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Eric Demers, Ph.D., R.P. Bio.
B.Sc. Degree Advisor

Office: Building 359, Room 207Eric Demers
Phone: 250-753-3245 (local 2033)
Fax: 250-740-6556
Email: Eric.Demers@viu.ca

Link to Biology Advising

  • Limnology
  • Fish ecology
  • Bird ecology
  • Environmental monitoring
  • BiostatisticsCedar Waxwing

Education

  • B.Sc. McGill University, Montreal (1991)
  • PhD. York University, Toronto (1996)

Professional Background

  • Instructor, Vancouver Island University (since October 2000)
  • Research Biologist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC (2001)
  • Aquatic Biologist, Conor Pacific Environmental Technologies Inc., Vancouver, BC (1998-2000)
  • Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (1997-1998)
  • Research Scientist, Great Lakes Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York (1996-1997)
  • Postdoctoral research associate, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (1996)

Courses taught

  • BIOL 320 – Aquatic Ecosystems
  • BIOL 395 – Tropical Biology
  • RMOT 306 – Environmental Monitoring
  • MATH 203 – Biometrics

Supervised Students

  • Rigney, Emily. 2012. Olympia oyster (Ostreola conchaphila) recruitment on Vancouver Island.
  • Morrison, Danielle. 2011. Effect of weather conditions on the nesting success of the Western Purple Martin, Progne subis arboricola.
  • Kleven, Erin. 2009. Prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in North American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) in the Nanaimo area.
  • Tim Ryper. 2008. Population dynamics and potential effects of the introduced signal crayfish in Enos Lake.
  • Jenn Hoare. 2007. The effect of human use on zooplankton communities in lakes of the Muskoka Watershed, Ontario.
  • Scott MacKenzie. 2007. Ecological interactions of zooplankton and two invertebrate predators in Quadra Island Lakes.
  • Justin Lange. 2005. Prevalence of the Pacific salmon leech and the haemoflagellate Cryptobia salmositica infecting spawning Pacific salmon in the Nitinat River.
  • Shawn Lum. 2003. Effects of lake fertilization on juvenile sockeye salmon growth in northern Vancouver Island nursery lakes.
  • Ross, Cherie. 2002. Productivity and distribution of the western purple martin, Progne subis arboricola, in coastal British Columbia.
  • Heather Williams. 2002. Disease analysis of spawning chinook and coho salmon in Knight Inlet, British Columbia.

Committee, Certification, Membership

  • VIU Senate
    • Faculty of Science & Technology representative
    • Chair, Educational Standards Committee
    • Governance Practices Committee
    • Awards & Honours Committee
    • Student Services Plan Committee
  • Faculty of Science & Technology, Faculty Council
  • NSERC Awards Selection Committee
  • Chair, Peer Review Committee of Animal Care
  • College of Applied Biology of British Columbia (R.P.Bio.)
  • Board Member, Vancouver Avian Research Centre
  • Bird Studies Canada
  • Canadian commercial pilot licence, airplane, single engine land and sea

