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School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences

School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences

Zachary Siders

Assistant Professor, Quantitative Fisheries Science

Zach Siders is a quantitative ecologist innovating ecological inference tools and their application. His research takes an integrative approach to model building, seeking to coalesce natural history information, ecological patterns and theory, big data, and stakeholder involvement. These tools are purposefully generalizable for application across socio-ecological systems and are applied to promote resilient conservation and management strategies.

Focusing on quantitative applications rather than particular systems, Zach’s research ranges from experimental ponds to the pelagic ocean and from local to international but marine megafauna perennially feature as a topic. Recent research is in support of an Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management initiative by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, and stakeholders in the north central Pacific. He is especially interested in the science of modeling, Bayesian statistics, and developing model literacy and communication.

  • Research Interests

    • Population dynamics
    • Community ecology
    • Fisheries management
    • Management strategy evaluation
    • Machine learning
    • Bayesian statistics
    • Geospatial statistics
    • Remote sensing applications
    • Marine megafauna
    • Elasmobranchs

FISHERIES & AQUATIC SCIENCES

Dequine Building, 407

zsiders@ufl.edu
(352) 273-3644

Affiliated Institutions

  • Education

    • PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, 2017
    • MS in Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2013
    • BS in Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2011
    • BA in Chemistry, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2011

  • Publications
    • Trotta L.B., Siders Z.A., Sessa E.B. & Baiser B. (2021) The role of phylogenetic scale in Darwin’s naturalization conundrum in the critically imperilled pine rockland ecosystem. Diversity and Distributions. 27(4), 618-631. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13220
    • Mobini S., Kuliasha C.A., Siders Z.A., Bohmann N.A., Jamal S., Judy J.W., et al. (2021). Microtopographical patterns promote different responses in fibroblasts and Schwann cells: A possible feature for neural implants. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A 109, 64–76. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.37007
    • Siders Z.A., Ducharme-Barth N., Carvalho F., Kobayashi D., Martin S., Raynor J., et al. (2020). Ensemble Random Forests as a tool for modeling rare occurrences. Endangered Species Research 43, 183–197. doi: 10.3354/esr01060
    • Hazelkorn R.A., Wells R.S., Siders Z.A., DeLynn R. & Lovewell G.N. (2020). Physical maturity in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida. Marine Mammal Science 36, 1309–1321. doi: 10.1111/mms.12733
    • Siders Z.A. & Havens K.E. (2020). Revisiting the total maximum daily load total phosphorus goal in Lake Okeechobee. Hydrobiologia 847, 4221–4232. doi: 10.1007/s10750-020-04406-8
    • Martin S.L., Siders Z.A., Eguchi T., Langseth B.J., Yau A., Baker J.D., et al. (2020). Assessing the population level impacts of North Pacific Loggerhead and western Pacific Leatherback interactions in the Hawaii-based shallow set longline fishery. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-101. doi: 10.25923/ydp1-f891
    • Martin S.L., Siders Z.A., Eguchi T., Langseth B.J., Yau A., Baker J.D., et al. (2020). Update to Assessing the Population-level Impacts of North Pacific Loggerhead and Western Pacific Leatherback Turtle Interactions, inclusion of the Hawaii-based Deep-set and American Samoa-based Longline Fisheries. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-95.doi: 10.25923/pnf2-2q77
    • Caltabellotta F.P., Siders Z.A., Cailliet G.M., Motta F.S. & Gadig O.B.F. (2020). Preliminary age and growth of the deep-water goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni (Jordan, 1898). Marine and Freshwater Research. doi: 10.1071/MF19370
    • Rolim F.A., Siders Z.A., Caltabellotta F.P., Rotundo M.M. & Vaske‐Júnior T. (2020). Growth and derived life‐history characteristics of the Brazilian electric ray Narcine brasiliensis. Journal of Fish Biology 97, 396–408. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14378
    • Siders Z.A., Ahrens R.N.M., Allen M.S. & Walters C.J. (2020). Density‐dependent prey behaviours and mutable predator foraging modes induce Allee effects and over‐prediction of prey mortality rates. Freshwater Biology 65, 1752–1764. doi: 10.1111/fwb.13577
    • Caltabellotta F.P., Siders Z.A., Murie D.J., Motta F.S., Cailliet G.M. & Gadig O.B.F. (2019). Age and growth of three endemic threatened guitarfishes Pseudobatos horkelii , P. percellens and Zapteryx brevirostris in the western South Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Fish Biology 95, 1236–1248. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14123
    • Matthias B.G., Ahrens R.N.M., Allen M.S., Tuten T., Siders Z.A. & Wilson K.L. (2018). Understanding the effects of density and environmental variability on the process of fish growth. Fisheries Research 198, 209–219. doi: 10.1016/j.fishres.2017.08.018
    • Lynch A.J., Cooke S.J., Beard T.D., Kao Y.-C., Lorenzen K., Song A.M., et al. (2017). Grand Challenges in the Management and Conservation of North American Inland Fishes and Fisheries. Fisheries 42, 115–124. doi: 10.1080/03632415.2017.1259945
    • Koopman H.N., Westgate A.J. & Siders Z.A. (2015). Declining fecundity and factors affecting embryo quality in the American lobster ( Homarus americanus ) from the Bay of Fundy. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72, 352–363. doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2014-0277
    • Koopman H., Westgate A., Siders Z.A. & Cahoon L. (2014). Rapid Subsurface Ocean Warming in the Bay of Fundy as Measured by Free-Swimming Basking Sharks. Oceanography 27. doi: 10.5670/oceanog.2014.32
    • Westgate A., Koopman H., Siders Z.A., Wong S. & Ronconi R. (2014). Population density and abundance of basking sharks Cetorhinus maximus in the lower Bay of Fundy, Canada. Endangered Species Research 23, 177–185. doi: 10.3354/esr00567
    • Siders Z.A., Westgate A.J., Johnston D.W., Murison L.D. & Koopman H.N. (2013). Seasonal Variation in the Spatial Distribution of Basking Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) in the Lower Bay of Fundy, Canada. PLoS ONE 8, e82074. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082074
    • Koopman H.N. & Siders Z.A. (2013). Variation in egg quality in blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, from North Carolina: does female size matter? Journal of Crustacean Biology 33, 481–487. doi: 10.1163/1937240X-00002152