Garfield Kwan

Biography

Dr. Garfield Kwan completed his doctorate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Garfield received the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NOAA SWFSC), California Delta Science Fellowship (UC Davis), and Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of Exeter).

Garfield’s research centers on ionic and acid-base regulations in aquatic organisms. He combines empirical and functional measurements to assess physiological responses to aquaculture, wildfire runoff, and future ocean conditions. Garfield specializes in analyzing fish microfluids including endolymph (to understand otolith biomineralization, elemental/isotopic incorporation), and cerebral spinal fluid (for behavior, neurophysiology, sensory biology research).

Garfield also communicates science with comics (www.squidtoons.com)

Research

  • Comparative physiology
  •  Conservation biology
  • Otolith biomineralization
  •  Ocean acidification
  •  Wildfire runoff
  •  Science communication

Education

  • PhD in Marine Biology, 2020, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
  • M.S. in Biological Oceanography, 2016, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
  • B.S. in Marine Biology, 2013 (inaugural class), University of California, San Diego

Selected Publications

Kwan GT, Walsh KA, Thompson AR, Ben-Aderet NJ, Fennie WH, Semmens B, Swalethorp R (2024) Trophic Efficiency Facilitates Larval Shortbelly Rockfish (Sebastes jordani) Development. Marine and Coastal Fisheries. DOI: 10.1002/mcf2.10319

Kwan GT, Sanders T, Huang S, Kilaghbian K, Sam C, Wang J, Weihrauch K, Wilson RW, Fangue NA. (2024) Impacts of Ash-Induced Environmental Alkalinization on Fish Physiology, and their Implications to Wildfire-Scarred Watersheds. Science of the Total Environment. DOI:  10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176040

Kwan GT, Prime KJ, Harter TS, Clifford A, Tresguerres M. (2024) Hypercapnic response within the Splitnose Rockfish (Sebastes diploproa) gill ionocytes. Physiological Genomics. DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00057.2024

Kwan GT, Tresguerres M. (2022) Elucidating the acid-base mechanisms underlying otolith overgrowth in fish exposed to ocean acidification. Science of the Total Environment. 823:153690. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153690

Kwan GT*, Shen SG*, Drawbridge M, Checkley D, Tresguerres M (2021). Ion-transporting capacity and aerobic respiration of larval white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) may be resilient to ocean acidification conditions. Science of the Total Environment. 791:148285 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148285