Robert J. Latour

Current Projects

• Data collection and analysis in support of multispecies stock assessments in the mid-Atlantic: Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program Nearshore Trawl Program. NEAMAP.  Funded by ASMFC.
• Design and implementation of ChesMMAP - Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program, funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
• VIMS Shark Research Program. Funded by ASMFC. 
• Striped Bass Assessment Program. Funded by Wallop-Breaux funds from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
• Developing a regional industry-based bottom trawl survey (RIBTS) for the Northeast US shelf ecosystem

Multispecies Research Group

Selected Publications

(2018 – present; *Indicates my graduate student; † Indicates graduate student collaboration)

• *Schonfeld, A.J., M.J. Wilberg, †S. Nehemiah, and R.J. Latour. In press. Use of multi-source tagging data to estimate regional age-varying striped bass mortality and movement. ICES Journal of Marine Science.
• †Mowatt-Larssen, T., D.K. Steinberg, R.J. Latour, S.C. Muffelman, M. Montalvo, M. Nolan, and E.J. Hilton. 2025. Ontogenetic vertical migration, seasonality, and long-term increase in mesopelagic fish larvae in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ecological Progress Series 769:107-124.
• †Hardison, S.B., J.S. Lefcheck, S.B. White, M. Liang, Y.S. Zhang, C.J. Patrick, A.M. Scheld, R.J. Latour, F.J. Fodrie, S.C. Anderson, and M.C.N. Castorani. 2025. Seasonal asynchrony and harvest diversification contribute to demersal finfish fisheries stability in Chesapeake Bay. Ecological Applications 35:e700987.
• *K.A. O'Brien, J.K. Carlson, E. Cortes, W.B. Driggers III, B. Frazier, and R.J. Latour. 2025. Evaluation of a spatiotemporal index standardization method for coastal shark species and implications for future stock assessments. Frontiers in Marine Science 12:1621720.
• *DeVries, C., J. Gartland, and R.J. Latour. 2025. Patterns in spiny dogfish consumption by sex and maturity stage relate to prey availability and environmental forcing in the Northwest Atlantic. Frontiers in Marine Science 12:1621343.      
• Schiano, S., G. Nesslage, J. Collie, N.L. Lengyel Costa, K. Drew, R.J. Latour, J. McNamee, A.M. Schueller, and M.J. Wilberg. 2025. Trends in Atlantic Striped Bass growth in the Mid-Atlantic, U.S.A. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 154:262-277
• Hoenig, J.M., W.S. Hearn, George M. Leigh, and bf R.J. Latour. 2025. Principles of estimating natural mortality rate. Fisheries Research 281:107195.
• Fournier, R.J., D.D. Colombano, R.J. Latour, S.M. Carlson, and A. Ruhi. 2024. Long-term data reveal widespread phenological change across major U.S. estuarine food webs. Ecology Letters 27:e14441.
• †Marin Martinez, C.M., R.J. Latour, M.C. Fabrizio, E.D. Houde, and E.J. Hilton. 2024. Larval fish assemblage dynamics in the York River estuary, Virginia, U.S.A. In Early Life History and Biology of Marine Fishes: Research inspired by the work of H. Geoffrey Moser (J.M. Leis, W. Watson, B.C. Mundy, and P. Konstantinidis, guest eds.), p. 218-232. NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 24.
• *Schonfeld, A.J., G.M. Ralph, J. Gartland, P. St-Laurent, M.A.M Friedrichs, and R.J. Latour. 2024. Hypoxia influences the extent and dynamics of suitable fish habitat in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecological Progress Series 748:117-135.
• Latour, R.J., J. Gartland, and G.M. Ralph. 2024. Commentary: Demographic response of osprey within the lower Chesapeake Bay to fluctuations in menhaden stock. Frontiers in Marine Science 11:1416687.     
