Aquaculture Faculty Candidate Seminar-Dr. Heather Veilleux

Please join us for the first of four Faculty Candidate Seminars for the position in the area of Aquaculture.

Dr. Heather Veilleux will be delivering a seminar titled "Creating a sustainable future: understanding the molecular and physiological responses to environmental stressors in aquaculture".

Aquatic species are facing major challenges due to increasing global temperatures, more severe and frequent heat waves, and increased pollution. These threats apply not only to organisms in the wild, but also those subject to culture. This talk will cover the capacity of a fish to plastically adjust physiological characteristics to better suit a warmer environment over three time scales: (1) short-term plasticity following an extreme temperature event, (2) developmental plasticity, when fish were exposed to increased temperatures throughout life and (3) transgenerational plasticity, when both parent and offspring were exposed to the same high temperatures. Importantly, I address the underlying molecular mechanisms in combination with physiological parameters to gain an overall understanding of future organismal and population health. Another key aspect of my research is to develop non-invasive early warning systems for stress through eDNA and eRNA detection. As aquaculture species are directly affected by environmental conditions, I highlight how molecular techniques can be applied to understand how aquaculture species will adjust to anthropogenic and natural stressors. Knowledge of how aquatic species respond to stress over relevant time scales will be critical for properly implementing management strategies to ensure sustainability and improved productivity of the aquaculture industry.