Stéphane Thanassekos

Department of Fisheries Science – Virginia Institute of Marine Science

P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062

| Ph: (804) 684-7317 | Fax: (804) 684-7327

Professional Appointments:

Assistant Research Scientist, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College ofWilliam and Mary, USA (Aug 2014 – present).

Fisheries and Ecosystems Analyst, CCAMLR Secretariat, Hobart, Australia (Feb 2012 – Jun 2014).

  • Data support provider (ASPECT Ice-core database), Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, Australia (Aug 2011–Jan 2012)
  • Volunteer Fellow, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart, Australia(Apr 2011–Aug 2011)

Education:

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Oceanography, Laval University, Québec, Canada(Sept 2005–Mar 2011).Individual-based modelling of the growth and survival of Boreogadus saida (Arctic cod)larvae in two polynyas (Supervisor: Dr. Louis Fortier).
  • Master of Science II, Marine Environmental Modelling, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium (2003-2004).Modelling larval population dynamics of Pleuragramma antarcticum(Supervisor: Dr. Jean-Henri Hecq).
  • Master of Science I, Population and Ecosystem Biology, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France (2002-2003).Phylogeny and Biogeography of Brycinus macrolepidotus populations from lower Guinea (Supervisor: Dr. Didier Paugy).
  • Bachelor of Science, Biology and Life Sciences, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France (1999-2002).

Peer-reviewed publications:

Thanassekos, S., Cox, M.,Reid, K. (2014).Investigating the effect of recruitment variability on length-based recruitment indices for Antarctic krill using an individual-based population dynamics model. PLoSONE9(12):e114378.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114378

Thanassekos, S., Fortier, L. (2012).An Individual Based Model of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) early life in Arctic polynyas: I. Simulated growth in relation to hatch date in the Northeast Water (Greenland Sea) and the North Water (Baffin Bay). J. Marine Syst. 93, 25-38. doi:10.1016/j.marsys.2011.08.003.

Thanassekos, S., Robert, D., Fortier, L. (2012). An Individual Based Model of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) early life in Arctic polynyas: II. Length-dependent and growth-dependent mortality. J. Marine Syst.93, 39-46.doi: 10.1016/j.marsys.2001.08.01.

Meiners, K. M., Vancoppenolle, M., Thanassekos, S., et al. (2012).Chlorophyll a in Antarctic sea ice from historical ice core data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L21602, doi:10.1029/2012GL053478.

Other publications:

Thanassekos, S., Reid, K. (2013).A sensitivity analysis of a simple krill individual-based model designed to investigate length-based recruitment indices. In: Report of the Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (WG-EMM-13/23).

Mormede, S., Thanassekos, S. (2013). Steps carried out to check the data inputs to the stock assessment of the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. In: Report of the Working Group on Fish stock Assessment (WG-FSA-13/56).

Thanassekos, S. Candy, S., Appleyard, E., Kawaguchi, S., Reid, K., (2012). An initial analysis of data provided from the deployment of scientific observers in the krill fishery 2012. In: Report of the Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (WG-EMM-12/60).

Software development:

CCAMLRGIS R Package: A package to be used within R, built to translate geo-referenced data from a simple ".csv" (comma-separated) file into "shapefiles", the ESRI file format used in Geographic Information Software. (

Observer Logbook Checker: Development of an algorithm designed to assess observer data quality and performance. In: Report of the Working Group on Statistics, Assessments and Modelling (WG-SAM-13/40).

Field Experience:

  • I9 – Voyage 3 (Jan.2010 to Feb. 2011) Hobart - Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica - Fremantle.
  • Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study Project (Canadian IPY, Sept. 2007 to Aug. 2008) Canadian Arctic Archipelago, South-eastern Beaufort Sea.
  • ArcticNet (Sept. - Oct. 2008) Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay.
  • ArcticNet (Sept. - Oct. 2006) Baffin Bay and Labrador Sea.
  • STARESO station (2004) Calvi, France.

Skills and Training:

  • Programming: R, MatLab,Fortran,Systat, GIS.
  • Zooplankton sampling: vertical (Tucker), oblique (Rectangular Mid-water Trawl), and stratified multiple net tows (Hydrobios)from the ship, and vertical net tows from a hole on the ice.
  • Laboratory analysis of zooplankton: sorting, size fractioning and preservation, identification using taxonomic keys.
  • Larval fish sorting and length measurements under binocular microscope.
  • CTD and Rosette operator: preparation of the rosette, use of control software, and post-processing of raw data.

Teaching Experience:

  • Substitute lecturer for Ecosystem Modelling (Université de Liège, 2004): course on modelling population dynamics (MSc students).
  • Substitute lecturer for Physical Oceanography (Laval University, 2009 and 2010): course on biological modelling (4th yr undergraduate students).

Seminars and Presentations at Scientific Meetings:

  • VIMS seminar, Gloucester Point, Virginia US (Sept. 2013)
  • Australian Antarctic DivisionSeminar, Kingston, Australia (Jun. 2011)
  • Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, U. Tasmania, Australia (May 2011)
  • CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Seminar, Hobart, Australia (Apr. 2011)
  • Workshop on understanding and quantifying mortality in pelagic, early life stages of marineorganisms: experiments, observations and models (WKMOR), Aberdeen, Scotland (Mar.2010)
  • Arctic Frontiers, The Age of the Arctic, Tromso, Norway (Jan. 2009) (Poster)
  • Arctic Change 2008, Québec, Canada (2008) (Poster)
  • Youth forum on climatic changes in the Arctic (FJCCA, Québec, Canada (2008). Presentation of a workshop (including, slideshow, videos and zooplankton samples) to secondary school students.
  • Annual General Assembly of Québec-Océan, Rivière-du-loup, Canada (Nov2008)
  • ArcticNet Science Meeting, Collingwood, Canada (Dec. 2007)
  • ArcticNet Science Meeting, Victoria, Canada (Dec. 2006) (Poster)
  • Status, control and role of the pelagic diversity of the Austral Ocean (PELAGANT), Liège,Belgium (2003)

Additional information:

Born in Athens, Greece, French nationality.

Fluent in French, Modern Greek and English, with good knowledge of Italian and Spanish.

FFESSM scuba-diver since 1990, CMAS **.