People

Vera Agostini
© Vera Agostini

Vera Agostini, PhD
Scientist, Global Marine Initiative

Brief biography
Vera Agostini joined the Conservancy in November 2007. She is an ecosystem oceanographer who comes to the Conservancy with 15 years of international experience in climate and fisheries, providing technical expertise across a range of multi-disciplinary efforts. Over the years Vera has worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization--Fishery Resources Division, taught college oceanography from the shipboard labs of Woods Hole based Sea Education Association and led a community based sea turtle conservation program on a remote Sicilian island. The focus of her most recent appointment with the Pew Institute for Ocean Science was on developing approaches to help bridge the gap between fishery management and marine conservation. Vera is particularly interested in incorporating an understanding of natural history and oceanography into the design of resilient management and conservation strategies for marine ecosystems.

Vera is part of the Priority Setting group at the Global Marine Initiative. Areas of focus will be Ecosystem Based Management, marine protected area network design and zoning.

Education
1993-MS, State University of New York, Stony Brook (Oceanography)
2003-PhD, University of Washington (Fisheries science)

Select publications
Agostini, V.N., A.N. Hendrix, C. Wilson, S.Pierce, R.C. Francis, A.B. Hollowed. Climate and Pacific hake: a geostatistical modeling approach. Journal of Marine Systems. In press.

Ciannelli, L., P. Fauchald, K.S. Chan, V.N. Agostini, G.E. Dingsor. Fisheries spatial ecology: recent progress and future prospects. Journal of Marine Systems. In press.

Agostini, V.N., A. Bakun, and R.C. Francis. 2007. Larval stage controls on sardine recruitment variability: the balance between predation and food availability. Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 345: 237-244.

Agostini, V.N., R.C. Francis, A.B. Hollowed, S. D. Pierce, C. Wilson, A.N. Hendrix. 2006. The relationship between hake (Merluccius productus) distribution and poleward sub-surface flow in the California Current System. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63:2649-265.

Lawson, P.W., E.A. Logerwell, N.J. Mantua, R.C. Francis, and V.N. Agostini. 2004. Environmental factors influencing freshwater survival and smolt production in Pacific Northwest coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 61:360-373.

Bailey, K.M., L. Ciannelli, and V.N. Agostini. 2003. Complexity and constraints combined in simple models of recruitment. The Big Fish Bang. Proceedings of the 26th annual larval fish conference. H. I. Browan, and A.B. Skiftesvik, eds. Published by the Institute of Marine Research; Postboks 1870 Nordnes, N-5817, Bergen Norway.

Logerwell, E., N. Mantua , P. Lawson, R.C. Francis, and V. N. Agostini. 2003. Tracking environmental bottlenecks in the coastal zone for understanding and predicting Oregon coho marine survival. Fisheries Oceanography, 12(6): 554-56.

Environmental variability and small pelagic fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. Conference proceedings. 2002. V.N. Agostini and P. Oliver editors. Informes y estudios, Copemed. 8: 77pp.

Agostini V.N. and A. Bakun. 2001. Ocean triads in the Mediterranean Sea: physical mechanisms potentially structuring reproductive habitat suitability for anchovies and other fish species. Fisheries Oceanography. 11(3): 129-142.

Bakun A., and V.N. Agostini. 2000. Seasonal patterns of wind-induced upwelling/downwelling in the Mediterranean Sea. Scientia Marina. 65(3): 243-257.

De Leiva-Moreno, J.I., V.N. Agostini, J. F. Caddy, and F. Carocci. 2000. Is the pelagic-demersal ratio from fishery landings a useful proxy for nutrient availability? A preliminary data exploration for the semi-enclosed seas around Europe. ICES Journal of Marine Sciences, 57:1091-1102.

Advisory committees
2007--Darwin Foundation Research Station (Galapagos), science programs evaluation team, member
2004-present--North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), Climate Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem task team, US representative
2002-2004-Salish Sea Expeditions, Board of Directors, member.