Research Overview
My research program is broadly defined by the ecology of aquatic communities, currently ranging from alpine amphibian populations of the Pacific Northwest, to the river and lake food webs that support salmon populations from California to Alaska. I rely heavily on field-based experimental manipulations to tease apart the mechanistic underpinnings of ecological patterns, from species physiology to food web interactions. However, I am also fundamentally committed to the growing necessity for understanding the dynamics of individuals, populations, and communities at the broad spatial and temporal scales relevant to the conservation and management of aquatic systems. This kind of applied ecological problem-solving requires tailoring a combination of approaches to each particular question; from lab-based physiological assays, behavioral observations, manipulative field experiments, landscape-scale surveys, paleoecological reconstructions, to the quantitative techniques required to draw all of them together.
Professional History
Beginning 2007: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences (Tier II Canada Research Chair, pending)
Simon Fraser University
Biological Sciences
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics
University of California-Berkeley
Dept. of Integrative Biology
3060 Valley Life Sciences, Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 643-9294, wpalen AT berkeley.edu
Ph.D. 2005: University of Washington, Department of Zoology (now Biology) and the School of
Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Seattle, WA
B.A. 1999: University of Virginia, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Charlottesville, VA
Selected Publications
Palen, W.J., Williamson, C.E., Clauser, A.A., and Schindler, D.E. 2005. Impact of UV-B exposure on amphibian embryos; linking species physiology to oviposition behavior. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 272 1227-1234.
Winder, M., Schindler, D.E., Moore, J.W. Johnson, S.P., and Palen, W.J. 2005. Do bears facilitate transfer of salmon resources to aquatic macroinvertebrate scavengers? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 62 2285-2293.
Palen, W.J., Schindler, D.E., Adams, M.J., Pearl, C.A., Bury, R.B., and Diamond, S.A. 2004. Optical characteristics of natural waters protect amphibians from UV-B in the U.S. Pacific Northwest: a reply. Ecology, 86 1754-1759.
Schindler, D.E., Scheuerell, M.D., Moore, J.W., Gende, S.M., Francis, T.B., and Palen, W.J. 2003. Pacific salmon and the ecology of coastal ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1 31-37.
Palen, W.J., Schindler, D.E., Adams, M.J., Pearl, C.A., Bury, R.B., and Diamond, S.A. 2002. Optical characteristics of natural waters protect amphibians from UV-B in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Ecology, 83 2951-2957.
Harding, E.K., Crone, E.E., Eldred, B.D., Hoekstra, J.M., McKerrow A.J., Perrine, J.D., Regetz J., Rissler, L.J., Stanley, A.G., Walters, E.L., and NCEAS HCP Working Group* 2001. The Scientific Foundations of Habitat Conservation Plans: a Quantitative Assessment. Conservation Biology, 15 488-500.
