I am a biological oceanographer and currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of British Columbia in the Pelagic Ecosystems Laboratory. This GitHub page stores my scripts and data. My research is generally on the physical and ecological mechanisms that structure the distribution of life. Particularly, I study marine zooplankton which include a diversity of animals from microscopic crustaceans, to jellyfish, to the larvae of larger organisms like corals and fishes. Understanding why different kinds of zooplankton are found in different parts of the ocean during particular periods of time is important for the phytoplankton that they eat, the fishes and whales that eat them, the habitats they form, and the carbon that they transport from the surface of the ocean to the deep. AND zooplankton look super cool and cute and alien and gorgeous!
- 🌊 I am currently working on a project on the Bioregionalization of the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean based on zooplankton taxonomy and functional ecology.
- 🦀 I am continuing to develop a Global Zooplankton Trait Database. If you would like to help me expand and polish this database or need support in using it, please reach out!
- 🐠 Previously, I've worked on the larval connectivity of fish populations and coral reefs to help inform conservation and management.
- 🦑 In my free time, I enjoy nature, art, and making art. Check out this small public repo of zooplankton line art which I use in making figures and presentations.
- 🏄 The methodological tools I often use are numerical ecology, individual-based modelling, satellite imagery, and ocean circulation modelling. I write code in R, Matlab, Java, and Python.
- 🚣 If you are keen on collaborating, I am always looking for new collaborators! Please get in touch through email at p.pata@oceans.ubc.ca.
👨🎓 View my CV here.
You can view some of my previous research in the following posters:
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Pata, P.R., Galbraith, M., Young, K., Margolin, A., Perry, R.I., and Hunt, B.P.V. (2024). Data-driven determination of zooplankton bioregions and robustness analysis. MethodsX, 12, 102676. doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2024.102676
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Pata, P.R. and Hunt, B.P.V. (2023). Harmonizing marine zooplankton trait data toward a mechanistic understanding of ecosystem functioning. Limnology and Oceanography. 10.1002/lno.12478
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Pata, P.R., Galbraith, M., Young, K., Margolin, A., Perry, R.I., and Hunt, B.P.V. (2022). Persistent zooplankton bioregions reflect long-term consistency of community composition and oceanographic drivers in the NE Pacific. Progress in Oceanography, 206, p.102849. doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2022.102849
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Currie, J., Blain, S.A., Emry, S., Hebert, K., Xie, G., Moore, N., Wang, X., Brown, A., Burant, J.B., Grevstad, L., Marconi, V., McRae, L., Mezzini, S., Pata, P.R., and Freeman, R. (2022). Assessing the representation of species included within the Canadian Living Planet Index. FACETS. doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0063
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Pata, P.R. and Yñiguez A.T. (2021). Spatial planning insights for Philippine coral reef conservation using larval connectivity networks. Frontiers in Marine Science, 1406. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.719691
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Pata, P.R., Yñiguez A.T., Deauna, J.D., De Guzman, A.B., Jimenez, C.R., Borja-del Rosario, R., and Villanoy, C. (2021). Insights into the environmental conditions contributing to variability in the larval recruitment of the tropical sardine Sardinella lemuru. Ecological Modelling, 451, 109570. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109570
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Cabasan, J.P., Arceo, H.O., Pata, P.R., Labrador, K.L., Casauay, R.B., Miller, N., Rodriguez, M.V.B. (2021). Combining information on otolith morphometrics and larval connectivity models to infer stock structure of Plectropomus leopardus in the Philippines. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 679, 115-131. doi.org/10.3354/meps13874
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Pata, P.R. and Yñiguez A.T. (2019). Larval connectivity patterns of the North Indo-West Pacific coral reefs. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0219913. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219913
