Invited Plenary Speakers

Dr. Kimmo Kahilainen
Dr. Kimmo Kahilainen has been working with European coregonids for the last 20 years mainly focusing on ecological and evolutionary questions at different levels of biological organization. Recently, his main focus has been trophic interactions of European whitefish with other species and impacts of coregonid diversity on food webs, ecosystem functioning and services, in terms of fisheries and human nutrition.

Dr. Julie Turgeon
Dr. Julie Turgeon is an evolutionary biologist and a professor at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada, since 2002. She uses genetics in combination with other tools to study speciation, hybridization, biological invasions, and sexual selection in a variety of organisms including fish, copepods, and insects. After her thesis on the evolution of North American ciscoes, she conducted studies on population genetics of different cisco forms, namely Bloater and Shortjaw cisco, and is currently evaluating putative populations of Blackfin cisco in Algonquin Park, Ontario.

Markku Vaaraniemi
Markku Vaaraniemi has enjoyed a career in global industrial automation and service business since 1978. The international business background is in sharp contrast to the life back in his childhood in the valley of the Torne River, a large border river between Finland and Sweden. With a heritage from both parents and as an active member of the community, including a membership in a local fishing association and Pro Whitefish association, he has a long personal history with the whitefish knowing its fishing methods in theory and practice. This knowledge and diverse experience was in key role in preparing a three-years (2016-2018) program “Tornio Valley Summer Whitefish” funded by EU (Interreg Nord). It has two main aims, the whitefish study and fostering of living fishing culture. As member of the advisory board he will continue to coach the program. Both in fishing and in his everyday life he prefers a local slogan “A big fish is worth of trying even if you don’t catch any”.

Dr. Josef Wanzenboeck
Dr. Josef Wanzenboeck is currently at the University of Innsbruck Research Institute for Limnology in Mondsee, Austria.  He completed his PhD in 1990 from the University of Vienna where he studied ontogenetic changes in prey capture by larval cyprinids.  He currently teaches laboratory and field courses in fish ecology and applied Ecology at the University of Salzburg and Innsbruck where he has supervised PhD and Masters Degree candidates.  His primary interest is in studying interactions between larval fish and their food in varying habitat conditions in the context of population dynamics and aquaculture.  He is currently involved in evaluating stocking strategies for coregonids.  Dr. Wanzenboeck was the principal organizer of the 11th International Coregonid Symposium and co-editor of the respective proceedings volume.

Dr. Jim Bence
Dr. Jim Bence is co-Director of the Quantitative Fisheries Center (QFC) and the William E. Ricker  Professor of Fisheries Management in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University, where he has been on the faculty since 1994.  He is a past president of the International Association for Great Lakes Research.  Prior to arriving at MSU, Jim held a position with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Tiburon California, and received a Ph.D. in ecology and an MA degree in statistics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  His research program emphasizes population dynamics, stock assessment, and model-based evaluation of management strategies.  Past and current research has addressed population dynamics, stock assessment, and management of bloater (Coregonus hoyi), Cisco (Coregonus artedi)  and Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Laurentian Great Lakes.  He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and numerous technical reports. Jim works closely with management agencies, as part of the Partnership for Ecosystem Research and Management, and has played a foundational role in establishing current stock assessment procedures for Lake Whitefish and other species in the upper Laurentian Great Lakes.