SMAST Prof. Emeritus Brian Rothschild has been appointed a Hjort Scholar by the Hjort Centre for Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Bergen, Norway. According to the appointment letter, recipients of Hjort Scholarships are “… scientists whose research is deemed to promote scientific innovation and understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics.” The award includes a grant in the amount of 50.000 krone (~US$7000), which will be directed to research collaboration and proposal development with Centre scientists.

The center is named for Johan Hjort, widely considered to be the father of fisheries science.

In October, Dr. Rothschild delivered an invited address at the Johan Hjort Symposium on Recruitment Dynamics and Stock Variability in Bergen. The occasion for the symposium was the 100th anniversary of the publication of Hjort’s seminal book, Fluctuations in the Great Fisheries of Northern Europe. According to the symposium organizers, “The importance of [Hjort’s] volume cannot be overstated, particularly Hjort’s new conceptual ideas about the formation of strong year classes based on age determination from fish scales.”

Dr. Rothschild is Professor Emeritus and founding Dean of the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology. He is currently President and CEO of the Center for Sustainable Fisheries (CSF), a science-based, non-profit organization “devoted to the onservation of our fisheries resources and the economic development of our fishing communities.”