• *Gartland, J. and R.J. Latour. 2024. Disentangling bottom-up and top-down controls on fish consumption of key prey in the Northeast US Shelf ecosystem. ICES Journal of Marine Science 81:1669-1684.     
• *O'Brien, K.A., E. Cortés, W.B. Driggers III, B.S. Frazier, and R.J. Latour. 2024. Niche structure and habitat shifts for coastal sharks of the US Southeast Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Fisheries Oceanography 33:e12676.
• Ralph, G.M., J. Gartland, and R.J. Latour. 2024. Evaluation of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab sanctuary through habitat suitability. Marine Ecological Progress Series 739:111-128.
• Latour, R.J., J. Gartland, and A.M Schueller. 2023. The reproductive biology and fecundity of female Atlantic menhaden. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 15:e10269
• Latour, R.J., J. Gartland, and C.F. Bonzek. 2023. The design and redesign of a bottom trawl survey in Chesapeake Bay, USA. Frontiers in Marine Science 10:1217792
• Gartland, J., S.K. Gaichas, and R.J. Latour. 2023. Spatiotemporal patterns in the ecological community of the nearshore Mid-Atlantic Bight. Marine Ecology Progress Series 704:15-33.
• Zhang, Y., Y. Jiao, and R.J. Latour. 2023. Nonlinearity and spatial autocorrelation in species distribution modeling: an example based on weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Fishes 8, article 27.
• Audemard, C., K.S. Reece, R.J. Latour, L.M Bienlein, and R.B. Carnegie. 2023. Influence of oyster genetic background on levels of human-pathogenic Vibrio spp. Aquaculture 562, article 738763.
• ∗Peterson, C.D., M. Wilberg, E. Cort´es, D.L. Courtney, and R.J. Latour. 2022. Effects of altered stock assessment frequency on the management of a large coastal shark. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 14:e10221.
• ∗Schonfeld, A.J., J. Gartland, and R.J. Latour. 2022. Spatial differences in estuarine utilization by seasonally resident species in Mid-Atlantic Bight, USA. Fisheries Oceanography 31:615-628.
• ∗Peterson, C.D., M. Wilberg, E. Cort´es, D.L. Courtney, and R.J. Latour. 2022. Effects of unregulated international fishing on recovery potential of the sandbar shark within the southeast United States. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 79:1497- 1513.
• Latour, R.J., J. Gartland, and C.D. Peterson. 2022. Ontogenetic niche structure and partitioning of immature sandbar sharks within the Chesapeake Bay nursery. Marine Biology 169:76.
• ∗Peterson, C.D., D.L. Courtney, E. Cort´es, and R.J. Latour. 2021. Reconciling conflicting survey indices of abundance prior to stock assessment. ICES Journal of Marine Science 78:3101-3120. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsab179.
• Anstead, K., K. Drew, D. Chagaris, M. Cieri, A.M. Schueller, J. Mcnamee, A. Buchheister, G. Nesslage, J.H. Uphoff, M. Wilberg, A. Sharov, M. Dean, J. Brust, M. Celestino, S. Madsen, S. Murray, M. Appelman, J. Ballenger, J. Brito, E. Cosby, C. Craig, C. Flora, K. Gottschall, R.J. Latour, E. Leonard, R. Mroch, J. Newhard, D. Orner, C. Swanson, J. Tinsman, E.D. Houde, T.J. Miller and H. Townsend. 2021. The past, present, and future of forage fish management: a case study of Atlantic menhaden. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:article 607657.
• ∗Peterson, C.D., M.J. Wilberg, E. Cort´es, and R.J. Latour. 2021. Dynamic factor analysis to reconcile conflicting survey indices of abundance. ICES Journal of Marine Science 78:1711-1729. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsab051.
• Woodland, R., A. Buchheister, R.J. Latour, C. Lozano, E. Houde, ∗C. Sweetman, M.C. Fabrizio, and T. Tuckey. 2021. Environmental drivers of forage fishes and benthic invertebrates at multiple spatial scales in a large temperate estuary. Estuaries & Coasts 44:921-938.

