 Featured
Scientist:
Robert Steneck
Professor, University of Maine, School
of Marine Sciences, Darling Marine Center, Walpole, Maine
Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University, 1982
I study ecological processes
in or on the floor of the ocean. My experiments focus on
the food webs, structure and dominant
organisms of coastal marine communities. My "laboratory" is
the Gulf of Maine's sub-tidal zone in which I use SCUBA
diving, under-water video systems, manned submersibles
and the University of Maine's remotely operated vehicle
as primary research tools. I'm currently studying lobsters,
sea urchin and kelp in Maine. I also work on the ecology
of coral reefs in the Caribbean.
I think an important way to understand organisms or a system
is to observe them first hand - in their habitat. The work
is at the organism level and integrates between small scale
(i.e., behavioral phenomena) with large scale (oceanographic)
processes. By applying basic ecology to human marine resource
and management questions, I am able to conduct studies
that are both interesting and enormously useful for people
who
make their living from the sea.
Many of the studies involve
my graduate students who publish their theses. I think
it is important to give students
the opportunity to learn by doing. Students who work
under my
direction get involved with all aspects of basic research
from proposal writing, deploying experiments, gathering
data and writing papers.
For more information on Dr. Steneck
and his research, visit:
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