People

Our Lab Members

Nelson Ehrhardt

Dr. Nelson Ehrhardt’s 45 year career in fisheries began with completion of a degree in Naval Engineering at the Universidad del Norte in Chile. Shortly thereafter, he completed a Master’s degree at the University of Washington, studying the population dynamics of hakes. While completing at PhD at the University of Washington, Nelson was recruited by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) where he served as a chief stock assessment scientist for international fishery assessments- including billfishes and pelagics. In his tenure with the FAO, he resided in Africa, Yemen, Rome, London, and Mexico City. In 1983, Dr. Ehrhardt began his academic career at the University of Miami.

Since then, he has graduated the most PhD students (23) in the history of the school’s Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries. As a professor at the University of Miami, Dr. Ehrhardt has studied complicated population dynamic processes of tropical and subtropical fishes and crustaceans throughout North and South America. Dr. Ehrhardt has notably and successfully linked environmental processes to recruitment and availability of numerous fisheries- including snappers, shrimps, stone crabs, tropical lobsters, and billfishes. In 2007, Dr. Ehrhardt is also among the founders of a consortium of billfish resource stakeholders from Central America and Panama that envisioned a unified front to promote the conservation of billfishes. Dr. Ehrhardt currently mentors two PhD students in the Billfish Research Laboratory at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.

Bruce G. Pohlot, MPS

Bruce joined the University of Miami in 2010. Prior to enrolling at UM, Bruce completed a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Following his studies at Yale, Bruce worked in a clinical motion analysis laboratory for two years performing motion capture on children with orthopedic abnormalities and recommending surgical and therapeutic solutions to improve their way of life. In 2010, Bruce enrolled at the University of Miami to complete a Master’s of Professional Science under the fisheries track. In 2011, Pohlot completed the MPS degree and thesis examining the performance of circle hooks in the US Northwest Atlantic longline fishery targeting swordfish. Bruce was recruited to join Dr. Ehrhardt’s Billfish Science Lab in 2011. Bruce’s background in engineering and interest in billfish behavior renders the opportunity to utilize a unique state-of-the-art approach in studying billfish feeding behavior. Pohlot’s Dissertation focuses on the distribution, behavior, and habitat use of sailfish and blue marlin off the Central American Pacific Coast. Pohlot’s engineering experience provides the ability to utilize the newest technologies in satellite tagging and accellerometry to elucidate feeding behaviors, daily rhythms, and movement patterns. Bruce is also focused on the the relationship between billfish and their enviroment, specifically, the environmental forcing known as habitat compression which greatly impacts billfish distribution.

Julie E. Brown, MPS

Julie attended James Madison University in Virginia, where she was born and lived until 2009, when she moved to Chicago. After a few years of working in the orthopedic research department at RUSH University, she left the great north to attend school in Miami. During her time at UM, Julie completed her Master’s of Professional Science, and is now attending as a PhD student in Dr. Ehrhardt’s Billfish lab, where she studies the economic impacts of sportfishing in the Eastern Pacific.