David M. Kaplan

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Contact information

Photo

Address:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
UMR MARBEC (Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD)
87 av. Jean Monnet
CS 30171
34203 Sète cedex
France


Email:
Tel: +33 (0)4 99 57 32 25

GPG Key: 38C465E3

Curriculum vitae

Research statistics and publication lists

Research

Overview

My research currently focuses on assessing the effects of different forms of spatial and non-spatial fisheries management on marine populations. Using the lenses of meta-population modeling, experimental marine ecology, species distribution modeling, analysis of fisheries catch-effort data and oceanography, I am looking at how marine spatial management relates to sustainability, conservation and community structure of marine populations with distinct dispersal and reproductive potentials. Recent work has included studies on the implications of offshore marine protected areas for mobile demersal and pelagic species, as well as work on tropical tuna purse seine fisheries in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. I am also studying the effects of oceanographic processes on temporal and spatial patterns of larval settlement.

Projects (past & present)

Selected recent research projects:

  • MESCAL: Multiscale connectivity at species and community levels to achieve conservation goals under climate change in the Western Indian Ocean (SIOMPA call; 2025-)
  • SAMOS: South African Masters of Ocean Sciences (Erasmus+ CBHE call; 2024-)
  • REDUCE: Reducing bycatch of threatened megafauna in the East Central Atlantic (2023-)
  • AMPED: Marine protected areas for mobile species (2009-2013)
  • COMPO: Connectivity of Marine Populations: Application to the South Lagoon of New Caledonia (2010-2014)
  • MORSE: Management of Ocean Resources under Shifting Expectations: Bringing the historical perspective into marine mammal conservation (2011-2015)
  • Tropical tuna fisheries and the use of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) (2012-215)
  • Sea turtle nesting site selection and egg survival in the anthropogenized and climate-impacted environment of southern Virginia (2016-2017)
  • Building the statistical and experimental framework for parentage-based abundance estimation of Western Atlantic bluefin tuna (2016-2017)
  • Spatio-temporal trends in private oyster lease use in the lower Chesapeake Bay (2016-2018)
  • CECOFAD & CECOFAD2: Catch, Effort, and eCOsystem impacts of FAD-fishing (2014-2015, 2018-2019)
  • ManFAD: Management of FADs in tropical tuna purse seine fisheries (2019-present)

Statistics and publication lists

Research around the globe

Below is a map showing my various geographical areas of activity around the globe. For more details, see the interactive version.

Location map

Information for prospective students

General information

I regularly accept students at the Masters, PhD and postdoctoral level. Though inquiries are always welcome, before applying to work with me, it is a good idea to take a careful look at my overall research interests and recent publications to see if your interests and abilities match mine and those of my laboratory. Also, consider looking through the websites of the projects that I am participating in and my laboratory’s announcements of available research positions. These often contain information about new research directions for which researchers in my laboratory and I are more likely to be looking for students.

Prospective students should have a strong quantitative background, and be interested in problems relating to dynamics of marine ecosystems, fisheries management and/or marine conservation. If you have any questions, please contact me by email or phone as listed on my homepage.

When applying, please send at least the following four items:

  • A letter of motivation
  • A detailed CV
  • Names and contact information for 3-5 professional references
  • Most recent course grades and class rankings

Other websites

Projects (past & present)

  • MESCAL: Multiscale connectivity at species and community levels to achieve conservation goals under climate change in the Western Indian Ocean (SIOMPA call; 2025-)
  • SAMOS: South African Masters of Ocean Sciences (Erasmus+ CBHE call; 2024-)
  • REDUCE: Reducing bycatch of threatened megafauna in the East Central Atlantic (2023-)
  • AMPED: Marine protected areas for mobile species (2009-2013)
  • COMPO: Connectivity of Marine Populations: Application to the South Lagoon of New Caledonia (2010-2014)
  • CECOFAD & CECOFAD2: Catch, Effort, and eCOsystem impacts of FAD-fishing (2014-2015, 2018-2019)

Statistics and publications

Journals

Random other musings

Software projects

I am working on several software projects of interest to others, particularly scientists. The software used in these projects is freely available for download. They are listed from newest to oldest.

  • starticles - A generic, journal-independent Rmarkdown format for authoring scientific papers and reports
  • rticles - Not my project, but I contributed a format for Oxford University Press journals
  • knitrdata - R package for making standalone Rmarkdown documents that include data chunks. An instructional video for using the package is available on youtube.
  • ConnMatTools - An R package for working with connectivity matrices
  • NetCDF extension for Netlogo
  • OpenMA - A matlab toolbox for performing Open-boundary Modal Analysis
  • HFR_Progs - A matlab toolbox for processing HF radar measurements

Notes and documentation

Personal stuff

Complaints department

Random things that bugged me enough to get me to write a web page about them.

Banner photo: © IRD, Serge Andrefouet