Craig, J. Kevin

Assistant Research Scientist, NSEES, Duke University

Post Doctoral Research Associate, CMAST, North Carolina State University

B.S. Biology and B.A. Chemistry, North Carolina State University
M.S. Fisheries, University of Washington
Ph.D. Ecology, Duke University

I am generally interested in ecological and evolutionary processes occurring in aquatic ecosystems. My dissertation addresses how variation in water quality alters spatial distributions of demersal fish in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Large areas of low dissolved oxygen (up to 20,000 km²) occur seasonally in the northwestern gulf as a result of nutrient loading from the Mississippi River. I am using existing, long term datasets to assess changes in spatial distribution, species overlap, and community structure associated with seasonal and interannual variability in the extent of hypoxia. I am also involved in an investigation of predator-prey interactions in estuarine fish (in conjunction with Jim Rice and Brian Burke, N.C. State University). We are using spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) and southern flounder (Paralicthys lethostigma) as a model system to investigate the role of individual variability in size and growth on cohort survival and size structure. A combination of individual-based models, pond experiments, and analyses of historical fishery datasets suggests variation in size and growth over the course of a growing season can have important effects on spot mortality, spot size structure, flounder size structure, and potentially spot recruitment in southeast U.S. estuaries. My master's thesis (University of Washington) addressed the role of environmental variability in population divergence and speciation of anadromous and nonanadromous morphs of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka).

Publications

Craig, J.K., and C.J. Foote. 2001. Countergradient variation and secondary sexual color: Phenotypic convergence promotes genetic divergence in carotenoid use between sympatric anadromous and nonanadromous morphs of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Evolution 55:380-391.

Craig, J.K., and L.B. Crowder. 2000. Factors influencing habitat selection in fishes with a review of marsh ecosystems. Pp. 241-266 in M. Weinstein and D.A. Kreeger (editors), Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands.

Craig, J.K., C.D. Gray, C.M. McDaniel, T.L. Henwood, and J.G. Hanifen. 2001.
Ecological effects of hypoxia on fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals in the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Pp. 269-291 in N.N. Rabalais and R.E. Turner
(editors), Coastal Hypoxia: Consequences for Living Resources and Ecosystems. Coastal and Estuarine Studies 58, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

Craig, J.K., C.J. Foote, and C.C. Wood. 1996. Evidence for temperature-dependent sex determination in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53:141-147.

Foote C.J., K. Moore, K. Stenburg, J.K. Craig, J.K. Wenburg, and C.C. Wood. 1999. Genetic differentiation in gillraker number and length in sympatric anadromous and nonanadromous morphs of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka. Environmental Biology of Fishes 54:263-274.

Contact

E-mail: jkc5@duke.edu
Home phone: 728-7399
Work phone: DUML ext. 7636, CMAST (252)222-6343

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