Murdoch K. McAllister, PhD. Canada Research Chair in Fisheries Assessment, UBC (E-mail)

Qualifications
PhD, Fisheries Science - 1995, University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA;
MSc, Natural Resource Management - 1990, Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C., Canada, Honours B.Sc., Behavioural Ecology - 1987, S.F.U.

Professional Associations
Scientific Adviser to Deepwater Fisheries Working Group, Namibia 1997-2000, Member of US scientific delegation to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 1999-2007, and Canadian Delegation starting in 2008,  Member of the ICES scientific working group on Baltic salmon and sea trout 2002-3, Member of the US National Marine Fisheries Service Shark Evaluation Workshop 1998, 2002, Member of the ICES Scientific Working Group on Methods of Stock Assessment 2004.  Member of the US SEDAR Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Stock Assessment Workshop Panel 2004. 

Research and Teaching
Developing and applying Bayesian statistical methods for fisheries risk assessment, estimation, decision analysis and management strategy evaluation. Applying Bayesian methods to fisheries stock assessment and providing quantitative decision support to non-governmental organizations, corporate clients, intergovernmental organizations, and government agencies.  Complex population dynamics and fisheries dynamics modeling.  Statistical evaluation of model uncertainty in models fitted to data.  Lectures and workshops at the postgraduate level in applying conventional and Bayesian statistical methods and quantitative decision analysis methods to fisheries management, ecological, environmental, and other related environmental and resource management problems. Current supervision of three PhD students, Rachael Louton, Tom Porteus and Shannon Obradovich and four post doctoral researchers, Drs Nathan Taylor, Tom Carruthers, Robyn Forrest and Hiroyuki Kurota, at the UBC Fisheries Centre and past supervision and co-supervision of fourteen successfully graduated PhD students. 

Appointments 
2006-present Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair in Fisheries Assessment and Statistics, University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre
2002-2006 Senior Lecturer in Statistical Risk Assessment, Division of Biology, Imperial College
1997 -2002 Lecturer in Statistical Risk Assessment, Dept of Env. Science and Technology, Imperial College
1995-1997 Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Environmental Technology, Imperial College

Experience
Two decades of quantitative statistical modeling.  Served as a fisheries stock assessment expert for the National Marine Fisheries Service in stock assessments of large coastal sharks on the U.S. east coast (1998, 2002) and Atlantic swordfish and bluefin tuna from 1999-2008; the ICES Group on Baltic salmon 2002,3; the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board on hoki in New Zealand (1991-1994); the Namibian Government on orange roughy in Namibia (1997-2000); and Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, scientists, on Pacific Cod and rockfish in British Columbia (1994-1995, 2007-2009).  Provided expert advice to Argentinan Government scientists to help design an acoustic survey of southern blue whiting in Argentina (1996). Served as a fisheries science and management expert for the U.S. Goverment on a panel to review fishery management plans for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico (1997).  Served as statistical reviewer for EC fisheries science research project reports 1999-2001.  Served as stock assessment expert in reviews of US stock assessments of Atlantic bottlenose dolphin and eastern tropical Pacific dolphins (March, April, August 2002) and the New England groundfish trawl survey and stock assessment February 2003.  Applications of Bayesian and other statistical methods also to B.C. pink salmon, yellowfin sole in the eastern Bering Sea, North Sea plaice, and white marlin, and multi-species fisheries in Italy. 

Current and Recent Teaching 
FISH 506A Bayesian data analysis for fisheries stock assessment at UBC, 2007-2008. FISH 506B Bayesian decision analysis for fisheries at UBC, 2008-2009. Three-day Workshops on Introduction to Bayesian Data Analysis Using WinBUGS: Santa Cruz, CA May 2006; Lowestoft, UK May 2006; Shimizu, Japan April 2006; UBC and PBS, Nanaimo, B.C. October 2005, Cardiff, Wales, March 2008.

Selected Publications
Apostolaki, P., Milner-Gulland, E.J., McAllister, M.K., G.P. Kirkwood. 2002. "Modelling the effects of establishing a marine reserve for mobile fish species."  Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.  59: 405-415

Clarke, S., Jennifer E. Magnusson, Debra L. Abercrombie, Murdoch McAllister and Mahmood S. Shivji  2006. Identification of shark species composition and proportion in the Hong Kong shark fin market using molecular genetics and trade records.  Conservation Biology. 20: 201-211. 

Clarke, S.C., McAllister, M.K., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Kirkwood, G.P., Michielsens, C.G..J., Agnew, D..J., Pikitch, E. K., Nakano, H., Shivji, M. 2006. Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets.  Ecology Letters 9: 1-12.

Cunningham, C.L., Reid, D.G., McAllister, M.K., Kirkwood, G.P., C.D. Darby.  2007.  A Bayesian State-Space Model for mixed-stock migrations, with application to Northeast Atlantic Mackerel Scomber scombrus.  Afr. J. Marine Science.  29(3): 347-357.

McAllister, M.K.  1998 "Modeling the effects of fish migration on bias and variability in area-swept estimates of fish biomass: a vector based approach" Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 2622-2641.

McAllister, M.K., and Pikitch, E.K. 1997 "A Bayesian approach to choosing a design for surveying fisheries resources:  application to the eastern Bering Sea trawl survey" Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54: 301-311.

McAllister, M.K., and Ianelli, J.N. 1997. "Bayesian stock assessment using catch-age data and the sampling/ importance resampling algorithm" Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 54, 284-300.

McAllister, M.K. and Kirchner, C.H. 2002 "Accounting for structural uncertainty to facilitate precautionary fishery management: illustration with Namibian orange roughy"  In "Targets, Thresholds, and the Burden of Proof in Fisheries Management" Mangel, M. ed. Bull. of Mar. Sci. 70(2). 499-540.

McAllister, M.K., Starr, P.J., Restrepo, V., and Kirkwood, G.P. 1999. "Formulating quantitative methods to evaluate fishery management systems: what fishery processes should be modeled and what trade-offs should be made?" ICES J. Mar. Sci. 56, 900-916.

McAllister, M.K., Hill, S., Agnew, D., Kirkwood, G., and Beddington, J. 2004. “A Bayesian hierarchical formulation of the De Lury stock assessment model for abundance estimation of Falklands squid”.  Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61:1048-1059.

Michielsens, C. and McAllister, M.K. 2004. "A Bayesian hierarchical meta-analysis of stock-recruitment functions for Atlantic salmon: quantifying structural and parameter uncertainties”. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61:1032-1047.

Michielsens, C. G.J. McAllister, M.K., Kuikka, S., Pakarinen, T., Karlsson, L. Romakkaniemi, A., Perä, I., and Mäntyniemi, S. A. 2006. “Bayesian state-space mark-recapture model to estimate exploitation rates in mixed stock fisheries”.  Can. J. Fish Aquat. Sci. 63:321-334.

Michielsens, C. G.J. McAllister, M.K., Kuikka, S., Mäntyniemi, S., Romakkaniemi, Pakarinen, T., Karlsson, L., and Uusitalo, L.  2008.  Combining multiple Bayesian data analyses in a sequential framework for quantitative fisheries stock assessment.  Can. J. Fish Aquat. Sci.  65: 962-974.