Robert Thomas Leaf, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Department of Coastal Sciences
228.872.4296 fax: 228.872.4204
Robert.Leaf@usm.edu
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
My research is concerned with understanding and modeling biological systems at two levels: individual life-history patterns and processes and population dynamics. At the population level I am interested in understanding the environmental drivers that influence recruitment success of commercially harvested fishes and invertebrates. I use simulation models to explore how alternative harvest strategies impact resilience and sustainability and describe how life-history patterns can be altered by size-selective harvest.