Kate Arpin

B.Sc. student

Current research

I have been involved in the Metaxas lab as a summer student, employee, and Honours student. My initial involvement was assisting Sarah de Mendonça (PhD candidate) with video and image analysis examining deep sea benthic megafauna in the North Atlantic Ocean (January 2018-2020). I worked for the lab under the Nancy Witherspoon Memorial Summer Research Award for the summer of 2019, for which I developed and executed a project to assess the community structure of kelp bed macrofaunal communities in the Eastern Shore Islands, Nova Scotia. I also worked on a NOAA research cruise in the North Atlantic to investigate the presence and distribution of deep sea corals by ROV deployment (ROPOS), for which I was responsible for managing the logged data and assisting with sample processing (June 2019). I am a current Honours student (co-supervised by Dr. Paul Bentzen) in the lab as well. My Honours project investigates the population genetics and dispersal patterns of Membranipora membranacea, an invasive bryozoan in the North-West Atlantic.

Education

B.Sc. Honours in Biology, Certificate in Data Analytics
Department of Biology
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
September 2017-present

Scholarships and Awards

Hugh P. Bell Award (2020)
Nancy Witherspoon Memorial Summer Research Award (2019)
Dalhousie In-Course Scholarship (2017-2018)
Dalhousie Impact Award (2018)
Dalhousie University Dean’s List (2017-2020); cGPA: 4.17
Schulich Leader Scholarship (2017-2021)

Relevant Experience

Teaching Assistant: Introductory Biology I and II (BIOL 1020 and BIOL 1021)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department
2020-2021

Ecosystem Services Undergraduate Project
Independent Research I (MARI 4806)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department (Dr. Allison Schmidt)
2020

Marine Conservation Lab Assistant:  Atlantic Salmon Dissections
Dalhousie University, Biology Department
2019

Demonstrator: Scientific Diving Methods in Marine Ecology (MARI/BIOL 3680)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department
2019

Blue Carbon Undergraduate Project
Experiential Learning (MARI3800)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department (Dr. Allison Schmidt)
2019

Urchin Larval Ecology Lab Assistant (Volunteer)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department (Dr. Heike Lotze)
2018

Climate Change/Lobster Fisheries Student Analyst
Dalhousie Integrated Science Program
Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography (Dr. Eric Oliver)
2018

Blue Carbon Data Collection Assistant (Volunteer)
Dalhousie University, Biology Department (Dr. Allison Schmidt)
2017-2018

Marine Biology Research Assistant (Volunteer)
Operation Wallacea, Honduras
2016, 2017

PUBLICATIONS

Submitted:  Schmidt AL, Arpin KE, Lotze H. (2020). Blue carbon revisited: the case for marine macrophyte standing stock. Marine Ecology Progress Series.