Simon Dedman

From London, UK, with degrees/postings in Southampton, Aberdeen, Bimini, Galway, and California (Farallon Institute & Stanford), now working remotely at FIU. Simon’s background blends fisheries management with movement modelling for elasmobranchs and tuna, as well as developing machine learning and other spatial analysis tools for marine ecologists. Another key interest is streamlining data acquisition and analysis pipelines for marine spatial analyses and population dynamics. He enjoys football (the other kind), scuba diving, golf, gardening, and piñatas.

Research Areas

• Ecological roles of sharks.
• Habitat preference modelling and prediction with Boosted Regression Tree machine learning software gbm.auto.
• Space use modelling for individuals and groups with movegroup software.
• Broad suite of spatial and behavioural analysis tool development and skills.

Education

Ph.D. Marine Science, M.Res. Marine & Fisheries Science, B.S. Oceanography & Marine Biology

Selected Publications

Dedman, S, Aalto, E., Stokesbury, M., Schallert, R., Castleton, M. and B. A. Block. 2023. Assignment of tracks from tagged Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus to potential stocks using behavioural differences and habitat partitioning. Frontiers in Marine Science, DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1165910.

Aalto, E., Dedman, S., Stokesbury, M., Schallert, R., Castleton, M., and Block, BA. 2023. Evidence of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) spawning in the Slope Sea region of the Northwest Atlantic from electronic tags. Frontiers in Marine Science, 0, 1-17, DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsad015

Yang, Z, Li, D, Dedman, S, Rosso, M, Zhu, J, Yu, X, Yang, J, Xia, Y, Huang, W, Wang, J. 2022. Application of UAV remote sensing technology in marine monitoring: A review. Science of the Total Environment, 838, e155939. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155939

Hightower, CL, Drymon, JM, Jefferson, AE, Jargowsky, MB, Seubert, EA, Dedman, S, Mareska, JF, and Powers, SP. 2022. Population dynamics, relative abundance, and habitat suitability of adult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) indicate vulnerability to harvest in nearshore waters of the north central Gulf of Mexico. Fishery Bulletin, 120:162–1. DOI: 10.7755/FB.120.2.6.

Tian, Y, Yang, Z, Yu, X, Jia, Z, Rosso, M, Dedman, S, Xia, Y, Zhu, J, Zhang, G, Yang, J, Huang, W, Pei, Y, Cai, Q, Xing, H, Wang, J. 2022. Can we quantify the aquatic environmental plastic load from aquaculture? Water Research, 219, e118551. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118551.

*Quierós, AM, et al. 2021. Bright spots as climate - smart marine spatial planning tools for conservation and blue growth. Global Change Biology 00:1–18 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15827

Drymon, JM, Dedman, S., Froeschke, JT, Seubert, EA, Jefferson, AE, Kroetz, AM, Mareska, JF, and Powers, SP. 2020. Defining sex-specific habitat suitability for a Northern Gulf of Mexico shark assemblage. Frontiers in Marine Science DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00035

Sydeman, WJ, Dedman, S., García-Reyes, M., Thompson, SA, Thayer, JA, Bakun, A., and MacCall, AD. 2020. Sixty-five years of northern anchovy population studies in the southern California Current: From collapse to recovery and back. ICES Journal of Marine Science DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsaa004

Grimmel, HMV, Bullock, RW, Dedman, S., Guttridge, TL and Bond, ME. 2020. Assessment of faunal communities and habitat use within a shallow water system using non-invasive BRUVs methodology. Aquaculture and Fisheries Journal DOI: 10.1016/j.aaf.2019.12.005

Drymon, JM, Jefferson, AE, Jargowsky, M, Seubert, EA, Dedman, S, Mareska, JF, Hightower, C, and Powers, SP. 2020. Understanding population dynamics of adult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council final report, grant number CTD 12-13-2019.

Queirós, AM, et al. 2020. Spatial data and evidence projects, project 4: Marine spatial planning and climate change. Vulnerabilities and opportunities for Ireland’s marine ecosystem services and marine-based activities under climate change. A report by Plymouth Marine Laboratory and ABPMer for the Marine Institute, 231 pp.

Bangley, CW, Paramore, L., Dedman, S. and Rulifson, RA. 2018. Delineation and mapping of coastal shark habitat within a shallow lagoonal estuary. PLoS ONE e0195221 DOI: 10.1371/journal/pone.195221

Dedman, S. 2017. Spatial approaches towards achieving management targets: the case of the elasmobranch fisheries in the Irish Sea. PhD Thesis. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Dedman, S., Officer, R., Clarke, M., Reid, DG, and Brophy, D. 2017. Gbm.auto: a software tool to simplify spatial modelling and Marine Protected Area planning. PLoS ONE 12(12):e0188955 DOI: 10.1371/journal/pone.0188955.

Dedman, S., Officer, R., Brophy, D., Clarke, M., and Reid, DG. 2017. Advanced spatial modelling to inform management of data-poor juvenile and adult female rays. Fishes 2017, 2, 12; DOI:10.3390/fishes2030012.

Dedman, S., Officer, R., Brophy, D., Clarke, M., and Reid, DG. 2016. Towards a flexible Decision Support Tool for MSY-based Marine Protected Area design for skates and rays. ICES Journal of Marine Science DOI:10.1093/icesjms/fsw147.

Dedman, S., Officer, R., Brophy, D., Clarke, M., and Reid, DG. 2015. Modelling abundance hotspots for data-poor Irish Sea rays. Ecological Modelling 312, 77–90, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.05.010

Dedman, S. 2006. Preferenda and thermal event response in the juvenile lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris in Bimini, Bahamas. Masters Thesis, University of Aberdeen, UK.

Dedman, S. 2003. Elasmobranches of the East Solent. Bachelors Thesis, University of Southampton, UK.