Robert J. Latour

Associate Professor of Marine Science

Email: [[latour]]
Phone: (804) 684-7312
Office: Fisheries Science Lab 127
Department: Fisheries Science

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• B.A., Mathematics, Western New England College

• M.BMA, Biomathematics, North Carolina State University

• Ph.D., Biomathematics, North Carolina State University

Research Interests

Quantitative fisheries ecology with particular emphasis on predator-prey interactions and ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. Population dynamics modeling and stock assessment of exploited marine resources.

Current Projects

• Data collection and analysis in support of multispecies stock assessments in the mid-Atlantic: Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program Nearshore Trawl Program. NEAMAP.  Funded by MAFMC Research Set Aside.

• Design and implementation of ChesMMAP - Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program, funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

• VIMS Shark Research Program. Funded by NOAA/NMFS.

• Stock assessment and population monitoring of American shad in Chesapeake Bay, funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Marine Resources Commission

• Patterns of connectivity in Northwest Atlantic fishery ecosystems. Funded through CAMEO, NSF/NOAA

Selected Publications

(2007 – present; *Indicates my graduate student; †Indicates graduate student collaboration)

• Gauthier, D.T., R.J. Latour, H.D. Gaff, W.K. Vogelbein.  In press.  Mycobacteriosis in striped bass (Morone saxatilis).  For: Northeast Atlantic Coast Striped Bass Fisheries Management.  M. Armstrong and P. Perra, eds.

• †Balazik, M.T., S.P. McIninch, G.C. Garman, and R.J. Latour. 2012.  Age and growth of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) in the James River, USA.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141:1074-1080.
• *Lynch, P.D., K.W. Shertzer, and R.J. Latour. 2012. Estimating relative abundance of highly migratory bycatch species. Fisheries Research 125-126:27-39.
• Latour, R.J., D.T. Gauthier, J. Gartland, C.F. Bonzek, *K.A. McNamee, and W.K. Vogelbein.  2012. Impacts of mycobacteriosis on the growth of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in Chesapeake Bay. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 69: 247-258.

• Latour, R.J., E.J. Hilton, *P.D. Lynch, T.D. Tuckey, B.E. Watkins, and J.E. Olney.  In press. Evaluating the current status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) stocks in three Virginia Rivers.  Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science.
• † Schloesser, R.W., M.C. Fabrizio, R.J. Latour, G.C. Garman, B. Greenlee, M. Groves, and J. Gartland. 2011. Ecological Role of Blue Catfish in Chesapeake Bay Communities and Implications for Management. American Fisheries Society Symposium 77:369-382.
• *Buchheister, A. and R.J. Latour. 2011. Trophic ecology of summer flounder in Chesapeake Bay inferred from stomach content and stable isotope analyses. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 140:1240-1254.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., R.W. Brill, P.G. Bushnell, J.A. Musick, and R.J. Latour. 2011. Comparative metabolic rates of common Atlantic Ocean sciaenid fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 79:235-255.
• *Lynch, P.D., M.J. Brush, and R.J. Latour. 2011. Simulated short-term impacts of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery on Chesapeake Bay water quality. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 31:70-78.
• *Lynch, P.D., J.E. Graves, and R.J. Latour.  2011.  Challenges in the assessment and management of highly migratory bycatch species: a case study of the Atlantic marlins.  Pages 197-226 in W.W. Taylor, A.J. Lynch, and M.G. Schechter, editors.  Sustainable fisheries: multi-level approaches to a global problem.  American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
• Frisk, M.G., T.J. Miller, R.J. Latour, and S.J.D. Martell. 2011. Assessing biomass gains from marsh restoration in Delaware Bay using Ecopath with Ecosim. Ecological Modeling 222:190-200.
• Gauthier, D.T., K.S. Reece, J. Xiao, M.W. Rhodes, H.I. Kator, R.J. Latour, C.F. Bonzek, J.M. Hoenig, and W.K. Vogelbein. 2010. Quantitative PCR assay for Mycobacterium pseudoshottsii and Mycobacterium shottsii and application to environmental samples and fishes from Chesapeake Bay, USA. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76:6171-6179.

• Garrison, L.P, J.S. Link, D.P. Kilduff, M.D. Cieri, B. Muffley, D. Vaughan, A. Sharov, B. Mahmoudi, and R.J. Latour. 2010. An expansion of the MSVPA approach for quantifying predator-prey interactions in exploited fish communities. ICES Journal of Marine Science 67: 856-870.

