Nicholas Dulvy is an associate professor of biology at Canada’s Simon Fraser University, where he holds the Canadian research chair in marine biodiversity and conservation. A native of Ireland with a doctorate from the University of East Anglia, he studies threats to marine biodiversity, investigating such questions as what makes sharks and rays more vulnerable to extinction and how coral-reef ecosystems, human activities and fisheries interrelate. Dulvy helped assess climate-change impacts on countries’ fisheries in a study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Fish and Fisheries. In South America, Peru and Colombia were found to be among the most vulnerable. Ecuador would have ranked higher, Dulvy says, if certain variables had been measured differently. Other countries, such as Chile, were deemed better able to adapt to climate change and, thus, less vulnerable. Dulvy spoke with EcoAméricas correspondent Barbara Fraser.