Dr Samantha Grusd

Research interests: Dr Samantha Grusd is a marine biologist, focusing on spatial ecosystem modelling, with a particular interest in top predators. Samantha has a background in marine biology & ecology, population modelling and statistics. She is currently a Postdoctoral researcher in the Marine Sustainability Lab (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town). Her current research is part of the MESCAL project (https://www.mescal-project.org) and focuses on investigating the socio-economically important chokka squid fishery and the environmental drivers of the intermittent (~5 year) crashes in chokka squid biomass and catch that have been observed over the last few decades. 

Publications:

• Ortega-Cisneros K, Weigum E, Chalmers R, Grusd SP, Lombard AT and Shannon L. 2022. Supporting marine spatial planning with an ecosystem model in Algoa bay, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 44 (2), 189–204. Doi: 10.2989/1814232X.2022.2080268.
• Bourdaud P, Ben Rais Lasram F, Araignous E, Champagnat J, Grusd S, Halouani G, Hattab T, Leroy B, Noguès Q, Raoux A, Safi G and Niquil N. 2021. Impacts of climate change on the Bay of Seine ecosystem: Forcing a spatio‐temporal trophic model with predictions from an ecological niche model. Fisheries Oceanography, 30 (5), 471–489. doi:10.1111/fog.12531.
• Grusd SP, Moloney C, Distiller G, Watson RGA, Cowley PD and Gennari E. 2019. Using mark-recapture methods to estimate population size and survival of pyjama sharks Poroderma africanum in Mossel Bay, South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 41 (4), 361–372. doi:10.2989/1814232x.2019.1670263.

Conferences & Community Engagement (seminars):

• Grusd, SP. Spatial modelling of marine ecotourism in South Africa: A novel approach to representing the influence of provisioning for shark cage diving on top predators in an Ecospace model. Presented at the Ecopath 40 years – The Ecosystem Continuum: From Knowledge to Decisions Conference, Oostende, Belgium, 03–08 June 2024; Oral presentation
• Grusd, SP. Spatialized ecosystem modelling to evaluate the influences of marine protected areas and provisioning ecotourism on the distributional response of top predators on the South-East coast of South Africa. Presented at the Advances in Marine Ecosystem Modelling Research (AMEMR) Conference, Plymouth, United Kingdom, 08–11 July 2024; Oral presentation
• Grusd, SP. Session 1: Introduction to ecosystem modelling and the Ecopath, Ecosim and Ecospace modelling framework. Seminar hosted at Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 26th May 2025.
• Grusd, SP. Introduction to the Ecospace modelling framework. Applied Ocean Sciences (AOS) Seminar, hosted at the Maris Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 22nd July 2025.