My research focuses on using zooplankton and micronekton size distributions to model ecological rate processes and evaluate pathways of environmental association. I'm particularly interested in long term time series and how we can use them to validate and compare different modeling and experimental approaches to quantifying rates of production and carbon transport.
EOSC 326
EOSC 442
Education
PhD, Biological Oceanography 2017– 2021
- University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
- Dissertation: Zooplankton normalized biomass size spectra and production in the subarctic North Pacific.
- Advisor: Evgeny A. Pakhomov
- Research cruises: RV Investigator 2017, CCGS John P. Tully 2017-2019
MSc, Biological Oceanography 2015 – 2016
- University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
- Dissertation: A novel approach to estimate active carbon flux using the micronekton biomass spectra
- Advisor: Evgeny A. Pakhomov
- Research cruises: RV Investigator 2015.
BSc, Biological Sciences – Marine Sciences 2008 – 2013
- University of Victoria – Victoria, BC
Employment
University of British Columbia – November 2021 – present
- Postdoctoral Fellow
University of British Columbia – January 2015 – 2020
- Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Instructor, Tutor and Scribe, lab manager, interim storekeeper
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) – November 2020 - present
- Biologist/Analyst: Salmon enhancement program (SEP) planning and assessment (SPA), evaluating salmon hatcheries and harvest rates for the coast of British Columbia.
Hemmera July 2020 – Feb 2021
- Marine Environmental Scientist: Developing and executing marine field sampling programs for Pacific Salmon, white sturgeon, and eulachon, in consultation with Indigenous Nations in the Fraser River Estuary.
Bailey Environmental Consulting July 2019 - present
- Marine Environmental Scientist: Environmental monitoring for industrial development projects along the coast of British Columbia. Authored preliminary environmental assessment reports for the coast of British Columbia.
Stantec Consulting Inc. May 2012-December 2014
- Marine Environmental Scientist: Developed, implemented, and lead marine field programs (marine mammal, subtidal, intertidal, salt marsh, and eelgrass habitat surveys), and subsequently authored technical reports and proposed marine habitat offsetting plans, for submission to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Worked closely with subcontractors and First Nations groups in the field and in the office.
Lüskow, F., Galbraith, M.D., Kwong, L.E., Pakhomov, E.A., (Accepted). Biology and distribution of salps in the subarctic Northeast Pacific. Mar. Biol.
Mahara, N.D., Alava, J.J., Kowal, M., Grant, E., Boldt, J.L. Kwong, L.E., Hunt, B.P.V. 2022. Assessing size-based exposure to microplastics and ingestion pathways in zooplankton and herring in a coastal pelagic ecosystem of British Columbia, Canada. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 683: 139-155
Kwong, L.E., Ross, T., Lüskow, F., Florko, K.R.N. Florko, Pakhomov, E.A. 2022. Spatial, seasonal, and climatic variability in mesozooplankton size spectra along a coastal-to-open ocean transect in the subarctic Northeast Pacific. Prog. Oceanog. 201: 102728.
Kwong, L.E. 2021. Mesozooplankton normalized biomass size spectra and production in the northeast Pacific. Doctoral Thesis in Biological Oceanography. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Kwong, L.E., Pakhomov, E.A. 2021. Zooplankton size spectra and production assessed by two different nets in the subarctic Northeast Pacific. J. Plank. Res. fbab039.
Kwong, L.E., Suchy, K.D., Sastri, A.R., Dower, J.F., Pakhomov, E.A. 2020. A comparison of mesozooplankton production estimates from Saanich Inlet (British Columbia, Canada) using the chitobiase and biomass size spectra approaches. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 655: 59–75.
Kwong, L.E., E.A. Pakhomov, N. Henschke, J.D. Everett, I.M. Suthers. 2020. Mesozooplankton and micronekton active carbon transport in contrasting eddies. Front. Mar. Sci. 6: 825.
N. Henschke, E.A Pakhomov, L.E Kwong, J.D. Everett, L. Laiolo, A.R. Coghlan, I.M. Suthers. 2019. Large Vertical Migrations of Pyrosoma atlanticum Play an Important Role in Active Carbon Transport. J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences 124(5): 1056-1070.
Pakhomov, E.A., Y. Podeswa, B.P.V. Hunt, L.E. Kwong, 2018. Active carbon transport by pelagic decapods in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 76(3): 702-717.
Kwong, L.E., E.A. Pakhomov, A.V. Suntsov, M.P. Seki, R.D. Brodeur, L.G. Pahomova, R. Domokos. 2018. An intercomparison of the taxonomic and size composition of tropical macrozooplankton and micronekton collected using three sampling gears. Deep Sea Res. I. 135: 34-45.
Kwong, L.E., E.A. Pakhomov. 2017. Assessment of active vertical carbon transport: new methodology. Scientific Memoirs of the Kazan State University. Natural Sciences Series, 159(3): 492-509.
Kwong, L.E., 2016. A novel approach to estimating active carbon flux using the micronekton biomass spectra. M.Sc. Thesis in Biological Oceanography. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.