Sean Cox

Education

• BSc, Biology, University of Massachusetts-Lowell
• MSc, Oceanography, University of British Columbia
• PhD, Resource Management, University of British Columbia

Biography

Sean is a fisheries scientist interested in applying mathematical, statistical, and technology solutions to fisheries stock assessment and management challenges. He has in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University since 2002 following a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. His academic background includes a B.Sc. Biology/Chemistry(Minor) (University of Massachusetts, Lowell 1993), M.Sc. Oceanography (University of B.C., 1997), and Ph.D. Resource Management and Environmental Studies (U.B.C., 2000). Sean is known within Canada and internationally for his quantitative stock assessment modeling expertise and systems design approaches to managing some of North America’s largest and most valuable fisheries including Sablefish, Atlantic Halibut, Pacific Halibut, Pacific Herring, and Pacific Hake. He currently Chair’s the Scientific Review Board of the International Pacific Halibut Commission, is the Independent Member of the Pacific Hake Joint Technical Committee, and has served on invited expert review panels for South African Sardine and Hake, Chilean Hoki, Southern Resident Killer Whales, as well as several regional and national Canadian fisheries. He has published over 60 original research articles and technical reports.

Some of Sean’s publications include:

• Malick, M.J., Cox, S.P., Mueter, F.J., Dorner, B., and Peterman, R.M. (in review). Effects of the North Pacific Current on productivity of 163 Pacific salmon stocks. Fisheries Oceanography.
• Benoit, H., Swain, D.P., Cox, S.P., and Cadigan, N. 2016. Comment on “Slow adaptation in the face of rapid warming leads to collapse of the Gulf of Maine cod fishery.” Science (in press).
• Tribonos, V.H., Cubillos, J.A., Licandeo, R., and Cox. S.P. 2016. Interactions between ageing error and selectivity in statistical catch-at-age models: simulations and implications for assessment of the Chilean Patagonian toothfish fishery. ICES Journal of Marine Science 
• Malick, M.J. and Cox, S.P. 2016. Regional-scale declines in productivity of pink and chum salmon stocks in western North America. PLOS ONE 11(1): E0146009.
• Malick, M.J., Cox, S.P., Peterman, R.M., Wainwright, T.C., and Peterson, W.T. 2015. Accounting for multiple pathways in the connections among climate variability, ocean processes, and coho salmon recruitment in the Northern California Current. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72: 1552-1564.
• Lagasse, C.R., Knudby, A., Curtis, J., Finney, J.L., and Cox, S.P. 2015. Spatial analyses reveal conservation benefits for cold-water corals and sponges from small changes in a trawl fishery footprint. Marine Ecology Progress Series 528: 161-172.
• Malick, M.J., Cox, S.P., Mueter, F.J., and Peterman, R.M. 2015. Linking phytoplankton phenology to salmon productivity along a north-south gradient in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72(5): 697-708.
• Benson, A.J., Cox, S.P., and Cleary, J.S. 2015. Evaluating the conservation risks of aggregate harvest management in a spatially-structured herring fishery. Fisheries Research 167: 101-113.

Dr. Cox teaches Risk Assessment and Decision Analysis (REM 625), Simulation Modeling in Natural Resource Management (REM 612), and Advanced Methods in Fisheries Assessment (REM 614).