DYLAN HILLIS
MSc Candidate, University of Victoria
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Dylan Hillis (he/him) is currently a master's candidate working under the supervision of Dr. Iain McKechnie in the Historical Ecology and Coastal Archaeology (HECA) Lab at the University of Victoria. He completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Victoria in 2018, double majoring in Anthropology and Geography with a focus on environmental sustainability. In the final year of his undergraduate degree, Hillis conducted original scientific research for his honours, which examined dietary variation in ancient domestic dogs on the West Coast of Vancouver Island (Barkley Sound, Tseshaht First Nation Territory). Hillis’ MA research is investigating ocean temperature change over the last several thousand years in the Northeast Pacific using zooarchaeological data. Specifically, Hillis is interested in how ancient fish populations responded to dynamic ocean temperatures in the deep past, how fish populations will likely respond to a warming ocean in the current context of a climate crisis, and importantly, what this means for the food security of coastal communities along the British Columbia coast. This research has the potential to significantly expand records of oceanographic variability, past fisheries baselines, and identify how recently observed climate-induced shifts in fish populations may differ from conditions that supported ancient First Nations’ fisheries
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