impact of a Sewage Outfall in an Antarctic Marine Environment. New Zealand Natural Sciences 23(Supplement): 111.
  • Conlan, K.E., Lenihan, H.S., Kvitek, R.G. and J.S. Oliver. (1998). Ice Scour Disturbance to Nearshore Benthic Communities in the Canadian High Arctic. Marine Ecology Progress Series 166: 1-16.
  • Kvitek, R.G., Conlan, K.E. and Iampietro,P. (1998). Black Pools of Death: Anoxic, Brine-Filled Ice Gouge Depressions become Lethal Traps for Benthic Organisms in an Arctic Embayment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 162: 1-10.
  • Lenihan, H.S., Kiest, K.A., Conlan, K.E., Slattery, P.N., Konar, B.H. and J.S. Oliver. (1995). Patterns of Survival and Behavior in Antarctic Benthic Invertebrates Exposed to Contaminated Sediments: Field and Laboratory Bioassay Experiments. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 192: 233-255.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1995). Thumbing Doesn't Always Make the Genus: Revision of Microjassa Stebbing (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Ischyroceridae). Bulletin of Marine Science 57(2): 333-377.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1995). Thumb Evolution in the Amphipod Microjassa Stebbing (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae). Journal of Crustacean Biology 15(4): 693-702.
  • Conlan, K.E., Kvitek, R., Blasco, S. and Martel, A. (1995). Ice scour impact on Arctic coastal benthos. Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Zoologists 26: 60.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1994). Amphipod Crustaceans and Environmental Disturbance: a Review. Journal of Natural History 28: 519-554.
  • Conlan, K.E. 1994. New Species of the Amphipod Crustacean Genera Photis and Gammaropsis (Corophioidea: Isaeidae) from California. Amphipacifica 1: 67-74.
  • Fournier, J.A. and Conlan, K.E. (1994). A New Species of Ophryotrocha (Polychaeta, Dorvilleidae) Associated with Ice Scours in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In Dauvin, J.-C., Laubier, L. and Reish, D.J. (eds.). Actes de la 4ème Conférence internationale des Polychètes. Mémoires du Museum national d'Histoire naturelle 162: 185-190.
  • Conlan, K.E., and Chess, J.R. (1992). Phylogeny and Ecology of a New Kelp Boring Amphipod, Peramphithoe stypotrupetes New Species (Corophioidea: Ampithoidae). Journal of Crustacean Biology 12: 410-422.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1991). Precopulatory Mating Behavior and Sexual Dimorphism in the Amphipod Crustacea. Hydrobiologia 223: 255-282.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1990). Revision of the Crustacean Amphipod Genus Jassa Leach (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 2031-2075.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1989). Delayed Reproduction and Adult Dimorphism in Males of the Amphipod Genus Jassa (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae): an Explanation for Systematic Confusion. Journal of Crustacean Biology 9(4): 601-625.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1988). Phenetic and Cladistic Methods Applied to a Small Genus (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae: Microjassa) and a Larger Outgroup. Crustaceana 13(Supplement): 143-166.
  • Conlan, K.E. (1983). The Amphipod Superfamily Corophioidea in the Northeastern Pacific Region. Family Isaeidae. Systematics and Distributional Ecology. National Museum of Natural Sciences (Ottawa). Publications in Natural Sciences 4: 1-75.
  • Conlan, K.E. 1982. Revision of the Gammaridean Amphipod Family Ampithoidae Using Numerical Analytical Methods. Canadian Journal of Zoology 60(8): 2015-2027.
  • Conlan, K.E. and Bousfield, E.L. (1982). The Amphipod Superfamily Corophioidea in the Northeastern Pacific Region. Family Ampithoidae: Systematics and Distributional Ecology. National Museum of Natural Sciences (Ottawa). Publications in Biological Oceanography 10: 41-75.
  • Conlan, K.E. and Bousfield, E.L. (1982). The Amphipod Superfamily Corophioidea in the Northeastern Pacific Region. Family Aoridae: Systematics and Distributional Ecology. National Museum of Natural Sciences (Ottawa). Publications in Biological Oceanography 10: 77-101.
  • Conlan, K.E. and Ellis, D.V. (1979). Effects of wood waste on sand-bed benthos. Marine Pollution Bulletin 10: 262-267.
  • Ellis, D.V., and Conlan, K.E. (1979). Defining species associations for pollution assessment. Canadian Research 12(7): 15-19.