I am a numerical ecologist interested in spatial distribution and dispersal of marine organisms with ocean currents. In my work I have combined survey data that I collected during research expeditions, statistical modelling of habitat suitability and biophysical models (bioenergetic, individual-based, transport, sea-ice ocean models). I gained my first experience in modelling marine environments during my masters at Sorbonne University (previously Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris VI), France. I pursued connectivity of an invasive species in the North Sea as the subject of my master’s thesis at Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea). The keen interest and strong motivation in studying the polar oceans led me further to my PhD at Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, in Bremerhaven, Germany. During my PhD, I took part in research expeditions in the Arctic and Southern Ocean on board RV Polarstern. My main work involved using an innovative under-ice trawl, developed at Wageningen Research. https://www.wur.nl/en/show/Fishing-under-Antarctic-sea-ice.htm
For my postdoctoral work, I returned to Ifremer, France, to study connectivity along the NE Atlantic coast of a reef-building species, a worm who creates sand-based structures resembling honeycomb (REEHAB project: https://www.honeycombworms.org/The-REEHAB-Project).
Winning Ocean Frontier Institute Fellowship led me to continuing my work in the Arctic as a joint project with Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), MA, US. I studied climate change effects on the biogeography of Arctic cod, an emblematic fish that lives at sub-zero temperatures under the sea ice. Through on-going collaboration with WHOI, I am continuing this work to reveal which parts of the Arctic are most susceptible to reduced survival for larval Arctic cod.
I started working at Wageningen University in 2022 as an eco-physiological modeller, to consolidate the work of MAE through numerical models that will allow expanding the lab and field work of the group. I keep at heart my old research interests in marine connectivity and life in polar oceans, as I start new projects in the Caribbean Sea and develop new models for disease dispersal and food web dynamics, among others.
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carmen-David-2
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-lucia-david-bb00666b/
OrcID: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-4241-1284