Julia K. Baum
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Julia Kathleen Baum (born 1976) is a Canadian marine biologist. In 2017, she was named to the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. She was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 2017 and an EWR Steacie Fellowship in 2018.


Early life and education

Baum was born in 1976. She received her
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in biology from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
and enrolled at the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
for her graduate degrees. Baum eventually transferred to
Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...
to work alongside Ransom A. Myers and complete her MSc and PhD. Baum wrote her thesis on the declining shark population and subsequently received the
Governor General's Academic Medal The Governor General's Academic Medal is awarded to the student graduating with the highest grade point average from a Canadian high school, college or university program. They are presented by the educational institution on behalf of the Governor ...
. Upon graduating, Baum completed a two year David H. Smith Conservation Research post-doctoral fellowship at
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma. Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...
, followed by a Schmidt Ocean Institute postdoctoral fellowship at the
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) is a research center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Santa Barbara, California. Better known by its acronym, NCEAS (pronounced “n-seas”) opened in May 1995. F ...
.


Career

In 2009, Baum began studying the effects that fishing practices have on coral reefs in Kiritimati. As a professor at the
University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...
, she was named among 126 recipients of the 2012 Sloan Fellowships from the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support origina ...
. The fellowship included a $50,000 grant, which she would use to explore the impact of fishing on the life of predatory species. Later that year, she was one of three co-organizers of the Ecology@UVic group to plan bi-weekly meetings for journal-group discussions and informal seminars on the topic of ecology. A few days later, Baum received A $72,000 grant from the
Canada Foundation for Innovation The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI; , ''FCI'') is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to invest in research facilities and equipment in Canada's universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research in ...
to create a marine ecology and conservation centre. Following the 2015–2016
Marine heatwave A marine heatwave is a period of abnormally high sea surface temperatures compared to the typical temperatures in the past for a particular season and region. Marine heatwaves are caused by a variety of drivers. These include shorter term weather ...
that caused mass coral bleaching and mortality on reefs around the world, Baum began researching how to assist the different species of reef fishes in recovering. As a result of her efforts, Baum was elected a Member of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. She was also one of six university faculty members to be awarded the 2018 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; , CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. NSERC directly funds university professors and students as ...
for "outstanding and highly promising faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research." During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, she co-authored a study in ''Ecological Applications'' which identified 170,000 individual fishes of 245 different species of reef fishes at 16 reefs on Christmas Island, before, during, and after the heatwave. Later, Baum led the first study that found the reefs could recover from the bleaching when they were not simultaneously exposed to other types of human-caused stressors, such as water pollution. In July 2020, Baum released a study claiming that sharks were "functionally extinct" in nearly 20 per cent of the world's coral reefs.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baum, Julia K. Living people 1976 births McGill University alumni Dalhousie University alumni Academic staff of the University of Victoria Canadian marine biologists