Current Students

• Ally Gravgaard M.S.

• Olivia Hendandez (co-advisor), M.S. 

• Emily Echevarria Ph.D.

• Shyane Masters (co-advisor), Ph.D

• Rebecca Taylor Ph.D.

Former Students

• Kaitlyn O’Brien

  • Ph.D., 2024. Dissertation: Ecological Niche Modeling, Index Standardization, And Recovery Times For Data-Limited Coastal Sharks

• James Gartland

  • Ph.D., 2024. Dissertation: Linking fish community dynamics and trophic interactions with ecological processess on the Northeast US Continental Shelf. 

• Adena J. Schonfeld

  • Ph.D., 2023. Dissertation: Climate impacts on spatiotemporal habitat usage of Mid-Atlantic fishes.

• Cassidy Peterson

  • Ph.D., 2021. Dissertation: Improving Observation, Assessment, And Management Of Atlantic Coastal Sharks.

  • Cassidy Peterson, M.S., 2016. Thesis: Patterns of abundance and community dynamics in Atlantic coastal sharks.

• Christopher J. Sweetman

  • Ph.D., 2018. Dissertation: Consumption Patterns of Chesapeake Bay Fishes

  • M.S., 2012. Thesis: Distribution and feeding ecology of Bathylagus euryops (TELEOSTEI: MICROSTOMATIDAE) along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from Iceland to the Azores

• Zoemma Warshafsky

  • M.S., 2017. Thesis: The impact of the parasitic nematode Anguillicoloides crassus on Chesapeake Bay American eels (Anguilla rostrata)

• Mark Stratton

  • Ph.D., 2017. Dissertation: Spatiotemporal abundance patterns and ecological drivers of a nearshore U.S. Atlantic fish and invertebrate assemblage

• Kristene Parsons

  • Ph.D., 2017. Dissertation: Age, growth and reproduction of western North Atlantic butterfly rays (Myliobatiformes: Gymnuridae), with the description of two new species

• Carissa Gervasi

  • M.S., 2015. Thesis: The reproductive biology of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in Chesapeake Bay. 

• Kathryn Sobocinski

  • Ph.D., 2014. Dissertation: Fishes in seagrass habitats: Species composition, trophic interactions, and production.

• Andre Buchheister

  • Ph.D., 2013. Dissertation: Structure, drivers, and trophic interactions of the demersal fish community in Chesapeake Bay.

  • M.S., 2008. Thesis: Isotope dynamics in summer flounder tissues, with application to diet assessment in Chesapeake Bay.

• Patrick Lynch

  • Ph.D., 2012. Dissertation: Habitat and fish population dynamics: Advancing stock assessments of highly migratory species.

  • M.S., 2007. Thesis: The feeding ecology of Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in Chesapeake Bay.

• Catarina Wor

  • M.S., 2012. Thesis: Evaluating the impact of stock structure uncertainty in stock assessments of sailfish in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Andrij Horodysky

  • Ph.D., 2009. Dissertation: Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA

• Justine Woodward

  • M.S., 2009. Thesis: Investigating the relationships between recruitment indices and estimates of adult abundance for striped bass, weakfish, and Atlantic croaker.

• Kathleen McNamee

  • M.S., 2007. Thesis: Trophic ecology and growth of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in Chesapeake Bay, with reference to mycobacteriosis.

Courses Taught/Teaching

• MSCI 504 Fundamentals of Statistical Methods and Data Analysis (Instructor)
• MSCI 528 Marine Fisheries Science (co-Instructor)
• MSCI 548 Marine Fisheries Science and Management (Lecturer, Summer course for high school teachers)
• MSCI 649 Modeling Biological and Ecological Systems (co-Instructor)
• MSCI 671 Fisheries Population Dynamics (Instructor)

Professional / Advisory Service

• Member, NMFS Advisory Panel for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (SEDAR
  Pool), 2012 - present
• Member, MAFMC, Scientific and Statistical Committee, 2008 - present
• Member, ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee, 2006 - 2020
  • Stock Assessment Subcommittee May 2007 - 2020
  • Chairman, May 2009 - May 2011
  • Vice-chairman, May 2008 - May 2009
• Chairman, 66th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC 66), Nov 2018,    NEFSC
• Member, Organizing Committee, Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Annual Summit, 2018
• Invited Expert, Briefing for Virginia House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources, 2018
• Associate Editor, Estuaries & Coasts, 2012 - 2014
• Chairman, 58th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC 58), Jan 2014, NEFSC
• Invited Expert, Panel discussion of management of forage fishes, MAFMC, Apr 2013
• Invited Expert, Briefing for the ad-hoc committee to evaluate the status of Atlantic menhaden, Virginia General Assembly, 2011
• Chairman, 49th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC 49), Dec 2009, NEFSC
• Member, external panel to review the NEFSC Foodweb Dynamics Program, Jul 2009, NEFSC
• Invited Expert, ASMFC American Shad Technical Committee, Jun 2006
• Invited Expert, Briefing for the Virginia Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Nov 2006
• Member, VIMS panel to advise Virginia Marine Resources Commission on permitting for King William Reservoir, 2004
• Member, ASMFC Assessment Science Committee, 2003 - 2008
• Member, ASMFC Multispecies Technical Committee, 2002 - 2012
• MSVPA Subcommittee, 2005 - 2012
• Member, Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Modeling Advisory Panel, 2001 - 2007
• Invited Expert, ASMFC Striped Bass Tagging Subcommittee, 2000 - 2004, 2012