Malte Willmes
I am a researcher in ecology, geochemistry, and archaeology at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and affiliated with the Institute of Marine Science at UC Santa Cruz .
At the core of my research is the development and application of geochemical tracers to reconstruct wildlife migrations, life histories, and population connectivity. My current work focuses on otoliths and scales to study Atlantic and Pacific salmonids, Delta and Longfin smelt, and sturgeon. By integrating fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and statistical modeling, I aim to advance wildlife management and conservation.
I collaborate with research groups at UC Santa Cruz (IMS, NOAA), UC Davis (WFCB, CWS, EPS), and ANU (RSES). In addition, I work directly with many state and federal agencies to translate our scientific findings into management actions.
Data & Tools
IRHUM Database
Baseline strontium isotope data for archaeological and ecological provenance studies.
IsoFishR
Data reduction and analysis of laser-ablation 87Sr/86Sr isotope profiles in R.
OGFLtools
R package by Christian Denney containing utility functions used in the Otolith Geochemistry and Fish Ecology Laboratory at UC Davis.
SFEcol
R color palettes derived from landscapes and wildlife of the San Francisco Estuary.
BandTracer
Fiji plugin for tracing and measuring growth bands in otoliths, scales, and fin spines.