Ph.D. Candidate
My research will use passive acoustic telemetry to examine the spatial ecology of fish in Toronto Harbour to aid in management and conservation. I completed my BSc at the University of Guelph in 2015 majoring in Zoology. I worked as a research technician in Kluane National Park Yukon with squirrels, as well as with Pacific Whale Foundation studying humpbacks in Maui, Hawaii. From there I completed my Masters of Science at McMaster University studying the spatial ecology and conservation of common snapping turtles in an urbanized marsh. Since graduating in fall of 2018, I have worked at the Great Lakes Lab for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, where I was involved with a number of projects that furthered my interest in fish ecology.
Lab Publications (15)
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Piczak, M., S.J. Cooke, A.J. Adams, L.P. Griffin, A.J. Danylchuk and J.W. Brownscombe. In Press. Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) fishing quality and conservation threats in the Florida Keys: a recreational angler and fishing guide survey. Gulf and Caribbean Research. 00:000-000.
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Piczak, M. L., Bzonek, P. A., Pratt, T. C., Sorensen, P. W., Stuart, I. G., Theÿsmeÿer, T., Mandrak, N. E., Midwood, J. D. and Cooke, S. J. In Press. Controlling common carp (Cyprinus carpio): barriers, biological traits, and selective fragmentation. Biological Invasions. 00:000-000.
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Etherington, B. S., Piczak, M. L., LaRochelle, L., Gallagher, A. J. and Cooke, S. J. In Press. Effects of anthropogenic activities on scavenger communities in freshwater riparian zones of Eastern Ontario, Canada. Aquatic Ecology. 00:000-000.
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Piczak, M. L., Brooks, J. L., Boston, C., Doka, S. E., Portiss, R., Lapointe N. W. R., Midwood, J. D. and Cooke, S.J. In Press. Spatial ecology of non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Lake Ontario with implications for management. Aquatic Sciences 00:000-000.
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Cooke, S.J., M.L. Piczak, J.C. Vermaire and A.E. Kirkwood. In Press. On the troubling use of plastic “habitat” structures for fish in freshwater ecosystems – or – when restoration is just littering. FACETS Journal. 00:000-000.
Other Publications
McKenzie, C. M., Piczak, M. L., Snyman, H. N. et al. (2018). First report of ranavirus mortality in a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Dis Aquat Org 132: 221-227.
Piczak, M. L. and Chow-Fraser, P. (2019). Assessment of critical habitat for common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in an urbanized coastal wetland. Urban Ecosyst 22(3): 525-537.
Piczak, M. L., Markle, C. E. and Chow-Fraser, P. (2019). Decades of road mortality cause severe decline in a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) population. Chelonian Conserv Bi 18(2):231-240.