Publications

  1. Hyatt, K.D., D.J. McQueen, D.P. Rankin, and E. Demers. 2011. Density-Dependent Growth in Juvenile Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The Open Fish Science Journal 4:53-65. [pdf]
  2. Amyot, M., S. Chidami, and E. Demers. 2010. Response to ‘‘Comparative estimate of P fluxes in lakes’’ by J. M. Sereda and J. J. Hudson. Limnology and Oceanography 55:466-468. [pdf]
  3. Brandt, S.B., M. Gerkin, K.J. Hartman, and E. Demers. 2009. Effects of hypoxia on food consumption and growth of juvenile striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 381:S143-S149. [pdf]
  4. Sereda, J.M., J.J. Hudson, W.D. Taylor, and E. Demers. 2008. Fish as sources and sinks of nutrients in lakes. Freshwater Biology 53:278–289. [pdf]
  5. McQueen, D.J., C.W. Ramcharan, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, and P.J. Dillon. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: objectives, methods, the physical-chemical setting. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:1-21.
  6. E. Demers, D.J. McQueen, S.A. Popiel, A.M. Rocchi, C.W. Ramcharan, and A. Pérez-Fuentetaja. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: changes in fish community structure. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:23-48.
  7. E. Demers, D.J. McQueen, C.W. Ramcharan, and A. Pérez-Fuentetaja. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: did piscivores regulate changes in fish community structure? Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:49-80.
  8. Ramcharan, C.W., N.D. Yan, D.J. McQueen, A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: complex responses of Chaoborus to changes in fish populations. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:81-100.
  9. Ramcharan, C.W., D.J. McQueen, A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: analysis of lake food webs using individual-based models to estimate Chaoborus production and consumption. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:101-126.
  10. Yan, N.D., A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, C.W. Ramcharan, D.J. McQueen, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: changes in the crustacean zooplankton communities of Mouse and Ranger lakes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:127-150.
  11. Ramcharan, C.W., A. Pérez-Fuentetaja, D.J. McQueen, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, and J.A. Rusak. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: dynamics of zooplankton populations under two different predatory regimes. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:151-169.
  12. Dillon, P.J., D.J. McQueen, C.W. Ramcharan, N.D. Yan, E. Demers, and J.J. Hudson. 2001. The Dorset food web piscivore manipulation project: changes in nutrient and ion chemistry. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Special Issues in Advanced Limnology 56:227-255.
  13. Demers, E., S.B. Brandt, K.L. Barry, and J.M. Jech. 2000. Spatially explicit models of growth rate potential: linking estuarine fish production to the biological and physical environment. Pages 405-425 in J. Hobbie, editor. Estuarine Science: a Synthetic Approach to Research and Practice. Island Press, Washington, DC.
  14. McQueen, D.J., C.W. Ramcharan, E. Demers, N.D. Yan, L.M. Conforti, and A. Pérez-Fuentetaja. 1999. Chaoborus behavioural responses to changes in fish density. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 145:165-179.
  15. Wong, A.H.K., D.D. Williams, D.J. McQueen, E. Demers, and C. W. Ramcharan. 1998. Macroinvertebrate abundance in two lakes with contrasting fish abundances. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 141:283-302.
  16. Wong, A.H.K., D.D. Williams, D.J. McQueen, and E. Demers. 1997. Transfer of mercury from benthic invertebrates to fishes in lakes with contrasting fish community structures. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54:1320-1330. [pdf]
  17. Demers, E., R.S. McKinley, A.H. Weatherley, and D.J. McQueen. 1996. Activity patterns of largemouth and smallmouth bass determined using electromyogram biotelemetry. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 125:434-439. [pdf]
  18. Pérez-Fuentetaja, A., D.J. McQueen, and E. Demers. 1996. Stability of oligotrophic and eutrophic planktonic communities after disturbance by fish. Oikos 75:98-110. [pdf]
  19. Ramcharan, C.W., D.J. McQueen, E. Demers, S.A. Popiel, A.M. Rocchi, N.D. Yan, A.H.K. Wong, and K.D. Hughes. 1995. A comparative approach to determining the role of fish predation in structuring limnetic ecosystems. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 133:389-416.
  20. Tsalkitzis, E., N.D. Yan, D.J. McQueen, S.A. Popiel, and E. Demers. 1994. Habitat separation among three temperate Chaoborus species. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 129:385-403.
  21. Visman, V., D.J. McQueen, and E. Demers. 1994. Zooplankton spatial patterns in two lakes with contrasting fish community structure. Hydrobiologia 284:177-191. [pdf]
  22. Peters, R.H., E. Demers, M. Koelle, and B.R. Mackenzie. 1994. The allometry of swimming speed and predation. Journal of the International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology 25:2316-2323.
  23. Demers, E., and J. Kalff. 1993. A simple model for predicting the date of onset of spring stratification in temperate and subtropical lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 38:1077-1081. [pdf]

Technical Reports

  1. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, E. Demers, and H. R. Carlson. 2002. F.V. Anita J. Gulf of  Alaska salmon survey, March 25 - April 9, 1995. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1097: 19 p.
  2. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, E. Demers, and H.R. Carlson. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon survey, October 2-20, 1995. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1098: 23 p.
  3. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, E. Demers, and B. L. Wing. 2002. F.V. Columbia Gulf of Alaska salmon survey, October 7 - November 10, 1995. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1099: 112 p.
  4. Welch D. W., J. F. T. Morris, E. Demers, and J.P. Eveson. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon survey, October, 1996. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1100: 64 p.
  5. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, and E. Demers. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon survey, March - April, 1997. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1101: 19 p.
  6. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, and E. Demers. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon survey, November - December, 1997. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1102: 45 p.
  7. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, A. R. Ladouceur, S. Tucker, and E. Demers. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon surveys, 1998. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1103: 69 p.
  8. Welch, D. W., J. F. T. Morris, A. R. Ladouceur, S. Tucker, and E. Demers. 2002. CCGS W.E. Ricker Gulf of Alaska salmon surveys, 1999. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1104: 113 p.
  9. Barry, K.L., E. Demers, J. M. Jech, and S. B. Brandt. 1996. Acoustic measurements of fish abundance in the Delaware Bay. Final Report, Electrical Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California. 407 p.

Scientific Presentations

  • American Fisheries Society, Annual Meeting
  • Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Workshop
  • Estuarine Research Federation
  • American Fisheries Society, New York Chapter
  • American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
  • Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research
  • American Fisheries Society, Southern Ontario Chapter
  • Cornell University Biological Field Station