Patricia M. Schulte is a Canadian zoologist who is a Professor of Zoology at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. Her research considers physiology, genomics and population genetics. Schulte is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the former President of the Canadian Society of Zoologists.

Early life and education

Schulte completed her undergraduate studies at the

. She moved to Stanford University for her doctoral research, where she studied the regulation and function of transcriptional Lactate dehydrogenase b in ''

Fundulus heteroclitus The mummichog (''Fundulus heteroclitus'') is a small killifish found along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. Also known as Atlantic killifish, mummies, gudgeons, and mud minnows, these fish inhabit brackish and coastal waters in ...

''.

Research and career

Schulte is an evolutionary physiologist who studies how changes in the environment impact fish. Schulte has studied the

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

common to the East Coast of Canada. These fish experience extreme coastal gradients, significantly more than their North American counterparts. These changes in temperature have marked impact on the physiology and behaviour of killifish. Schulte has also studied rainbow trout and the impact of human activity. She has investigated the genetic variants that leave certain rainbow trout susceptible to climate-change relevant stressors. Her research has informed guidance on rainbow trout conservation and the operation of fisheries.

Three-spined stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

exist in both freshwater and marine environments, and the two forms come into contact in the streams of British Columbia. Schulte has investigated how the sticklebacks adapt to new environments, such as changes in salinity, temperature or the types of predators. Schulte is committed to educational research. She has been awarded the UBC Science Undergraduate Society Awards for Excellence in Teaching. She serves executive team of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative.

Awards and honours

* 2007 President of the Canadian Society of Zoologists * 2015

Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies was founded in 1991 and is the senior research institute at the University of British Columbia. It supports basic research through collaborative, interdisciplinary initiatives. The institute brings tog ...

Peter Wall Scholar * 2016 American Fisheries Society Award for Excellence * 2019 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada * 2019

Killam Research Prize

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulte, Patricia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of British Columbia faculty Canadian women scientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada University of British Columbia alumni Stanford University alumni Women zoologists Presidents of the Canadian Society of Zoologists