Peter Westley

Peter Westley

Lowell A. Wakefield Chair in Fisheries and Ocean Sciences

Associate Professor

Fisheries Conservation
Fisheries Ecology


College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
2150 Koyukuk Drive
AHRB 204
Fairbanks, AK 99775
907-474-7458
907-474-7204 (fax)
pwestley@alaska.edu

Office Hours

Open door policy.
Feel free to come by.

Education

University of Washington
Postdoc. Fisheries
2012

Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Ph.D. Biology
2012

University of Washington
M.S. Fisheries
2007

University of Washington
B.S. Fisheries
2004

 

 

Publications

M. Vignon, M. Zhou, A.R. McIntosh, C. Correa, P.A.H. Westley, L. Jacquin, J. Labonne, A.P. Hendry. 2023. Trait variation in a successful global invader: a large-scale analysis of morphological variance and integration in the brown trout. Biological Invasions. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03003-9

Walther, E.J., D.E. Arthur, A. Cyr, K.M. Fraley, T. Cubbage, E. Hinkle, J. McMahon, P.A.H. Westley. 2022. Ecotoxicology of mercury in burbot (Lota lota) from interior Alaska and insights towards human health. Chemosphere. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134279

Walther, E.J., M.S. Zimmerman, J.A. Falke, P.A.H. Westley. 2022. Species distributions and the recognition of risk in restoration planning: A case study of salmonid fishes. Ecological Applications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2701

Von Biela, V.R. , C.J. Sergeant, M.P. Carey, Z. Liller, C. Russell, S. Quinn‐Davidson, P.S. Rand, P.A.H. Westley, C.E. Zimmerman. 2022. Premature mortality observations among Alaska’s Pacific Salmon during record heat and drought in 2019. Fisheries. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10705

Ulaski, M.E., H. Finkle, A.H. Beaudreau, P.A.H. Westley. 2022. Climate and conspecific density inform phenotypic forecasting of juvenile Pacific salmon body size.
Freshwater Biology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13850


See full list of publications

Specialties

  • Phenotypic plasticity
  • Life history evolution
  • Dispersal and philopatry
  • Contemporary evolution
  • Aquatic invasions and colonization
  • Eco-evolutionary dynamics

 

Research Overview

We live in the Anthropocene, where global ecology is dominated by human activity. My research seeks to understand how fishes respond and adapt to abrupt environmental change across levels of biological organization. Work in my lab addresses this overarching question through the combination of field, laboratory, meta-analysis, and modeling approaches.

Additionally, I have pending proposals to explore aspects of the pike invasion to Southcentral Alaska and to apply stage-specific salmon life cycle models to Western Alaska Chinook populations.