Gwangseok Rex Yoon, Ph.D.
Location
Dr. Gwangseok Rex Yoon is a comparative animal physiologist whose research examines how environmental conditions and environmental history shape physiological plasticity, energetic allocation, and stress resilience in aquatic animals. His group integrates metabolic, biochemical, tissue-level, and organismal approaches, including respirometry, biochemical assays, lipid and fatty acid analysis, histology, and behavioral measurements, to study physiological responses in fishes and invertebrates.
Dr. Yoon earned his BSc in Marine Biology and Aquaculture from Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea, where three years of work in commercial-scale pond and recirculating aquaculture systems shaped his early interest in environmental and husbandry effects on animal physiology. He completed his MSc and PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba, studying the conservation physiology of lake sturgeon and the effects of temperature, oxygen availability, and diet on energy metabolism, fatty acid dynamics, growth, and survival. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto Scarborough examining how warming and ocean acidification influence muscle physiology and locomotor performance in threespine stickleback.
At the University of New England, Dr. Yoon leads the Conservation Physiology and Aquaculture Lab, where his research combines fundamental comparative physiology with applied aquatic science. His long-term goal is to develop a predictive and mechanistic understanding of how prior environmental conditions shape physiological state, resilience, and later performance, and to apply this knowledge to conservation, fisheries management, aquatic animal health, and more resilient aquaculture systems.
Credentials
Education
Expertise
- Aquaculture
- Aquaculture technology
- Biology
- Conservation biology
- Ecological aquaculture
- Fisheries biology
- Global change biology
- Marine biology
Post-Doctoral Training
Research
Selected publications
Fehsenfeld, S., Yoon, G.R., Quijada-Rodriguez, A.R., Kandachi-Toujas, H., Calosi, P., Breton, S., Weihrauch, D. (2024) Metabolic and endocrine responses to short-term high pCO2 acclimation in the European green crab, Carcinus maenas. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. - A Mol. Integr. Physiol.
Yoon, G.R., Thorstensen, M., Bugg, W.S., Bouyoucos, I.A., Deslauriers, D., and Anderson, W.G. (2023) Comparison of metabolic rate between two genetically distinct populations of lake sturgeon. Ecology and Evolution 13(9) e10470. doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10470
Deslauriers, D., Yoon, G.R., McCllelan, K.J, Klassen, C.N and Anderson, W.G. (2023) Assessment of family-derived metabolic traits for the conservation of an ancient fish. Canadian Journal of Zoology doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0040
Bugg, W.S., Yoon, G.R., Shoen, A.N., Weinrauch, A.M., Jeffries, K.M., and Anderson, W.G. (2023) Elevatedtemperatures dampen the innate immune capacity of developing lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Journal of Experimental Biology jeb.245335. doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245335
Nash, N., Klymasz-swartz, A.K., Nash, M.T., Sachs, M., Yoon, G.R., and Weihrauch, D. (2022) Impact of heatwavesand environmental ammonia on energy metabolism, nitrogen excretion, and mRNA expression of related genes in the indicator model system Daphnia magna. Aquatic Toxicology 249: 106225. doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2022.106225.
Yoon, G.R., Bugg, W.S., Fehrmann, F., Yushishen, M.E., Suh, M., Anderson, W.G. (2022) Long-term effects of temperature during early life on growth and fatty acid metabolism in age-0 Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Journal of Thermal Biology 105, 103210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103210
Yoon, G.R., Amjad, H., Weinrauch, A.M., Laluk, A., Suh, M., Anderson, W.G. (2022) Long-term effects of EPA andDHA enriched diets on digestive enzyme activity, aerobic scope, growth and survival in age-0 Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Aquaculture 552, 737972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2022.737972
Tripp, A., Allen, G.J.P., Quijada-Rodriguez, A.R., Yoon, G.R., Weihrauch, D. (2022) Effects of single and dual-stressor elevation of environmental temperature and PCO2 on metabolism and acid-base regulation in the Louisiana red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Part A Mol. Integr. Physiol. 266, 111151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111151
Yoon, G.R., Laluk, A., Bouyoucos, I.A., Anderson, W.G. (2022) Effects of Dietary Shifts on Ontogenetic Development of Metabolic Rates in Age 0 Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Physiological Biochemical Zoology 95, 135–151. https://doi.org/10.1086/718211
Yoon, G.R., Groening, L., Klassen, C.N., Brandt, C., & Anderson, W.G. (2022) Long-term effects of temperature ongrowth, energy density, whole-body composition and aerobic scope of age-0 Lake sturgeon (A. fulvescens). Aquaculture, 737505. doi: 10.1016/ j.aquaculture.2021.737505
Yoon, G.R., Earhart, M., Wang, Y., Suh, M., & Anderson, W.G. (2021). Effects of temperature and food availabilityon liver fatty acid composition and plasma cortisol concentration in age-0 lake sturgeon: Support for homeoviscous adaptation. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. - A Mol. Integr. Physiol. 261, 111056. doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2021.111056
Yoon, G. R., Bjornson, F., Deslauriers, D., & Anderson, W. G. (2021). Comparison of Methods to Quantify Metabolic Rate and Its Relationship with Activity in Larval Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens. Journal of Fish Biology 99, 73-86. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14700
Bugg W.S., G.R. Yoon, C. Brandt, M.L. Earhart, W.G. Anderson, & K.M. Jeffries. (2021). The effects of populationand thermal acclimation on the growth, condition, and cold responsive mRNA expression of age‐0 lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Journal of Fish Biology doi:10.1111/jfb.14897
Yoon, G. R., Deslariers, D., & Anderson, W. G. (2020). Influence of Prey Condition and Incubation Method on Mortality, Growth and Metabolic Rate during Early Life History in Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens. J. App. Ichthy., 36, 759-767.
Bugg, W. S., Yoon, G. R., Schoen, A. N., Laluk, A., Brandt, C., Anderson, W. G., & Jeffries, K. M. (2020). Effects ofAcclimation Temperature on the Thermal Physiology in Two Geographically Distinct Populations of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Cons. Phys. 08, 1–19.
Yusishen, M. E., Yoon, G. R., Bugg, W., Jeffries, K. M., Currie, S., & Anderson, W. G. (2020). Love Thy Neighbor:Social Buffering Following Exposure to an Acute Thermal Stressor in a Gregarious Fish, the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. - A Mol. Integr. Physiol. 243, 110686.
Klymasz-Swartz, A.K., Allen, G.J.P., Treberg, J.R., Yoon, G.R., Tripp, A., Quijada-Rodriguez, A.R., & Weihrauch, D. (2019). Impact of climate change on the American lobster (Homarus americanus): Physiological responses tocombined exposure of elevated temperature and pCO2. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Part A Mol. Integr. Physiol. 235, 202–210. Elsevier. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.06.005.
Yoon, G. R., Deslauriers, D., & Anderson, W. G. (2019). Influence of a Dynamic Rearing Environment on Development of Metabolic Phenotypes in Age-0 Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens. Cons. Phys. 7, 1–14.
Yoon, G.R., Deslauriers D., Enders E.C., Treberg J.R., & Anderson W.G. (2019). Effects of Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen and Substrate on the Development of Metabolic Phenotypes in age-0 Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens:Implications for Overwintering Survival. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. doi:doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2018-0399.
Deslauriers D., Yoon G.R., Earhart M.L., Long C., Klassen C.N., & Anderson W.G. (2018) Over-wintering physiology of age-0 lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) and its implications for conservation stocking programs. Environ. Biol. Fishes. doi:10.1007/s10641-018-0724-4