Jan Ohlberger, PhD


Research Scientist, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington


My research is motivated by the desire to understand how organisms interact with each other and the biotic environment, and how aquatic ecosystems are affected by human activity. Specifically, I study how fish populations in marine and freshwater ecosystems respond to climate change, fishing, and diseases. I am interested in the ecological, physiological, and evolutionary aspects of these responses. To investigate my research questions, I use numerical models such as age- or size-structured population models in combination with empirical data, statistical models, time-series analysis, simulation modeling, lab experiments and fieldwork.  


Keywords: climate change, conservation, fisheries, life-history, metabolic scaling, population dynamics, size-structure, species interactions, thermal adaptation

Most recent publications


Lindmark et al. Optimum growth temperature declines with body size within fish species. Global Change Biology. In press.


Ohlberger et al. Non-stationary and interactive effects of climate and competition on pink salmon productivity. Global Change Biology.


DeFilippo & Ohlberger 2021. Stochastic recruitment alters the frequencies of alternative life histories in age-structured populations. Fish and Fisheries.


Staton et al. 2021. Incorporating demographic information into spawner-recruit analyses alters biological reference point estimates for a western Alaska salmon population. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.