• *Horodysky, A.Z., R.W. Brill, E.J. Warrant, J.A. Musick, and R.J. Latour. 2010. Comparative visual function in four piscivorous fishes inhabiting Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Experimental Biology 213: 1751-1761.
• *Lynch, P.D., M.J. Brush, E.D. Condon, and R.J. Latour. 2010. Net removal of nitrogen through ingestion of phytoplankton by Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecological Progress Series 401: 195-209.
• *Buchheister, A. and R.J. Latour. 2010. Turnover rates and fractionations of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N in muscle, blood, and liver tissues of juvenile summer flounder. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 67: 445-461.
• Graves, J.E., *A.Z. Horodysky, and R.J. Latour. 2009. Use of pop-up satellite archival tag technology to study postrelease survival and habitat utilization of estuarine and coastal fishes: an application to striped bass. Fishery Bulletin 107:373-383.
• Hoffman, J.C., C.F. Bonzek, and R.J. Latour. 2009. Estimation of bottom trawl catch efficiency for two demersal fishes, the Atlantic croaker and white perch, in Chesapeake Bay. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 1: 255-269.
• Gauthier, D.T., R.J. Latour, D.M. Heisey, C.F. Bonzek, J. Gartland, E.J. Burge, W.K. Vogelbein. 2008. Mycobacteriosis-associated mortality in wild striped bass (Morone saxatilis) from Chesapeake Bay, USA. Ecological Applications 18: 1718-1727.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., R.W. Brill, E.J. Warrant, J.A. Musick, and R.J. Latour. 2008. Comparative visual function in five sciaenid fishes inhabiting Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Experimental Biology 211:3601-3612.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., R.W. Brill, M.L. Fine, J.A. Musick, and R.J. Latour. 2008. Acoustic pressure and particle motion thresholds in six sciaenid fishes. Journal of Experimental Biology 211:1504-1511.
• Hoenig, J.M., R.J. Latour, and J.E. Olney. 2008. Estimating stock composition of anadromous fishes from mark-recovery data: possible application to American shad. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 28:507-515.
• Latour, R.J., J. Gartland, C.F. Bonzek, and R.A. Johnson. 2008. The trophic dynamics of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in Chesapeake Bay. Fishery Bulletin 106:47-57.
• † Horodysky, A.Z., D.W. Kerstetter, R.J. Latour, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Habitat utilization and vertical movements of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from commercial and recreational fishing gears in the western North Atlantic Ocean: inferences from short-duration pop-up archival satellite tags (PSATs). Fisheries Oceanography 16:240-256.
• † Jiang, H., K.H. Pollock, C. Brownie, J.M. Hoenig, R.J. Latour, B.K. Wells, and J.E. Hightower. 2007. Tag return models allowing for harvest and catch and release: evidence of environmental and management impacts on striped bass fishing and natural mortality rates. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 27:387-396.

Current Students

• Andre Buchheister (Ph.D) 
• Carissa Gervasi (M.S.)
• Patrick Lynch (Ph.D)
• Kristene Parsons (Ph.D)
• Kathryn Sobocinski (Ph.D) co-advisor
• Mark Stratton (Ph.D)
• Christopher Sweetman (Ph.D)

Former Students

• Christopher J. Sweetman, M.S., 2012. Thesis: Distribution and feeding ecology of Bathylagus euryops (TELEOSTEI: MICROSTOMATIDAE) along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from Iceland to the Azores
• Catarina Wor: M.S., 2012. Thesis: Evaluating the impact of stock structure uncertainty in stock assessments of sailfish in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Andrij Horodysky, Ph.D., 2009. Dissertation: Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA
• Justine Woodward, M.S., 2009. Thesis: Investigating the relationships between recruitment indices and estimates of adult abundance for striped bass, weakfish, and Atlantic croaker.
• Andre Buchheister, M.S., 2008. Thesis: Isotope dynamics in summer flounder tissues, with application to diet assessment in Chesapeake Bay.
• Patrick Lynch, M.S., 2007. Thesis: The feeding ecology of Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in Chesapeake Bay.
• Kathleen McNamee, M.S., 2007. Thesis: Trophic ecology and growth of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in Chesapeake Bay, with reference to mycobacteriosis.

Student Awards

• 2013. Kathryn Sobocinski, The Matthew Fontaine Maury Society Student Fellowship Award, VIMS Foundation
• 2012. Andre Buchheister, Deans Fellowship, VIMS Foundation 
• 2012. Carissa Gervasi, Grey Allison & H. Renwick Dunlap Fellowship, VIMS Foundation
• 2011-2012. Mark Stratton, Edward Holland Fellowship, VIMS Foundation
• 2011. Catarina Wor, Perry Travel Award, VIMS Foundation
• 2011. Patrick Lynch, Beazley Fellowship, VIMS Foundation
• 2008-2011. Kathryn Sobocinski, Hunter B. Andrews, Jr. Fellowship, VIMS Foundation
• 2010.  Kathryn Sobocinski, QEA Anchor Scholarship
• 2010.  Patrick Lynch, Best paper by an M.S. student, VIMS
• 2007.  Andrij Horodysky, The Matthew Fontaine Maury Society Student Fellowship Award, VIMS Foundation
• 2006. Andre Buchheister, William J. Hargis, Jr. Fellowship Award, VIMS Foundation

Courses Taught/Teaching

• MSCI 504 Fundamentals of Statistical Methods and Data Analysis (Instructor)

• MSCI 528 Marine Fisheries Science (co-Instructor)

• MSCI 548 Marine Fisheries Science and Management (Lecturer, Summer course for high school teachers)

• MSCI 649 Modeling Biological and Ecological Systems (co-Instructor)

• MSCI 671 Fisheries Population Dynamics (Instructor)

Professional Memberships

•  Estuarine Research Federation (2003-present)

•  American Fisheries Society (1999-present)

Collaborative/Interdisciplinary Efforts

• ASMFC Menhaden Technical Committee

• Member, ASMFC Multispecies Technical Committee

• Member, Science and Statistics Committee, MAFMC