Written by Ryan Swanson,

Nereus alumnus Gabriel Reygondeau (University of British Columbia – UBC) was recently chosen as a contributor to work for the Half Earth Project, as well as a UBC-Yale Fellow for his work on marine species distribution at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. For Nereus, Gabriel’s research focuses on the theme of “the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the biodiversity of the global ocean.”

Gabriel’s work with Half Earth Project will be a direct continuation of his work with Nereus, which will include updating the marine biodiversity database, as well as using models to obtain the distribution of a larger spectrum of species in order to map them globally. Once he has completed that, he will compare terrestrial and marine patterns to identify which half of the ocean to protect that will result in a maximization of biodiversity protection. He will then use different climate change scenario models to evaluate which areas will be the best places to focus on for future marine biodiversity protection.

Gabriel is excited that “all of the data will be on a map of life” and available on Half Earth Project’s website. It will also be incorporated into Map of Life Project’s site, an interactive site that shows individual species global distribution patterns, as well as downloadable lists of known species within each country. As a UBC-Yale fellow, Gabriel will be able to continue his work at both UBC and Yale. You can read more about Half Earth Project and Gabriel’s contributing work at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries here.