Vincent S. Saba

Ph.D. - Marine Science - Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 2007

M.S. - Environmental Science - Drexel University, 2001

B.S. - Environmental Science - Drexel University, 1997

Research
Publications
Links

Research interests
My research interests are in the fields of marine ecosystems and climate variability, fisheries oceanography, sea turtle biology, and primary production modeling.  My dissertation work focused on the effects of climate and resource availability on the ecology of leatherback turtles, particularly in the eastern Pacific Ocean.  I'm interested in the trophic cascading dynamics within marine ecosystems and the response of upper trophic marine vertebrate populations through both large- and small-scale climate variability.  This includes both bottom-up factors such as resource availability and top-down factors such as anthropogenic climate warming and fisheries.  I'm currently working on the Primary Production Algorithm Round Robin (PPARR) project for Dr. Marjy Friedrichs.  This project involves the screening of various primary production algorithms that use satellite derived ocean properties and comparing their output to in situ primary productivity at various marine ecosystems.

Publications (Current and Potential) Top

Saba, V.S., Santidrián-Tomillo, P., Reina, R.D., Spotila, J.R., Musick, J.A., Evans, D.A., and Paladino, F.V. 2007. The effect of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on the reproductive frequency of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles. Journal of Applied Ecology 44, 395-404.  Download pdf.

Saba, V.S. and Spotila, J.R. 2003. Survival and behavior of freshwater turtles after rehabilitation from an oil spill. Environmental Pollution 126, 213-223.  Download pdf.

Saba, V.S., Spotila, J.R., Chavez, F.P., and Musick, J.A. In Press. Bottom-up and climatic forcing on the worldwide population of leatherback turtles. Ecology.

Saba, V.S., Shillinger, G.L., Swithenbank, A.M., Block, B.A., Spotila, J.R., Musick, J.A., Paladino, F.V. In Review. An oceanographic context for the foraging ecology of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles: Consequences of the ENSO and coastal gillnet fisheries. Deep-Sea Research I.

Santidrián-Tomillo, P., Saba, V.S., Spotila, J.R., Piedra-Chacón, R., and Paladino, F.V. In Press. Egg poaching: A major factor in the population decline of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, at Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, Costa Rica. Conservation Biology.

Friedrichs, M.A.M, Carr, M-E., Saba, V.S., et al. In Prep for special issue. Assessing the uncertainties of model estimates of primary productivity in the Tropical Pacific Ocean.  Journal of Marine Systems.

Mansfield, K.L., Saba, V.S., Musick, J.A. In Prep.  Migratory behavior of juvenile and adult loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Animal Ecology.

Links Top

Leatherback Trust and Las Baulas National Park, Costa Rica

Multivariate ENSO Index

Tagging of Pacific Predators

Ocean Color

GLOBEC