Curry Cunningham

• Janessa Esquible
• Aaron Lambert
• Tristan Sebens
• Matthew (Lok) Cheng
• Genoa Sullaway
• Lindsay Turner
• Rachel Ertz

Cunningham, C.J., C.M. Anderson, J.Y. Wang, M. Link, and R. Hilborn. (2019). "A management strategy evaluation of the commercial sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska". Canadian Journal of fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 76(9):1669–1683.

Manishin, K.A., K.J. Goldman, M. Short, C.J. Cunningham, P.A.H. Westley, and A.C. Seitz. (2019). "Prey consumption estimates for salmon sharks". Marine and Freshwater Research. 70(6):824–833.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18345

Oke, K.B., C.J. Cunningham, T.P. Quinn, and A.P. Hendry. (2019). "Independent lineages in a common environment: the roles of determinism and contingency in shaping the migration timing of even- versus odd-year pink salmon over broad spatial and temporal scales". Ecology Letters.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13337

Rosellon-Druker, J.M., M. Szymkowiak, C.J. Cunningham, S. Kasperski, G.H. Kruse, J.M. Moss, and E.M. Yasumiishi. (2019). "Development of socio-ecological conceptual models as the basis for an integrated ecosystem assessment framework in Southeast Alaska". Ecology and Society. 24(3):30.
doi: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11074-240330

Wang, J.Y., C.M. Anderson, C.J. Cunningham, and R. Hilborn. (2019). "Does more fish mean more money? Evaluating alternative escapement goals in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 76(1):153–167.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2017-0336

Cunningham, C.J., P.A.H. Westley, and M.D. Adkison. (2018). "Signals of large scale climate drivers, hatchery enhancement, and marine factors in Yukon River Chinook salmon survival revealed with a Bayesian life history model". Global Change Biology. 24(9):4399–4416.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14315

Cunningham, C.J., T.A. Branch, T.H. Dann, M. Smith, J.E. Seeb, L.W. Seeb, and R. Hilborn. (2018). "A general model for salmon run reconstruction that accounts for interception and differences in availability to harvest". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 75(3):439–451.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0360

Quinn, T.P., C.J. Cunningham, and A.J. Wirsing. (2017). "Diverse foraging opportunities drive the functional response of local and landscape-scale bear predation on Pacific salmon". Oecologia. 183(2):415–429.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3782-3

Adkison, M.D., and C.J. Cunningham*. (2015). "The effects of salmon abundance and run timing on the performance of management by emergency order". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 72(10):1518–1526.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0174

Ono, K., R. Licandeo, M.L. Muradian, C.J. Cunningham, S.C. Anderson, F. Hurtado-Ferro, K.F. Johnson, C.R. McGilliard, C.C. Monnahan, C.S. Szuwalski, J.L. Valero, K.A. Vert-Pre, A.R. Whitten, and A.E. Punt. (2015). "The importance of length and age composition data in statistical age-structured models for marine species". ICES Journal of Marine Science. 72(1):31–43.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsu007

• Population dynamics
• Bayesian methods in ecology and fisheries management
• Stock assessment
• Management Strategy Evaluation
• Ecological and fisheries forecasting

My interest in fisheries management began at age 13 during my first season commercial salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Throughout subsequent seasons as a set and driftnet fisherman my curiosity about the complexities of the salmon management process was ignited. Later my passion for quantitative ecology was sparked by an undergraduate course taught by Dr. Carl Walters (University of British Columbia), during which I became enamored by the idea that one could attempt to explain the chaotic dynamics of natural systems mathematically by confronting models with data. This excitement has guided my subsequent career and research in population dynamics and fisheries management.

I am a quantitative ecologist with a propensity for fisheries problems. I utilize applied statistics and simulation modeling to address interesting questions about fisheries management, evolution, predator-prey interactions, and the population dynamics of aquatic species. My research generally falls in two categories: (1) applied research to enhance sustainable management of commercially harvested species, including methods for improving stock assessment and survey design through Management Strategy Evaluation, and developing statistical tools for forecasting salmon abundance, and (2) basic research to improve understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape the natural world, with projects focusing on bear and salmon predator-prey dynamics and the evolutionary implications of natural and anthropogenic selection on fish and wildlife.